SUNBIRD OILS

For centuries arnica flowers have been used in herbal medicine to treat bruises, sprains and to relax stiff muscles. It is often said that it is for use with both physical and spiritual bruising - which perhaps means that it useful for the psychological shock that often accompanies physical trauma.

Arnica is probably best known as a natural oil that reduces the discoloration on bruises. When blood vessels are broken, blood escapes and comes to rest in the surrounding tissue. This trapped blood is responsible for "black and blue bruise marks". Arnica can help these marks by helping the body reabsorb this trapped blood - it is said that it can stimulate the activity of white blood cells that digest congested and coagulated blood.

Arnica contains sesquiterpene lactones - substances known to reduce inflammation and decrease pain. Other active ingredients are thymol (an essential oil), flavonoids, inulin, carotenoids and tannins.

Calendula is another oil with a long traditional use in folk herbal medicine, and its reputation is for gentle and soothing actions - promoting healing and reducing inflammation. Applied externally, it is used universally for a wide variety of skin conditions.

It is often used for chapped and cracked skin, and nursing mothers use it for sore nipples. The healing effect on the skin also leads it to be used for acne, bed sores, varicose veins, broken veins, bruising, burns and eczema.

Calendula Cream is one of the few herbal/aromatherapy remedies that has long been found in High Street chemist's shops. The level of active ingredients from such sources is often so low as to be of negligible therapeutic value. See also HyperCal and CalHyper...

The flowers of Calendula officinalis contain flavonol glycosides, triterpene oligoglycosides, oleanane-type triterpene glycosides, saponins, and a sesquiterpene glucoside.

Comfrey herb contains a valuable constituent called allantoin, but also contains 'hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids' that cause liver damage. For that reason herbalists are ambivalent about the use of comfrey, and therapists must take care to limit its use to external applications only.

In fact, allantoin is so useful - and so safe - that large quantities are manufactured synthetically, and its uses have been well established. Allantoin is moisturising by being kerolytic - softening the keratin in the skin, and therefore useful with dry skin. It also enhances desquamation, the shedding of the outer layers of the skin. It is a cell proliferant that speeds up the natural replacement of body cells.

Comfrey has been used to treat a wide variety of ailments ranging from broken bones, sprains, arthritis, varicose ulcers, severe burns, acne and other skin conditions, all of which must reflect the therapeutic properties of allantoin.

Hop Oil

This infused oil is made soaking the dried flowers of Humulus lupulus - the same hops as used for flavouring beer.

Hops are traditionally used in herbal medicine in a similar way to valerian, as a treatment for anxiety, restlessness, and insomnia. A pillow filled with hops is a popular folk remedy for sleeplessness. Hops may be used alone, but more frequently they are combined with other herbs, such as valerian.

The relaxing effect of hops is largely due to the specific component dimethylvinyl carbinol. The soporific effect of beer has as much to do with the use of hops for flavouring as it does to the alcohol content! Similarly, the diuretic effect associated with beers is largely due to the hop content, so it is sometimes considered as possibly effective with some forms of fluid retention.

Dermatitis sometimes results from harvesting hops, although few cases require medical treatment. That is why we have offered Hop as a gentle infused oil. It is safer than the essential oil of Hop, and considerably cheaper too!

Besides being sedative, and a cure for insomnia, Hop is considered to be useful for inflammation, bruises, neuralgic and rheumatic pains, bruises. Hence some have found it effective against night cramps.

Most attention to Hypericum in recent years has concentrated on its internal use as an anti-depressant. However, for aromatherapists it has traditional uses as an anti-inflammatory, and as an antiseptic and astringent.

Externally applied astringents cause mild coagulation of skin proteins; they dry, harden, and protect the skin. Acne sufferers with oily skin may benefit from astringents. Astringents also help heal stretch marks and other scars. Mild astringent solutions are used in the relief of such minor skin irritations as those resulting from superficial cuts, allergies, insect bites, or fungal infections such as athlete's foot.

Although this combination of two popular oils has been very popular for generations, the name 'HyperCal' seems to have been taken and trademarked by Nelsons... They do seem rather confused as to quite what is in their cream, promoting it as a blends of therapeutic herbs in the skincare range yet also promoting it as a homoeopathic remedy. It's either got something in it or it hasn't!

Nevertheless, we continue to make available to our customers on request a blend of these two extracts - either as a combination of the two oils, or as a combination cream. Our cream will certainly contain far more of the active ingredients than anything to be found in a tube at a high street drugstore.

Nelsons describe their product as follows: "Hypercal cream is the ideal application for all types of cuts and sores. It combines the natural healing properties of Calendula and pain relieving properties of Hypericum." Which says it all really. But thanks to the trademark issue we'll just have to call ours something else... Ask for CalHyper! Or Hypendula?

The Vanilla plant was native to Central America, where its flavour and aroma were rated so highly that only the gods and kings were allowed to partake. It is now a familiar food flavouring to all of us - but we are slightly short-changed by the extensive use of cheap synthetic flavourings. (Such as the small bottles of liquid food flavouring sold in supermarkets.) These contain methyl vanillin or ethyl vanillin, which may be more resistant to the heat of cooking but which are definitely inferior in aroma to vanillin from the natural pods.

In old medicinal literature, vanilla is described as an aphrodisiac and a remedy for fevers. These purported uses have never been scientifically proven, but it has been shown that vanilla does increase levels of adrenal hormones including adrenaline.

There is no doubt that vanilla is found to be warming and soothing - a dynamic massage for clients who are impotent or frigid or stressed, and considered to be aphrodisiac by many... Especially ladies! (If you like chocolate you'll love vanilla!)

Interestingly, in-vitro testing has suggested that vanilla may be able to restrict the ability of bacteria to become virulent - the stage at which they are present in sufficient numbers to overwhelm the immune system - by blocking their signalling by the method of 'quorum sensing'.