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DIY CBD Salves

Saturday, September 16, 2017 22:49

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I’ve been torn between what recipe to share next– food or herbal. Since I’m still perfecting my sourdough bagels, I’ll save that recipe until after my next batch. I might hold off until I get my order of einkorn flour.

But something that’s been tinkering around in my brain for a long while, I think it’s time I share. CBD. Cannabidiol or one of the major phytochemicals found in cannabis. For those unfamiliar, check out Project CBD for some basic information on CBD or watch any one of the last 2 seasons of VICELAND’s Weediquette. CBD first caught my attention when I was diagnosed with epilepsy 4 years ago and have gone pretty much without Big Pharma treatment, not just because I detest Big Pharma– but because nothing worked on my type of seizure disorder. Having undiagnosed epilepsy for the majority of my hitherto 42 years caused a host of other issues and injuries which resulted in pretty much 24/7 pain. Unadulterated, at times unbearable, chronic pain. While I could have gotten medically certified for cannabis use in New York for the epilepsy, I couldn’t find a doctor who would do so, not without having to undergo the tests yet again for the upteenth time. I don’t know about you, but doing a sleep-deprived EEG even once is too much. Wearing a halter monitor to work? Not happening. So, once New York added chronic pain to the list, I was able to find someone who would recommend medical cannabis.

From https://www.greenrushdaily.com/indica-vs-sativa-guide-cannabis-types/

But, my own treatment went on hold while my family fought my father’s cancer and I tried to get him to use CBD to help manage his pain and the side-effects of his chemo. I found a decent online supplier– decent in that while the CBD is from industrial hemp, the reviews seem positive and the product is tested free of solvents and chemicals. Because the CBD is from hemp, Cannabis ruderalis,it contains a negligible amount of TCH so it’s currently legal in the US and many other countries. I got a concentrated hemp paste from Healthy Hemp Oil with CBD, hoping dad would entertain the idea. Hubby also found some CBD gummies and a topical liniment at a local vape shop. After spending about $250, a lot for me but nothing compared to what other folks spend, dad refused to try any of it. The Hemp/CBD oil sat there in my fridge. Hubby and I tried the gummies– which tasted vaguely fishy– and really didn’t have much of an effect. Then I tried the liniment, which seemed to help me– but hubby had an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients, which I believe included lanolin. I no longer have the bottle but their website simply says “Pharmaceutical Grade Cream Base.” Right. Lanolin isn’t something I want any part of since it’s from rendered sheep glandular bits. I noticed that after using it, I did feel a bit relaxed and my pain was manageable. The daily joint swelling– especially in my hands– really was helped.

Then I tried the Hemp/CBD oil and it tasted like a fish died in some rancid soybean oil and then was fried in some other rancid oily something. To say it was awful would be an understatement. But I noticed something: while my pain wasn’t gone, the joint swelling was even more radically reduced. The liniment, which cost us about $55 for 1.5 oz (a 125mg bottle), lasted maybe 2 weeks and that was with me being conservative. If you’re someone in pain and use tiger balm or some other topical liniment, a grain of rice sized blob ain’t cutting it. So then the herbalist in me– the woman who made her own tiger balm and her own Absorbine Jr. style liquid liniment using real wormwood– said: make it yourself. There was probably a few expletive deleteds, but you get it.

The CBD oil I had gotten for dad was in a pure Hemp oil base. Most of the other CBD “oils” I’ve come across are some sublingual mixtures in glycerin, coconut oil, or something else not specified. Those I can’t use for a salve. Hemp is a common ingredient in many skin-care products. I already had some tiger balm made– almost too much made actually, so I simply remelted it and added some CBD into the mix just to see the results. Which were? Wonderful. I don’t believe CBD is a cure-all, but it certainly was something I needed in my tool kit– along with all my other herbal remedies. It helped the pain, reduced inflammation, and helped me sleep through the night– without having to wake up and pop ibuprofen every few hours.

It also helped me be as mobile as possible through dad’s final weeks. After dad passed, after I took some time to get used to the new normal, I made the appointment with that doctor who would certify me for an MMJ card. After several weeks of some serious financial crises, I managed to scrape enough together to head down to Columbia Care to speak to a dispensary agent. New York has some of thestrictest medical cannabis laws in the country. No flower. No plant bits. Limited delivery mechanisms. Everything highly processed. Very low dosages in very small amounts. Some states would consider even full NY doses microdosing. Columbia Care seemed like the most willing to answer questions online. Vireo did, but without much interest in garnering my business. The other company didn’t even bother getting back to my queries. Columbia Care answered any and all questions I had– and that was before making an appointment.

But, I’m here in part to vent my frustration with NY’s Medical Cannabis laws, NOT medical cannabis as a whole. What I was sure would help my pain and possibly help ease my seizures, which had steadily worsened since my father’s death, did nothing but make my life more unbearable. I’m not here to say there is no value to Cannabis or to give the nay-sayers their due regarding CBD. Both work. But, in the form I used– the highly processed, super low dose, sublingual form– actually may have had the opposite effect. I became highly depressed, near suicidal, and my pain got worse. I couldn’t sleep more than an hour or two because I’d wake up from searing pain down my spine and arms. The depression was strangling. It took me almost 2 full weeks to realize it was the medication that could be the culprit– not menopause, not the stress of work, not some wasting bone disease. The only thing the medication helped was the seizures. Instead of having several pretty bad ones a week ontop of daily minor ones, I had maybe one minor one a day and no serious ones at all.

It was’t a good trade off. Reduction in seizures for total madness? No thanks.

So I managed to scrape together a few more bucks and ordered another batch of the Hemp/CBD. Being an avid salve and balm maker, I already have coconut oil, beeswax, and a variety of infused oils, healing oils, and essential oils. Plus I have scads of ready-to-use glass jars. So I went back to the drawing board and came up with 2 recipes. One a tiger balm and the other sort of a homemade vaseline. Both with CBD. I don’t have an exact dosage because I haven’t logged how long each jar lasts me. But I’d say I go through about 2 oz a month, and I use it liberally.

The total cost? Far less than the CBD liniments and lotions on the market. The biggest investment is the CBD. But, if you aren’t a salve maker, then it will be an investment in the essential oils, carrier oils, butters, and so forth. But, you’ll be getting enough supplies to make a variety of balms, lotions, salves, soaps, moisturizers, and whatnot. Making your own, having that control and knowing what’s in what you use is invaluable.

I also have a large store of infused olive oils that I’ve made myself. I have calendula, lavender, and a special blend I use for tiger balm that contains cinnamon, chili, and a few other things. If you’re in a pinch, you can use a crock-pot method. You will need to do this the night before since it takes between 8-12 hours to steep. For my tiger balm blend, I gave it the full 12 hours since the ingredients included barks. The best one I’ve found is here. Sometimes recipes call for stovetop infusing, but the problem is it’s very easy to cook the oil or burn it and the result is an infused oil that smells like an old fast food fry-up. If you have about 6 weeks, then do the infusion the old-fashioned way– pop it in a jar and leave it in the cupboard for about a month and a half.

Homemade Vaseline with CBD

Hardware:

Measuring cup
Heat-proof vessel– preferably a pyrex style measuring cup with a pouring spout; a 2-cup works well
metal spoon to stir
small saucepan
digital scale capable of grams and ounces
pot holders and kitchen towls
wide-mouth shallow jars, clean and ready to use, enough to hold 17 total ounces of salve
jar lids
something to label the jars– I use a sharpie written on a water-resistant mailing label, which tends to survive the oils. Sharpie written on the lid itself tends to wipe off after a few days of use.

Ingredients:

½ cup (4 oz by weight) coconut oil
32 grams beeswax (about 8 grams per ¼ cup of other oils– not coconut)
11grams cocoa butter
240 mg Hemp/CBD paste (1 gram Gold Label from Healthy Hemp Oil)
½ cup (4 oz by weight total) of carrier oil: 1 oz jojoba oil
1.5 oz calendula infused olive oil
1 oz. lavender infused olive oil
½ oz castor oil
.05 oz vitamin E oil

Essential oils:

20 drops lavender
15 drops rosemary
10 drops frankincense
10 drops patchouli
10 drops basil
15 drops rose geranium
4 drops myrrh

Note: feel free to use other essential oils tailored for you. These I’ve chosen with a mind toward my own and my husband’s skin ailments. You can be really simple and just use lavender, or be luxurious and add a drop or two of genuine rose oil. Just don’t use synthetic oils or fragrance oils. Be sure to use only organic, reputable essential oils– and indeed all your oils. Everything I use is from Mountain Rose Herbs, from the carrier oils to the herbs.

Process:

Bring a saucepan, filled halfway with water, to a boil.
Meanwhile, measure out the carrier oils, beeswax, cocoa butter, and coconut oil. Add to your heat-proof pyrex measuring cup.
Put the pyrex cup into the boiling water, double-boiler style, reduce heat, and start stirring until everything melts. This takes anywhere from 10-20 minutes, depending on how small the beeswax pieces are. If you’re using beeswax pellets, maybe 10 minutes. Larger chunks of beeswax take much longer. Stir carefully and gently, making sure not to splash any water into the oils. Don’t walk away either. The water in the double-boiler might bubble up, ruining the mixture. Don’t forget to use a pot-holder. That pyrex will get hot!
Once everything is melted, remove from heat. Set the pyrex on a kitchen towel to catch any wetness and to keep stationary while you stir to incorporate the remaining ingredients.
Carefully add the hemp/CBD oil. Since it’s in a syringe, it’s relatively easy. Just be sure to stir and combine thoroughly.
Once combined, add the essential oils.
Carefully pour the hot mixture into your awaiting jars. Do NOT cap them for at least an hour, longer if you’re working in hot conditions. You want a pretty solid consistency before capping. If you cap before it cools, condensation will accumulate and ruin the batch.

This makes a total of 17 ounces. I used two 8oz wide-mouth ball jars and filled a third, 2 ounce jar halfway. I estimate each of the 8 ounce jars contain about 113 mg of CBD (112.5 to be exact) and the last jar with 1 ounce of salve is 15 mg. Granted this is far milder than the CBD liniments on the market, but this is meant to be used as needed as a hand and body balm. It even tastes decent as a lip balm and doesn’t have a weird, body-lotion-on-my-lips feeling. It makes you relaxed without being comatose and it did help some screaming joint pain– making it possible for me to tippy-tap this well after midnight on a day spent baby-sitting the nieces (12 months and 30 months respectively) AFTER I spent the day cleaning the house.

Note on the jars: I used 8 ounce wide-mouth, half-pint Ball jars. They were the easiest to get your hand into. The caps are plastic and are the easiest to open with arthritis.

But, my pièce-de-résistance is my…

CBD Tiger Balm

Hardware:

Same as before

Ingredients:

28 grams menthol
58 grams coconut oil
57 grams beeswax
21 grams cocoa butter
31 grams calendula infused olive oil
16 grams castor oil
22 grams white willow infused olive oil
55 grams Chili infused oil* (See recipe below)
1 gram vitamin E oil
450 mg. Hemp/CBD oil (3 grams Healthy Hemp Oil Green Label )

Essential Oils:

20 drops rosemary
10 drops sage
30 drops peppermint**
10 drops eucalyptus**
10 drops basil
10 drops cajeput**
10 drops clove**
10 drops camphor**
10 drops cinnamon leaf oil**

**These essential oils are vital for proper tiger balm and aren’t negotiable. The others I add to help moisturizing and healing properties. Alone the other essential oils might be a bit caustic, as I found store-bought tiger balms. I’m less prone to skin issues when I use my blend.

The Process is the same as with the DIY Vaseline:

Bring a saucepan, filled halfway with water, to a boil.
Measure out the infused oils, carrier oils, beeswax, cocoa butter, and coconut oil. Add to your heat-proof pyrex measuring cup. Also measure out the menthol crystals but put those aside. Don’t add them at this stage to the mixture.
Put the pyrex cup into the boiling water, double-boiler style, reduce heat, and start stirring until everything melts.
Once everything is melted, remove from heat. Set the pyrex on a kitchen towel to catch any wetness and to keep stationary while you stir to incorporate the remaining ingredients.
Carefully add the menthol crystals. Stir carefully to make sure they melt. Don’t put your face directly over the cup or you might be overwhelmed by the menthol fumes.
Then, add the hemp/CBD oil. Since it’s in a syringe, it’s relatively easy. Just be sure to stir and combine thoroughly. Since this is a raw oil, unlike the Gold, it takes a bit more to combine and the smell is pretty funky.
Once combined, add the essential oils. Again, do this carefully and without your head directly over the cup. The fumes can be intense.
Carefully pour the hot mixture into your awaiting jars. Do NOT cap them for at least an hour, longer if you’re working in hot conditions. You want a pretty solid consistency before capping. If you cap before it cools, condensation will accumulate and ruin the batch.

This made 12 ounces and I estimate 37.5 mg per ounce. I filled one 8 ounce wide-mouth jar and two 2 ounce jars.

Again, this worked wonders. Inside of an hour after applying a small amount, the visible swelling on my left hand– my pinky was so swollen in knuckle and joints that I couldn’t bend it. Still a bit puffy, but I’m typing, so it’s flexible and the pain is negligible.

Infused Chili-Oil for Tiger Balm

6 grams chilis, whole, dried. I used what I think of a medium heat chili. Nothing hotter than a cayenne or arbol chili. I’m a chili-head. If chilis aren’t your thing, choose something lower down on the scoville scale. Use whole dried– NOT chili powder.
8 grams white willow bark
6 grams cinnamon chips (either true cinnamon or cassia works fine)
4 grams rosemary
2 grams clove buds
8 ounces extra virgin olive oil, organic if possible.

Using the crock-pot method, steep for 12 hours.

My overall experience has been a bit harrowing, but I’m happy it’s brought me back to making my own medicine instead of relying on a place dispensing what amounts to, in my view, a highly processed version that pales to the whole-plant cannabis so many have benefitted from. I don’t view my CBD as a whole-plant either– because it’s from industrial hemp. BUT until I become a hemp farmer or I move to a place where it’s legal for me to grown and make my own CBD from another cannabis species, then I’m stuck with hemp CBD. But, the results have helped me manage my pain. If the doses were higher, not out of the realm of possibility for future batches, it’s even plausible that this could help my seizures as well. Either way, it’s far better than spending a fortune for medication that didn’t work for me.

Source: http://www.green-and-growing.com/2017/09/diy-cbd-salves.html

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