How to Make an Onion Poultice

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How to Make an Onion Poultice
« on: March 20, 2007, 02:12:24 PM » by firecattx

My 3 year old woke up last night with an extremely painful earache. I checked in both his ears and they are both bright red. I put a small clove of garlic in the outer part of each ear for a bit and also rubbed some garlic/olive oil around the outside of the ear. This seemed to help some but he is still restless.
I was reading about making an onion pack to place on the ear. I understand the part about cutting it in half and putting it in the microwave for a minute. After that i'm not so sure. I have read that you should wrap it in a paper towel and lay it on their head. Some other things have said don't let it touch their head?? Which is it? If I wrap it in the paper towel can I have him lay with his head on a pillow and then put the onion pack on his ear? Also, how does this help with pain/infection since it's not really getting "in" his ear? Thanks for any help, i'm new to all this!

« Last Edit: March 21, 2007, 09:21:10 AM by healthybratt »
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Re: How to Make an Onion Poultice
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2007, 08:12:49 PM » by healthyinOhio

I am not familiar with the onion "pack", but I do have a fairly easy recipe for onion juice in the ear.

Put a drop or two of hydrogen peroxide into the affected ear and "pulse" the lobe until it foams. This will clean out any bacteria.

Then take an onion(preferably organic) and grate it into a bowl. After a tablespoon or so is grated, you can move the juice of the onion over to the side of the bowl and suck some up in a dropper.

Place two-three drops of this onion juice directly into the ear and place some cotton into the ear to hold it in. I do this overnight to heal the fastest, but you can do it a couple times during the day, too. HTH!

« Last Edit: March 21, 2007, 09:21:24 AM by healthybratt »
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Re: How to Make an Onion Poultice
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2007, 01:18:27 PM » by herbalmom

We use onion juice straight in the ear as well. What I do is to cut an onion in half, & ream with the tip of a spoon like you were using a citrus reamer on a orange to get some juice on the spoon & put in the ear. I never measure the amount of juice, I just get some in the spoon & pour it in. If you or your DH smokes, blowing smoke in the ear helps with the pain. My DH smokes & we used smoke in the ear followed by onion juice when my DS was a baby & woke up crying with an earache & he went right back to sleep. We have used smoke on other people & it always helps.

This thread has lots of ways of treating ear infections:

Ear Aches & Infections: Causes & Cures

HTH Blessings ~herbalmom

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Re: How to Make an Onion Poultice
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2007, 01:20:46 PM » by healthyinOhio

Quote from: herbalmom on March 21, 2007, 01:18:27 PM

If you or your DH smokes, blowing smoke in the ear helps with the pain.

Why does smoke work when the doctors say that children with parents who smoke indoors will have a child with more frequent ear infections? I am just curious as I have never heard this before. It just sounds real gross, sorry! Tongue

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Re: How to Make an Onion Poultice
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2007, 01:50:31 PM » by herbalmom

Quote from: healthyinOhio on March 21, 2007, 01:20:46 PM

Quote from: herbalmom on March 21, 2007, 01:18:27 PM

If you or your DH smokes, blowing smoke in the ear helps with the pain.

Smoking around a child does cause more ear infections & secondhand smoke is bad for anybody. I'm certainly not recommending smoking but if someone in the house does & the baby wakes up screaming with an ear infection it helps with the pain & helps them get back to sleep. Smoke isn't good for you, but once in a while in the ear isn't going to hurt you. Earaches can hurt SO bad, if it helps the pain I think it's OK once in a while.

It seems to work 2 ways- if you take a drag off a cig. & don't inhale it & blow it out right away the smoke is still warm. The dry warmth seems to help, also there seems to be something in the smoke that numbs the ear. I don't know what, I just know it works.

As far as it being gross, smoking in general is gross (& I'm an ex-smoker) so I can see why you would say it. The kids & I all want DH to quit SO bad. The ONLY person I EVER let blow smoke in my kids ears is their daddy. There is no way I would let anyone else do it. DH has done it before for a couple of adults but he won't do it on kids. Quite a few people we know smoke so we just tell them about it to use on their own children. HTH Blessings ~herbalmom

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Re: How to Make an Onion Poultice
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2007, 09:29:46 AM » by kayinpa

I am a visual learner. I like pictures....does anyone know of a book or website that shows step by step pictures of making stuff like a onion poultice. I woke up this morning with a bronchial cough (it was starting yesterday).

I did saute some onions and put them in an old, CLEAN, flatfold diaper that I had cut in half, since I didnt have any cheesecloth on hand. I folded in eighths then put it on my chest......did I do it right? You would think someone who could follow just about any recipe, wouldn't have trouble with stuff like this, but I just keep thinking I might be doing something wrong.

Thanks

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http://kayinpa.blogspot.com/

Re: How to Make an Onion Poultice
« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2010, 10:32:02 PM » by *MommaJo*

bumpity-bump-bump!

I know. This is an oldie, but I was wondering the best way to make an onion poultice.
I've heard saute it in olive oil. I've heard just slices without liquid. How many layers between skin and onion? ......

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Re: How to Make an Onion Poultice
« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2010, 02:57:25 PM » by Gigi

I'm not sure what the *right* way is, but I make mine similar to a garlic poultice.

Chop the beejeebers out of 1/4 to 1/2 an onion (I do this in the food processor)

I use flour sack towels (cut into whatever size I need) for all my poultice-type things.

Lay cloth across a cereal bowl and put all the onion in the center of it and fold the cloth over it, making a square shape that keeps all the onion bits from falling out.

Pour hot water (very small amount - like a couple tablespoons) over it.

Let it set for just a couple minutes, until it's cool enough to put on the skin.

Gently press out excess water and apply.

I like it to be warm, that's why I do it this way. I also don't want to have olive oily cloths to deal with, so I don't saute them. I think the fresher the better . . .

I usually only have one layer of cloth between skin and onion, but I suppose it would depend on the onion. I always put it on my cheek first to make sure it won't burn. The onions haven't burned yet - nothing like the garlic!

Anyone else have a better way?

« Last Edit: February 16, 2010, 02:59:25 PM by Gigi »
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Re: How to Make an Onion Poultice
« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2010, 11:56:20 PM » by herbalmom

Depends on the body part I'm using it on. Cheesy

If I'm treating a bruise on a leg or something, a bee sting, etc; I just cut an onion in half & hold the cut side to the skin. I squeeze the onion every few minutes to get more juice to the surface of the onion b/c the juice soaks into the skin.

If it's for a bruised/swollen finger, foot, etc; I finely chop or puree the onion, dump it in a bowl or other container the body part will fit in & soak the hand or foot in the chopped or pureed onion. I've even packed it around my foot into a sock when I dropped a stack of hardback books on my foot shortly before bed & I wanted to lay down while the poultice was on. That one I wasn't able to leave on as long as I planned but not b/c the onion bothered my skin- my foot got too cold & cramped- I have major problems with my feet cramping if they get cold. It took all the swelling out though.

I've never had a problem with the skin getting irritated from onion even when it's used over large areas. (Of course this assumes a person isn't allergic- none of the people I have used it on are)

As an example, my mom once fell outside on concrete steps. She was swollen & bruised to the hip & we're sure that her foot was broke. The first few days she didn't due anything to it because she thought it would get better on it's own. It didn't get better, if anything her foot was worse. I soaked comfrey herb in boiling water, added pureed onion, packed it around her foot & leg to the hip, (yes, from toes to hip) wrapped everything in plastic, & left it for the night. It was messy but effective. By the next morning, the bruising was drastically reduced.

HTH Blessings ~herbalmom

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