Salve Plantain

I make a skin care product I call Salve Plantain. My friends affectionately call it Green Goo. Click here to read the blog post about making it.

 It's gloopy and a bit oily. It also works wonders.

On Tuesday we had a burn pile outside that I tended. I burnt my finger (middle, left hand) pretty badly. I picked up a stick that I didn't realize was as hot as it was. I knew immediately it was a bad burn, my time doing farm work that day was over, and I needed to treat it immediately. I dashed straight into the house. Within two minutes I'd put the fingertip into my container of Salve Plantain, applied a big glob to the wound, and wrapped it in gauze.

Salve Plantain immediately soothes and relieves the pain -- and I mean immediately. This burnt finger never hurt at all. Knowing how bad burns hurt, it seems crazy to say that, but it's true. But just because it doesn't hurt doesn't mean you can quit treating it. It's essential to keep the burn wound heavily coated with the salve and well-bandaged for about 24 hours.
Twenty-four hours later, the burn looked like this:

It's a flat blister. It doesn't hurt. It's not tender, inflamed, or red. I could run hot water over it. It felt perfectly normal. I played the piano with it. This was yesterday before noon.
By last night (not quite 36 hours after the burn happened), the finger looked like this:

The blister disappeared. The finger looks perfectly normal. The blister itself was never filled with fluid or raised at all. And the blister never peels off. It just went away.
I'm not trying to sell anybody anything. I only have three tubs of this stuff left until new plantain grows this spring. But I'd encourage you to make your own. It's a bit finicky, but not hard, and what a wonderful salve to have in your medicine cabinet! It will work better than any other product you have for burns.
You must apply it very soon after the burn happens -- within minutes.
You must apply it very liberally for at least 24 hours.
You must bandage it well and keep putting new salve into the bandage.
If you make your own salve, remember that the more plantain leaf you get infused into your oils, the better the salve will work. Chop up lots of leaves, chop them small, and let them infuse for a long time, getting the oil quite warm. The leaves need to release their oils into the infusion oils. When you press out the leaves, do it firmly, as if you want to get all the goodness out of that plantain. I hope you're able to make some and have it handy! It is marvelous for kitchen burns, but really any kind of burn, and is quite helpful for abrasions and skin irritations. If you don't want to make your own and really want a tub of mine, leave me a comment and we'll try to work something out :)