Here's my treatment progression for my wrist since I've been here at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine
(the back-story is that I fractured my wrist seven years ago, went through a (failed) surgery last year to take out the metal inside, got cut open again due to infection, and am now dealing with arthritic-type pain, numbing and tingling in my palm and fingers, and scar tissue. I hope that this herbal protocol will help provide useful information for anyone undergoing similar issues. besides the listed protocols, I am also practicing yoga and physical therapy exercises daily, and have maintain an active lifestyle and whole foods vegetarian diet)
initially, i rubbed my wrist morning and night with just castor (Ricinus communis) oil
the thickness of the oil felt good to rub into my scar tissue, but didn't do much for nerve ennervation. it was warming and nice, and probably would have helped reduce scar tissue after some time.
after my initial consultation with 7song, I changed to treatment with horse chestnut (aesculus hippocastanum) infused olive oil, with a dash of cayenne-infused oil, and essential oils of wintergreen and clary sage.
horse chestnut helps improve venous tone.
7song hoped that the horse chestnut oil would help improve circulation through my wrist, arm, and hand
he wanted to focus on reducing swelling in my fingers, and restoring sensation
well, either the horse chestnut was helpful, or it was lymph drainage therapy
I had dinner with friends, including Karianna's mama, who is an occupational therapist.
she performed lymph drainage (her own style of it) on my wrist, hand, and arm as we sat around talking after eating
I looked down after a while, and was surprised to see my fingers and wrist reduced to half their original size (swelling had reduced dramatically)
after going home, and all the way until now, the effects from that treatment have mostly maintained (I also perform some basic lymph drainage on myself)
7song also suggested hydrotherapy: infusing my wrist/hand in alternating hot and cold water. but, it is inconvenient for me to do this living in my camp-like environment, so i haven't been using this treatment, though I imagine it would be helpful
I rubbed on arnica (Arnica montana), St Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum), and calendula (Calendula officinalis) infused in olive oil for about a month.
this treatment smoothed out the top and bottom of the long scar quite a bit, so that now just the center is raised up with scar tissue
during the arnica- st johnswort- calendula treatment time, Larry also performed some therapeutic massage (Swedish, chigong, etc integrated modalities) that helped reduce tension and repattern my shoulder and wrist
I just changed to using castor oil, St johnswort (Hypericum perforatum), and vitamin E oil
primarily to reduce scar tissue
with the weather getting colder, I am also wearing a band around my wrist to keep it warm (otherwise it gets sore from the cold)
will probably add cayenne (Capsicum annuum) back into the oil mix, to keep circulation flowing
some future topical experiments/ treatment protocols I will try:
comfrey leaf (Symphytum officinale), gotu kola (Centella asiatica), helichyrsum essential oil, cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum)
St johnswort as a creme has also been nourishing and helpful
suggestions, input, etc welcome!
thanks for reading
