How to Make a Warm Compress
A warm compress is one of the oldest and best forms of traditional medicine, and you can use it to help heal wounds, relieve pain and stiffness, bring a boil, sty or splinter to the surface and more. Making a warm compress is a simple procedure, but a few details are extremely important.
Things You'll Need:
Clean water
Soft, clean cloths
Essential oils and/or herbs (optional)
Plastic wrap
1
Boil clean water, and allow it to cool slightly. You want the water for your warm compress to be as hot as possible. However, you do not want the water so hot that it burns the skin or cannot be handled easily.
2
Dip a clean, soft cloth into the water, and ring out any excess liquid. Make sure that you use a clean cloth that does not shed fibers. Apply the cloth directly to the affected area.
3
Add essential oils or herbs to the water after removing from heat if you would like to increase the healing properties of the warm compress. The amount of herbs or oils you use will depend on the specific remedy, but never add oil or herbs to boiling water, as the temperatures destroy the beneficial compounds. When adding herbs, you can wrap the leaves themselves inside of the cloth, or steep them in hot water for at least 15 minutes.
4
Wrap the compress with plastic wrap if the remedy requires a warm application of longer than 10 minutes. The plastic wrap holds the compress in place while trapping the heat inside.
5
Make each new warm compress with a fresh, clean cloth. Because a warm compress often draws puss and other bodily fluids out of the skin, reusing compresses can promote infection and further problems.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2383738_make-warm-compress.html
A warm compress is one of the oldest and best forms of traditional medicine, and you can use it to help heal wounds, relieve pain and stiffness, bring a boil, sty or splinter to the surface and more. Making a warm compress is a simple procedure, but a few details are extremely important.
Things You'll Need:
Clean water
Soft, clean cloths
Essential oils and/or herbs (optional)
Plastic wrap
1
Boil clean water, and allow it to cool slightly. You want the water for your warm compress to be as hot as possible. However, you do not want the water so hot that it burns the skin or cannot be handled easily.
2
Dip a clean, soft cloth into the water, and ring out any excess liquid. Make sure that you use a clean cloth that does not shed fibers. Apply the cloth directly to the affected area.
3
Add essential oils or herbs to the water after removing from heat if you would like to increase the healing properties of the warm compress. The amount of herbs or oils you use will depend on the specific remedy, but never add oil or herbs to boiling water, as the temperatures destroy the beneficial compounds. When adding herbs, you can wrap the leaves themselves inside of the cloth, or steep them in hot water for at least 15 minutes.
4
Wrap the compress with plastic wrap if the remedy requires a warm application of longer than 10 minutes. The plastic wrap holds the compress in place while trapping the heat inside.
5
Make each new warm compress with a fresh, clean cloth. Because a warm compress often draws puss and other bodily fluids out of the skin, reusing compresses can promote infection and further problems.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2383738_make-warm-compress.html
