Healing and Beauty Oil: Castor Oil

Castor Oil I bought in a leading drugstore

Castor oil is not a very popular oil  but for us Medical laboratory people we use this as an oil immersion medium for oil immersion field of the Microscope, why this oil? because castor oil inhibit bacterial and mold growth in the lenses. It has no therapeutic value to some doctors value but use for enema to patient who will undergo a procedure for surgery and diagnostic purposes that requires stomach, intestine and colon  to be emptied. It's only now that I realized the many uses and importance of Castor oil, upon reading the book of Dr. D.C. Jarvis on Vermont folk medicine, the EENT doctor author highly regarded castor oil so much in his book and  his observation and his practice applying the principles of folk medicine and documented amazing results. It changes my perception about this oil and I want to know more, I am beginning to love it beside it is also cheaper. Having informed myself as to these many uses of castor oil in Vermont folk medicine, I began trying them out as well.

It reminds me of a pharmacist, a mother of a friend who told me that it could be an alternative to colonics since I'm not comfortable in trying colonics, castor oil will do the job, just take a spoonful and it will flush and cleanse the colon of all debris and waste just like a "labatiba" (colonics).

Here are many reason why you should keep a bottle of castor oil at home:

Warts and skin problems:

Apply the oil night and morning to the wart, rubbing it 20 times or so to work the oil well into the excrescence. Since castor is has an anti-bacterial, fungal and viral effect, it is well know to cure warts, moles,  papilloma, age spots (liver spots), and first aid to cuts, abrasion or sore of the body, hemorrhoids in a months time.

I am applying this to my tiny warts now instead of the usual cauterize procedure, notice it is getting smaller in a few days of using. I am also trying it for my keloid scars on my chest hoping it will work the same. It works well for my elbow making the rough surface smoother and whiter.

Castor oil works in my contact dermatitis, lately I had this in my left arm and left some rashes, I don't want to put steroid creams so I use Castor oil and it was gone in a few days of application. I learned in the book of Dr. Jarvis that it is also use for curing wounds and ulcers, in midwifery as an application to the navel of newborn infant with difficulty of healing. Also applied to the breasts to increase the flow of milk.

Chest Rub for Bronchitis and Asthma

Apply a generous amount of castor oil in the chest, cover with a face towel and put a hot-pack, or an empty bottled filled with hot water or those microwavable rock sand pack ( I got mine from Japan). 

For a beautiful feet:

Twice a week, or more if the feet are working overtime, the feet maybe rubbed down at bedtime with castor oil, cotton socks are slipped on and the oil left overnight. In the morning the skin is like velvet, and generally all the tired sore feeling will have disappeared. In the same way castor oil can be used night and morning to soften corns and calluses and remove the soreness. Castor oil is considered a specific remedy for soft corns. I tried it and the results is amazing, feel so good and smooth, even for my occasional athletes foot.

Hair Care

For little children with poor hair growth and development on the head , castor oil is applied to the head twice a week at bedtime, by rubbing the oil thoroughly into the scalp and allowed to remain overnight and in the morning removed by shampoo.

Since I am very concerned with my hair due to a family history of baldness, I thought this might be it! hopefully work to strengthen my hair and make it thicker and fuller. I am using it for a twice a week, as of this writing it's been one week, and noticed a great improvement in my hair, it is shinier, soft, scalp itchiness gone and just feel so good, less hair fall during shampoo, can't wait for other benefits to manifest. I have tried all different kind of specially formulated shampoos for my hair and I believed this oil works better with my shampoo, so far so good. The problem is castor oil is a very thick oil, it is hard to rub on your skin, hair and could be very sticky  but can be diluted by virgin coconut oil (VCO) to make it thinner, in my case I don't really mind and prefer to use it alone. but I do use VCO for my hair as well and skin. apply it and let it stay overnight and shampoo in the morning, see for yourself.

Eyes and Eyelashes:

If the eye develops redness and irritation, one drop of the oil dropped in the eyes makes it more comfortable and relieves irritation.

Castor oil applied to eyelashes at bedtime three times a week will thicken them and make them grow longer. The same treatment goes to eyebrow growth.

I am actually doing this, just started recently as of this writing and excited with what will be the outcome, It is a welcome news for the ladies also who want to thicken their eyelashes, and the  gentlemen (they will just don't admit it) . Some of my doctor friends are using a brand of anti-glaucoma eye drops which could have a side effect, since it is used to decreases the eye pressure. For me I am much concerned for my hair, since we have a family history of baldness (my dad), I tried everything that is safe for my hair.

By the way there is a concerned that castor oil could be toxic due to the component in raw castor beans, the presence of Ricin, though reports of actual poisoning are relatively rare, Ricin is present only in the raw beans but dissolves and degraded during the oil extraction so very little chances that it is present in the oil, so far I have been taking it and using a lot for my skin and hair and have no signs of toxicity. :-)

I used to see a lot of this Castor plants in my hometown
 of  Bulacan and play with the seeds

Castor plants and seeds are very common in the Philippines, I used to have it and see a lot in our  province in Bulacan.  I just don't know it was a castor plant way back then, also I remembered Filipino folk healers are using a lot of this seeds and oil for therapeutic purposes, you could still see them in the streets of Quiapo, Avenida and Binondo in Manila.

Castor oil is available in leading supermarkets and drugstores. Enjoy using Castor oil!

RCB