Page 166 - The Lost Ways

Original text:

The poultice used by my grandmother and my mother was the same as that used by the
th
likes of Culpepper in the latter half of the 18 century. It had stood the test of several
centuries because it is effective. The recipes for poultice or Cataplasms are sometimes
simple, sometimes complex.

Their active ingredients vary depending on the needs, but when heat is used, it plays a
different role and acts as an activator for the ingredients, helping with blood flow and the
movement of essential cells like antibodies and blood cells into the area. This is a way of
speeding up the natural process of healing. Your body, when wounded, produces heat as
a way of encouraging the movement of cells; a poultice works in the same way. The
recipes may be old, but the theory behind them is modern.

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