Around these parts, if you ask anyone who is a true local, especially if they are of Spanish or indigenous descent, about the best way to deal with a well lodged splinter under the skin, then they will tell you to go to a pine tree.
What they will tell you, and what I’ve learned really works, is the sticky stuff on the pine tree. Just slap it on your splinter and it helps to soothe it and draw it out really quickly.
In fact, in the rural areas around where I live, you won’t find a gas station or independent store that doesn’t sell pine pitch salve (although most are poor quality).
However, you’ll pay a real premium for it. You can bet that the loggers, ranchers, hippies, and people with distant roots in the community aren’t paying that premium, they are making it themselves for virtually nothing other than the cost of good quality oil.
So what I’m going to do here is tell you how to make and use pine pitch salve is really cheap and easy to make, and completely safe to use.
Why I Love Using Pine Pitch Salve
I’ve seen this type of salve work many times for splinters and other skin problems. It’s better than plantain, which is saying something as that’s fantastic. Plantain is better though for pulling out poisons, minor venom problems basically.
But they both work just as well for bringing boils to a head, and dealing with minor skin abrasions.
Pine pitch works brilliantly on glass damage, and is perfect for dealing with wood splinters.
It really is as simple as just rubbing a liberal amount onto the problem area (after cleaning the area first). Keep doing it every few hours, and I’m telling you that within about two days it will swell and bring whatever is in there to the surface.
How does this work, how does this actually happen? From what I understand, pine helps to stimulate local blood flow, and increases the immune response in the area it’s applied to. So you’ll get an increased response compared to what would happen naturally, basically the pine pitch salve acts as a warning marker that something is wrong, and increases your body’s resources moving to that area to heal and push out the foreign object.
Directions For Making A Simple Pine Pitch Salve
So let’s help you out right now by telling you how to make a very simple but effective pine pitch salve.
Now obviously, the first step is you’re going to have to find enough of the pine pitch to make it. Literally any pine tree will do. Summer is the best time, into the autumn, where you will find semihard pieces of pitch on the trunks, or around the base of the tree. Basically, it oozes out of the bark at that time of year.
One thing I will say is that this stuff is very sticky. It feels like strong glue. My best tip is to rub good quality oil onto your hands before you harvest it or create the salve, olive oil is good for that.
What you’ll want to do then is get a decent sized jar. Fill it half full with good quality olive oil.
Then put small pieces of the pitch into it. Enough to fill it almost to the top of the jar. Make sure the pieces are as small as possible, which means you may have to cut them up. The bigger they are, the longer they will take to break down.
Seal the jar, and put it somewhere warm for about two weeks. Turn it upside down and back again a few times every few days. That will help to break it down more quickly and distribute the pitch evenly through the oil. If it’s high summer, you could put it on a windowsill.
A great alternative idea is to find a sunny place, fill a bucket with sand, and then half bury the jar in it. That will increase the heat radiating through it. Or put it near a radiator, or some other consistently warm place.
If you’re not patient, you can just gently microwave it and get the job done in a few minutes, but for me, that’s not a natural way of doing it, and goes against everything we stand for on this site.
When it’s dissolved, you can strain it to get rid of any impurities, pieces of bark, things like that, that you can see in it. You’ll need it to be hot, and you’ll need a wire sieve.
So there you go, now you have a lovely natural pine salve. At room temperature it will harden slightly, and you can just rub it on and watch it sink into your skin. For me, it’s probably best to put it into small containers rather than keeping it in one large jar, as it’s more convenient.
Things I Want To Write About Next: What Should I Start With?
I’d like to know what people would like me to write about next. There are thousands of topics around herbal remedies to choose from, but it can be tough to choose what people are most interested in reading about.
With the change in the law around marijuana use in many states, perhaps people might be interested in how marijuana (and CBD oil) can be used to help with physical and mental ailments?
Or perhaps you’d like to hear more about substances like kratom, salvia, or blue lotus, kava kava, or even Akuamma seeds?
I’m always happy to hear from people, so there’s anything you’d strongly like to hear about in terms of advice you’d like on herbal remedies, and things that can help with your state of mind and mental health as well, then please get in touch with me because I always love to hear the comments, and it helps us here to provide the best content we can.
