As promised – the second, possibly most important reason (for me) I always keep a bottle of lavender on hand is for burns. Despite being married to a Medical Doctor, traditional western medicines have always been a last resort for me (and actually for him – now that should tell you something!) I will try anything before going to my GP.
My absolute all time favorite for treating burns, and I can definitely vouch for both first and second degree burns here (but not third, I have no experience, thankfully, of that), has to be lavender and I will tell you why. You may have gathered we used to own a couple of restaurants and everyone in the kitchen would get small (first degree) burns on hands and forearms, but nothing major so generally we didn’t bother about them. The scars would go eventually, right?
Then, one evening we had a bunch of guests for dinner at home. It was all stops out in the kitchen. Modernist cuisine, which my husband had just started really getting into. Dinner was great, guests stayed and chatted into the small hours. A lovely evening.
Just as guests left, we went to clear up the worst in the kitchen. The stove had been off for a long time now (or so we thought) so everything should have been stone cold. I went to pick up the cast iron skillet from the stove top and nearly screamed as it stuck to my hand – the gas had been left on really really low, but all evening so the handle was red hot. I literally had to throw it off my hand, as it was sticking to the skin. I stuck my hand under the cold tap for I don’t know how long, but long enough for me to weigh up my options. This was a serious burn – second degree at least, affecting my thumb, palm and first two fingers. If I did not get treatment there would be serious scarring at the very least. Blistering, peeling, red rawness…..ugh! Even with it under freezing cold water it was throbbing.
There, in front of me, on the kitchen windowsill, was this little blue bottle. Unopened. Organic Essential Oil of Lavender. I had read a lot about it being used to treat burns, but hadn’t actually put it to the test. I’d even read that British Doctor’s in Afghanistan use it to treat burns from explosives! “Well,” I thought, “compared to that, this isn’t that bad. I really don’t want to go to the emergency room in the middle of the night. Let’s try this!”
Such were my pain-addled thought processes as I stood there with my hand under rushing, ice-cold water. If I took my hand out for a second the pain was excruciating. I asked my husband to take the top of the lavender oil bottle and be ready to pour it on as soon as I pulled my hand out.
Just in that one application – even with my hand being wet, the searing pain was gone, immediately! Of course about 10 minutes later it was back, so I did it again. This time it was maybe 20-25 minutes and the pain was significantly less. I applied it twice more before going to sleep. Each time the gap between applications was longer and the pain when it returned was less. The fact that I could go to sleep at all was a testament to its effectiveness.
The next morning when I looked at my hand in daylight, you would have not known anything had happened. Not a mark! No redness, no blistering, no soreness anywhere. A miracle!
I really wish I’d taken before and after photos, but I have had other people come to me with similar issues since – a neighbor who burned herself on a hot pan, similar to my experience. She remembered me telling her about mine and sent her son down for some lavender oil. I checked in on her the next day and she was fine, no more pain, no marks.
Another friend more recently spilled a pot of boiling oil on the top of his foot. Ugh, it was a mess! I wish he’d come to me sooner as it had already been two days blistering and seeping, but I sent him away with both lavender and helichrysum hydrosols and oils and he is well on the mend after just a few days. He used the hydrosols first as he was clearly in a lot of pain and could barely touch it. Once it had calmed down enough to touch he could apply the oils, which are stronger and will have a more pronounced effect.
Even I had a recent mishap with a blowtorch (!!) – burning the side of two fingers in the flame. A full sized torch. It was, again, second degree burns at best. And again I had lavender oil on hand, but also helichrysum, which helps speed up the healing. Alternating the two 3 to 4 times a day, both took the pain away and helped speed up the healing process. Three weeks later I have a slight pinkness on one finger but that is it. I got to it early so there was never any bad blistering and it certainly helps the skin heal super fast.
I should add that lavender oil is one of the few essential oils that you can apply undiluted. Most oils you need to dilute in a carrier oil or the oil itself could actually burn your skin. Helichrysum is the same. In a critical situation, such as this, you can apply it undiluted, and on a burn you should.
Now I always keep a bottle of lavender oil to hand in the kitchen. And have since found many other interesting uses for it too, but more on that another day.
I still but what oils I can from Neals Yard because they are such an ethical company. They work hard to protect people, the planet and animals and that is important.
Their lavender is sourced only from France, the Provence region, which is famous for its high quality lavender. Just like wine, the plant must have exactly the right climate, soil and tending to in order to produce the highest quality oil.