When you live your life outside gardening and adventuring, there are bound to be minor cuts and scrapes and a natural healing salve recipe can be a lifesaver.

My kids are a lot like me and fall down a lot, so I wanted to come up with a natural Neosporin alternative to use on their boo-boos that I feel good about.

I don’t feel good about petroleum-based products so Neosporin is out. That’s why I decided to go with a calendula and comfrey ointment for helping wounds close without infection.

Herb Use and Safety

Calendula has been used for centuries medicinally to treat skin irritation, burns, and sunburn. It has been used for wounds and infection. Calendula was used in the Civil war for wounds, measles, smallpox, and jaundice.

Calendula is generally considered safe topically and internally. Calendula has many culinary uses adding flavor and color to soups and salads. Some traditional medicine boasts calendula can help alleviate digestive issues.

There is some controversy about whether comfrey is safe to use. Studies show that a component of comfrey may cause liver damage. However, the studies that found this had isolated the component pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) rather than studying comfrey as a whole.

Because injecting this isolated component into rats created liver damage, researchers decided that comfrey must also cause liver damage, even though the amount they injected was much more than any human could use.

Also, they didn’t consider the fact that any substance, isolated from its natural state and used in high enough concentrations, can be dangerous.

There is no evidence that comfrey, used in its whole state, in the amounts that humans use, causes any ill effects.

I also consulted with an herbalist friend who told me that comfrey and calendula were safe for everyone when used properly, meaning not drinking cups and cups of tea plus slathering your body in ointment every day.

For this reason, I choose to use comfrey, judiciously. Consult your healthcare provider whether you should use comfrey or any other herb.

DIY Natural Healing Salve Recipe

This healing salve is very simple to throw together:

• Add herb-infused oil (you can find out how to make this here), coconut oil, and beeswax to a double boiler and heat until melted.
• Add essential oils and then pour into containers to cool.

So easy!

Herbal Healing Salve

Yield: 16 oz

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Additional Time: 42 days

Total Time: 42 days 10 minutes

An herbal healing salve recipe.

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups calendula and comfrey oil (the amount in the recipe above)
• 4 tsp beeswax pastilles
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil
• 20-30 drops of quality essential oils

Instructions

1. Heat herbal oil, beeswax, and coconut oil over low heat until melted. 
2. Check the consistency by sticking a popsicle stick, skewer or spoon into the ointment and letting it cool. If it's too soft add more beeswax, too hard add more olive oil. 
3. Add optional essential oils (I like lavender) and stir.
4. Add to any container you like and let cool.

Ta

How to Use Natural Healing Salve: Calendula and Comfrey Healing Ointment

Dab a little on burns, bruises, cuts, bug bites, scrapes, diaper rash, etc. Don’t go crazy, a little goes a long way! I have been known to use this on my hands when they get chapped in the winter too. It’s very soothing!

This healing salve/ointment is fantastic for helping with all kinds of skin issues.

What do you use for scrapes and cuts?