March 5- Castor Oil Packs

One of the things the fertility massage specialist told me about was castor oil packs. She was going to show me how to make them at my next appointment but I haven't been back yet. So I decided to check it out on my own. Here is what I found:

Stimulation of the lymphatic system occurs by applying the Castor oil pack over the reproductive system. This helps to cleanse the reproductive organs and promote healing of damaged tissues where the pack is applied. The promotion of circulation by the castor oil pack will bring in fresh oxygenated, nutrient rich blood to the reproductive organs, including the uterus.

So I looked up what to get in order to make one of these bad boys and headed to buy the supplies. One of the items needed is some kind of wool flannel stuff that I couldn't find, but Whole Foods gladly ordered it for me. Being who I am, when I find something I want to try I bed to do it immediately, so I had to Macgyver
myself a replacement for the wool flannel thing and wound up using an old pillow case. I read you are supposed to keep the pack on for at least 90 minutes, but given the fact that by the time I'm finished with work/gym/shower/dinner each night, I don't get much down time. So I made up the pack before bed. (It's a bit of a pain in the ass to make btw). After ten minutes of having it on the craziest thing happened. Even though I didn't have it anywhere near my face, I could TASTE something in my mouth. It was sort of metallic-y. (Not to be mistaken for Metallic-A) ;-) So of course the next morning I immediately hit the Internet to see if anyone else had this happen and while I didn't find any articles on it. I did see a lot of people posting about it in random places. The common answer was that the castor oil draws out heavy metals from the body, including fillings in your teeth! Whaaat?? Not that it will pull the fillings out or anything. But wow... Craziness.

So I've been doing the packs every few days, just another added thing to my regimen. It's a lot, but I'd like to think it will all be worth it in the end...

Below is instructions (from the web) on how to make the packs. Warning: they are a bit messy and castor oil stains like a mofo so be careful.

How to Make a Castor Oil Pack

Materials:

A soft, clean, thick material like flannel, wool, or cotton (organic is best)

Castor oil

A glass bowl or glass jar that you can pour the castor oil in over your flannel

A hot water bottle or heating pad

Old clothes that you don't mind getting stained since castor oil stains fabric

A plastic bag (I find kitchen or regular garbage bags work best)

A large towel

Instructions:

Put on your older clothes.

Take your piece of flannel and place it in your bowl or glass container and pour enough castor oil over it to soak it (make sure it's saturated, but it doesn't need to be dripping in oil).

Get your hot water bottle or heating pad ready.

Place your towel on a flat surface (either a couch, your bed, or the floor). For added protection you can also put down a garbage bag so that your bed or couch won't get stained from any oil that manages to escape the plastic cover.

Once you lie down, place your saturated flannel over the affected area of your body.

Cover the pack with plastic.

Place the heating pad or hot water bottle over the pack and let it sit for at least 60-90 minutes. During this time you can rest or read a book.

When the time is up, remove the pack and clean the area with water and a bit of baking soda.

You can keep the pack in a plastic bag in a cool place or the refrigerator. I keep mine in a sealed glass jar in one of my kitchen cabinets. Just add another tablespoon of castor oil for the next session.