What is a fomentation?
A fomentation is a warm and moist application. To accomplish this, we will be using a cloth soaked in herbal tea. They are versatile since the cloth can be applied to whatever area of the body is in need.
Fomentations are a good way to use herbs externally. Using herbs externally AND internally can be powerful. Whether you are trying to relieve pain or address a swelling, fomentations are an easy way to magnify the properties of herbs and get more out of them.
How to make a fomentation:
You will need a cloth made from natural fibers such as cotton, flannel, or wool. Old cotton sheets or t-shirts are perfect for this purpose. Just cut them to size and boil them to make sure they are completely clean and free of any possible detergent residues. You will need a piece large enough to fold over a few times or wrap around the area of the body you are working with.
Now choose the herbs best suited to the situation. Typically an herbal tea is made with 1 teaspoon herb to 1 cup water. But when I'm making a fomentation, I make a stronger tea using 2 - 4 teaspoons herb per cup of water. Depending on how much liquid needed to soak the cloth, you can make more than 1 cup tea. Place the herb in a mug or glass jar and pour boiling water over them. Do not boil the herbs with the water, just pour the boiled water over the herbs. Next, place a plate or some covering over the mug or jar so it can steep for 10 - 15 minutes.
Once the tea is done steeping, I suggest pouring off a portion of the tea to drink. That way you are using the herbs inside and outside. Do this first as the tea will invariably taste like cloth if you soak your wrap first. If you need to dilute your drinking portion due to how strong you made the tea, that's fine.
Then soak the cloth in the remaining tea. You don't want it dripping but thoroughly soaked. You want the tea really warm but not so hot that it will burn the skin. Lay or wrap the cloth on the affected area. Next, place a piece of plastic wrap over it. This allows the warmth and moisture to go IN to the skin rather than evaporate away from the cloth. You can also then apply a dry towel over the plastic wrap to keep the heat from escaping.
The warmth should last at least 20 - 30 minutes. You can do this as often as needed. Just make a new batch of tea each time rather than warming up any leftover tea.
When to use a fomentation:
Certain conditions or injuries can benefit immensely from the use of a warm, moist application. Chronic pain, back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, a broken bone, sore muscles, and congested or swollen glands would all be good candidates for a fomentation. Teas made from herbs that relieve pain like willow bark, are anti-inflammatory like turmeric, or bone building like comfrey can all be used depending on the situation.
Swollen glands, whether it's a lymph node, thyroid issues, or even mastitis, respond really well to a blend of mullein and lobelia. The famous herbalist, Dr. Christopher, made a wonderful formula called Glandular System. It comes in capsules, massage oil, and ointment. But to make a fomentation, you need the formula in a tea form. That's where Gland Stand comes in. It is a tea blend formulated like Dr. Christopher's recipe. I've used it for swollen glands before. The combination of using Gland Stand internally and externally, as a drink and as a fomentation, worked wonders! Then incorporating Glandular System capsules and ointment only helped healing happen even faster.
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