What are Castor Oil Packs?

Castor oil packs are made with castor oil. Castor oil comes from the bean of the castor plant (Ricinus communis). The plant leaves look like a hand, so it is sometimes called the Palm of Christ because of its healing qualities. This plant grows widely as a weed and is used all over the world. Edgar Cayce often prescribed castor oil packs for many conditions including cysts, fibroids, congestion, skin conditions, and adhesions.

I will often prescribe castor oil packs for women after Maya Abdominal Therapy for a displaced uterus. I find castor oil packs are also helpful after surgery or injuries that have created adhesions – or scar tissue. Castor oil packs can also be helpful for tummy pain, constipation, and ovarian cysts. Sometimes after Maya Abdominal Therapy or Barral visceral manipulation the tummy might hurt. I find that people who use castor oil packs for the 2 nights after treatment often will not experience any after-treatment pain.

How Does Castor Oil Work?

No one knows exactly how castor oil packs work. Castor oils is 90% ricinoleic acid, and ricinoleic acid has a special affinity to prostaglandin EP3 receptors, and could be impacting conditions via that inflammatory system.

What You Need

  • A piece of flannel about the size of a pillow case or receiving blanket
  • About 8-16 oz of castor oil
  • A heating pad
  • Old linens/towels you don’t mind getting oil on, and maybe a garbage bag to cover your nice linens.
  • Cookie sheet for heating castor oil pack in oven

How to Make a Castor Oil Pack

  • Saturate flannel with castor oil
  • Put saturated flannel on cookie sheet in oven to heat up to skin temp. Be careful and don’t burn yourself!
  • Protect the surface you will lie on with plastic and old towels or old linens because castor oil will stain
  • Put the castor oil pack directly on the body part you will be treating
  • Then put a piece of plastic on it like a plastic bag to protect your heating pad from the oil
  • Then put your heating pad on the castor oil pack
  • Relax with the heat for 1-2 hours or as instructed by your health care professional

How to Store your Castor Oil Pack

  • Seal the castor oil pack in a plastic bag and keep it in the fridge so the oil doesn’t go rancid.
  • Keep the open castor oil container in the fridge, also, to keep it fresh
  • After you use the pack you will probably need to add more oil the next time
  • After you use the pack about 5 times you will notice that it does not have the same affect and will probably need to be thrown away. Then you will start fresh with a different piece of flannel

Contraindications

  • Pregnancy
  • Heavy bleeding

Side Effects

  • A rash may develop from moving the stagnation. Don’t worry. This is a normal part of healing and removing toxins. If it itches you can take a baking soda bath by putting 1 cup of baking soda in your bath.
  • If you are using a lot of castor packs over your lower abdomen the castor oil could cause loose stools. Take a break from using the packs until your stools firm again.
  • If you eat castor oil you will get diarrhea. If you are pregnant, consuming castor oil can induce labor

Warning: The Castor Bean is Poisonous and Should Never Be Consumed

References

  • http://www.pnas.org/content/109/23/9179
  • Gladstar, Rosemary 1993 Herbal Healing for Women. Simon and Schuster, NY, NY
  • McGary, Wiliam 1993 The Oil that Heals
  • Northrup, Christiane 1994 Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, NY,NY
  • Soule, Deb 1995 The Roots of Heling, A Women’s Book of Herbs. Carol Publishing Co NY