Blister-healing ingredients?

[Blufuz]

Hi all!

My boyfriend and I took up climbing, and needless to say our soft hands spoiled by months of handmade soap got blisters pretty quick. It’s recommended to keep hands well-moisturized between climbing since it’s better for your (eventual) calluses, so I thought I’d try to make a lotion bar just for that.

I recently tried @Zing ’s 2021 “Clamber Up” and while it definitely moisturizes, that much beeswax clings to my hands forever, and I’d rather have something more fast-absorbing.

Then I went down a rabbit hole regarding the “healing properties” of wheat germ oil, and was wondering what other oils might speed up healing blisters and sooth sore skin?

I know that when selling it’s legally iffy territory to claim medicinal properties (rightly so), but for personal use, does anyone have experience with oils that REALLY help skin heal? And what quantities are needed to make a difference?

Thanks!

 

[Tmwmo5]

Hi all!

My boyfriend and I took up climbing, and needless to say our soft hands spoiled by months of handmade soap got blisters pretty quick. It’s recommended to keep hands well-moisturized between climbing since it’s better for your (eventual) calluses, so I thought I’d try to make a lotion bar just for that.

I recently tried @Zing ’s 2021 “Clamber Up” and while it definitely moisturizes, that much beeswax clings to my hands forever, and I’d rather have something more fast-absorbing.

Then I went down a rabbit hole regarding the “healing properties” of wheat germ oil, and was wondering what other oils might speed up healing blisters and sooth sore skin?

I know that when selling it’s legally iffy territory to claim medicinal properties (rightly so), but for personal use, does anyone have experience with oils that REALLY help skin heal? And what quantities are needed to make a difference?

Thanks!

I’ve been looking into Ewax and it’s really good at locking in moisture so maybe try reducing beeswax and replacing with Ewax

 

[Zing]

I can't comment on properties of oils and butters.

My "Clamber Up" was my first foray into lotion bars. I had never heard of them until our children took up rock climbing. The real Climb On costs an arm and a leg.

My regular lotion bar recipe is 1/3 each of beeswax, a butter, and an oil. I have a strong preference for mango butter because it's less greasy. For oils I use one or combo of jojoba, sweet meadowfoam seed, sweet almond oil, etc.

As it turns out, my rock-climbing children and 1 rock-climbing friend MUCH prefer my thirds recipe over my Clamber Up recipe. They actually told me "don't make it again, Dad." Good luck to you.

 

[Blufuz]

I can't comment on properties of oils and butters.

My "Clamber Up" was my first foray into lotion bars. I had never heard of them until our children took up rock climbing. The real Climb On costs an arm and a leg.

My regular lotion bar recipe is 1/3 each of beeswax, a butter, and an oil. I have a strong preference for mango butter because it's less greasy. For oils I use one or combo of jojoba, sweet meadowfoam seed, sweet almond oil, etc.

As it turns out, my rock-climbing children and 1 rock-climbing friend MUCH prefer my thirds recipe over my Clamber Up recipe. They actually told me "don't make it again, Dad." Good luck to you.

Thanks!

 

[hanaherrera]

I read somewhere that rosehip oil is good for scars. Some tv shopping ads marketed it as such too, but I haven't observed anything significant on me maybe because I wasn't really after those properties and can't tell if it's true. An essential oil, helichrysum is said to have healing properties as well. Again, I can't prove that.

Incidentally, I made some body balms yesterday just because we ran out of the ones I made in January. I used rosehip oil because it was one of the faster absorbing oils.

I've been reading on threads about lotion bars, solid lotions, body balms, massage bars earlier and will definitely tweak the recipe I used. It's enough to fill a 6-cavity silicone mold, each cavity will yield a 50g body balm...

3 oz virgin coconut oil
1.5 oz shea butter
1.5 oz cocoa butter
1 oz jojoba oil
1 oz rosehip oil
0.5 oz sunflower oil
0.5 oz safflower oil
4 oz beeswax
1/2 tsp oat flour (because i don't have arrowroot powder)
0.3 oz green tea extract
1-2 oz FO or your choice of EO calculated at eocalc

maybe I'll try helichrysum on one and see if it will help.

 

[BWt]

Arnica, calendula, marshmallow, aloe, and many other herbs are used for skin healing. Tamanu oil is high in polyphenols which are said to be beneficial for skin. As @Zing mentioned Mango butter is fast absorbed. Some websites say plant butters are anti microbial.
@Blufuz have a look at labels for rock climbing ointments and see what is included. Note that any medical claims on labels likely require a special license and product testing. So caution labeling.

 

[Savage Daughter]

Arnica, calendula, marshmallow, aloe, and many other herbs are used for skin healing. Tamanu oil is high in polyphenols which are said to be beneficial for skin. As @Zing mentioned Mango butter is fast absorbed. Some websites say plant butters are anti microbial.
@Blufuz have a look at labels for rock climbing ointments and see what is included. Note that any medical claims on labels likely require a special license and product testing. So caution labeling.

Just wanted to say: NEVER use arnica on open wounds of any type, including blisters, scrape, cuts, burns or anything else where the skin's surface has been compromised. It will HURT very intensely! and is something you will NOT forget.

Lessening friction to prevent the blisters in the first place with something such as a very silky plant based powder (very fine silica / bamboo extract - the dry, white powder) would be a good idea to prevent blisters, but if they have already occurred, try a mixture of comfrey & calendula infused oils along with a few drops of lavender & rosemary essential oil. Marshmallow root is also beautiful but is something which requires at least a couple of months of infusing into a base oil as it's quite woody. Comfrey helps the skin to regenerate itself very quickly, calendula is very soothing & healing & antibacterial in nature, and rosemary / lavender will speed healing & are antibacterial.

Helichrysum essential oil is also incredible for skin healing, and not just for blisters. I make various salves using this essential oil for many purposes. It works very well.

 

[BWt]

Just wanted to say: NEVER use arnica on open wounds of any type, including blisters, scrape, cuts, burns or anything else where the skin's surface has been compromised. It will HURT very intensely! and is something you will NOT forget.

Lessening friction to prevent the blisters in the first place with something such as a very silky plant based powder (very fine silica / bamboo extract - the dry, white powder) would be a good idea to prevent blisters, but if they have already occurred, try a mixture of comfrey & calendula infused oils along with a few drops of lavender & rosemary essential oil. Marshmallow root is also beautiful but is something which requires at least a couple of months of infusing into a base oil as it's quite woody. Comfrey helps the skin to regenerate itself very quickly, calendula is very soothing & healing & antibacterial in nature, and rosemary / lavender will speed healing & are antibacterial.

Helichrysum essential oil is also incredible for skin healing, and not just for blisters. I make various salves using this essential oil for many purposes. It works very well.

Agree @QuasiQuadrant with never using Arnica on any open wound. Arnica can damage if allowed to enter bloodstream via open wounds.

 

[Ephemerella]

@bwtapestry thank you! As a devout arnica user for me and my horses, good to know!!!

@Blufuz I've been working on perfecting a lotion bar for quite some time now. Specifically, a "manly" bar. Not frou frou. Not unnecessarily greasy. Something James Bond would feel comfortable in his masculinity apply after a hard day chasing bad guys -- you know, to ease the calloused trigger finger.

Mr. E — who is a man's man Nordic God reincarnated as a plumber (I am so lucky!!!) has been my primary test subject, but also other males in our friend circle of equal manliness.

I'm close to perfection with a combo of (I make things unnecessarily complicated it's who I am): Cera Bellina, Beeswax, Cocoa Butter, Kokum Butter, Shea Butter, Mango Butter, AKO, Argan Oil, Jojoba, and Seabuckthorn.

Edited to add: Having re-read the original question, I really have no idea how good this is for blisters, but somewhere in my kitchen sink of ingredients, something must work

 

[Tammyfarms]

Several years ago I made a lotion to use after ankle surgery. I selected ingredients that might help with scaring. Oils I used were macadamia and sea buckthorn. Macadamia was to help with inflammation so that’s not helpful. Take a look at the benefits of sea buckthorn as that might be useful. It will make your lotion bar very orange and, although I only used 5% in my lotion, it did leave my skin with a tint of orange. For a lotion bar I wouldn’t use more than 5%, less if you don’t want orange hands.
I wasn’t super consistent with using it so I don’t know how much it helped. I do not have much of a scar but that might be due to my surgeons skill at stitching.

 

[Savage Daughter]

Several years ago I made a lotion to use after ankle surgery. I selected ingredients that might help with scaring. Oils I used were macadamia and sea buckthorn. Macadamia was to help with inflammation so that’s not helpful. Take a look at the benefits of sea buckthorn as that might be useful. It will make your lotion bar very orange and, although I only used 5% in my lotion, it did leave my skin with a tint of orange. For a lotion bar I wouldn’t use more than 5%, less if you don’t want orange hands.
I wasn’t super consistent with using it so I don’t know how much it helped. I do not have much of a scar but that might be due to my surgeons skill at stitching.

Comfrey, calendula, plantain, cannabis can all be used for scarring after surgery. I have done the same myself. Use the infused oils. Infuse beforehand, say a couple of months in advance so you have it on hand & to give the plants enough time to infuse, then either apply the oil or make it into a simple salve. I used this for all of the black & blue marks on me after a specific surgery on my leg after beginning to walk again, which ended up healing in record time. My surgeon had no explanation for this, but was pretty shocked when I walked into his office a week after the slicing & dicing was done with little to no bruising, which is not what they typically see with this type of surgery. Yes, I use all type of medicine where I deem appropriate for myself. That's the key. I make the decision which route to take, I choose. Nobody chooses for me. I use whatever healing modality I feel is right for me in any given situation.

As I have said before, do your research & behave responsibly, as you would with any medicine. People are ultimately responsible for their own healing - and errors - or at least should be. Others can assist you, can give you advice, can give you information, but you need to do your own due diligence.

Agree @QuasiQuadrant with never using Arnica on any open wound. Arnica can damage if allowed to enter bloodstream via open wounds.

Arnica & comfrey together make for a very effective muscle rub, as well as a salve to apply post injury for things like sprained ankles, pulled muscles, even rheumatism & arthritis pains. Just make sure the skin is not abraded, scraped, cut, or otherwise injured itself.

Arnica can be taken internally, but in homeopathic form. The key is the dose, and homeopathic remedies are VERY low dosage. And the higher the dilution - meaning it's even lower in 'dosage' - the stronger it is. Exactly the opposite to pharmaceuticals. Spectacularly effective for any type of injury or shock to the body, after car accidents, before & after surgery, broken bones & a whole lot more.

 

[Blufuz]

I'm close to perfection with a combo of (I make things unnecessarily complicated it's who I am): Cera Bellina, Beeswax, Cocoa Butter, Kokum Butter, Shea Butter, Mango Butter, AKO, Argan Oil, Jojoba, and Seabuckthorn.

Thank you for sharing!

That is a long list of ingredients…I think at the moment I have beeswax, cocoa butter, Shea butter, mango butter, AKO, Argan oil and jojoba.
How important is the cera bellina, and what is it for? Do you have experience with other waxes, are they very different from beeswax? Can the kokum butter be omitted or is it important to appeal to the manly men who don’t want greasy trigger fingers? This seabuckthorn seems popular, so I’ll try to find some.

Would you be happy sharing your proportions? I will feel like such a witch brewing a potion with an ingredient list like that!

 

[Blufuz]

While I fully understand that when you’re trying to cure your own injury, the only sensible thing to do is throw everything you have at it and hope something works, but in the long run I think the only way to really get a good understanding of what’s important to use is to try one ingredient at a time, then pile together the most successful ones.

So I think my first step will be to create two reliable solid lotion bases: one a bit waxier to be used at night, where probably most of the healing happens anyway and the important thing is the lotion doesn’t rub off on your linens; another fast absorbing, non-greasy one to be applied immediately and throughout the day that just keeps your skin happy. One that manly men don’t consider too frou frou to use Since this is for healing purposes, I would still try to find ingredients that are at least suspected of helping, but I would prioritize their texture properties.

Then, added to the base, I would add the active ingredients one at a time, and try and see if I can notice a difference, maybe with some before and after photos and proper logging of healing times.

 

[Blufuz]

Regarding ingredients, to summarize advice from this thread…

Waxes
- ewax may be better than beeswax at locking in moisture, so maybe good for overnight lotion
- cera bellina

Solid butters
- mango butter, less greasy (good in thirds with wax and liquid oil)

Liquid oils
- rosehip oil (fast absorbing, maybe good against scarring)
- macadamia (inflammation)

Active ingredients
- helichrysum eo (maybe anti-inflammatory and analgesic)
- Arnica (NOT for blisters, maybe bruising?)
- calendula (infused oil; soothing)
- marshmallow
- aloe
- seabuckthorn
- comfrey (infused oil; with arnica?)
- cannabis (once it’s legal )
- plantain (?)


Fragrances:
- lavender
- rosemary (antibacterial?)

 

[Ephemerella]

How important is the cera bellina, and what is it for? Do you have experience with other waxes, are they very different from beeswax? Can the kokum butter be omitted or is it important to appeal to the manly men who don’t want greasy trigger fingers? This seabuckthorn seems popular, so I’ll try to find some.

Would you be happy sharing your proportions? I will feel like such a witch brewing a potion with an ingredient list like that!

Cera bellina is a neat ingredient, it makes the finished product very silky and I think reduces the tackiness that beeswax can get when a lotion bar is used over and over. I've not tried other waxes, though soy wax might suit. When making candles I frequently rub the little drips onto the back of my hand and it absorbs quickly without being tacky or sticky.

For a few months, I did a trial of a much simpler recipe, focusing on either mango, shea or kokum butters. Men vastly preferred kokum, it feels very dry and doesn't make your skin shiny - which seems to be a turnoff for men. Women preferred shea because it was so rich and it did make your skin look freshly oiled, at least for a moment. Mango was kind of the odd one out because it fell in the middle.

I wanted to see if I could get the deep moisturizing of shea but the quick absorption of kokum. It turned out for me blending all 3 seems to work. And I would put Argan oil on my salad if I could, I love that stuff.

Working off of @Zing's proportions initially, I finally settled on 22% wax, 42% hard butters, 36% oils. I use deodorized cocoa butter, and refined shea, which *I think* is harder, but that's just me. I use a VERY small amount of seabuckthorn, just enough to turn the oils a light orange color, and the bars become a lovely golden.

I dry them for about 10 days or so until they can be picked up without leaving a fingerprint.

 

[Blufuz]

Cera bellina is a neat ingredient, it makes the finished product very silky and I think reduces the tackiness that beeswax can get when a lotion bar is used over and over. I've not tried other waxes, though soy wax might suit. When making candles I frequently rub the little drips onto the back of my hand and it absorbs quickly without being tacky or sticky.

For a few months, I did a trial of a much simpler recipe, focusing on either mango, shea or kokum butters. Men vastly preferred kokum, it feels very dry and doesn't make your skin shiny - which seems to be a turnoff for men. Women preferred shea because it was so rich and it did make your skin look freshly oiled, at least for a moment. Mango was kind of the odd one out because it fell in the middle.

I wanted to see if I could get the deep moisturizing of shea but the quick absorption of kokum. It turned out for me blending all 3 seems to work. And I would put Argan oil on my salad if I could, I love that stuff.

Working off of @Zing's proportions initially, I finally settled on 22% wax, 42% hard butters, 36% oils. I use deodorized cocoa butter, and refined shea, which *I think* is harder, but that's just me. I use a VERY small amount of seabuckthorn, just enough to turn the oils a light orange color, and the bars become a lovely golden.

I dry them for about 10 days or so until they can be picked up without leaving a fingerprint.

View attachment 74305

Amazing thank you!

 

[GinaDawn]

Hi all!

My boyfriend and I took up climbing, and needless to say our soft hands spoiled by months of handmade soap got blisters pretty quick. It’s recommended to keep hands well-moisturized between climbing since it’s better for your (eventual) calluses, so I thought I’d try to make a lotion bar just for that.

I recently tried @Zing ’s 2021 “Clamber Up” and while it definitely moisturizes, that much beeswax clings to my hands forever, and I’d rather have something more fast-absorbing.

Then I went down a rabbit hole regarding the “healing properties” of wheat germ oil, and was wondering what other oils might speed up healing blisters and sooth sore skin?

I know that when selling it’s legally iffy territory to claim medicinal properties (rightly so), but for personal use, does anyone have experience with oils that REALLY help skin heal? And what quantities are needed to make a difference?

Thanks!

I do not have advice on any oils that will help the skin but I can give advice to possibly preventing blisters on hands by slapping your hands together. Clap hard. I know it sounds crazy but I used to get blisters all the time I do not anymore when I feel that tingle coming on I clap my hands probably a good five to seven times I haven't had blisters in years. I don't climb but I do a lot of gardening and lawn mowing and things that used to cause me to blister. Im the weirdo randomly clapping my blister free handsGood luck and happy climbing.

 

[BirchandTallow]

Hi all!

My boyfriend and I took up climbing, and needless to say our soft hands spoiled by months of handmade soap got blisters pretty quick. It’s recommended to keep hands well-moisturized between climbing since it’s better for your (eventual) calluses, so I thought I’d try to make a lotion bar just for that.

I recently tried @Zing ’s 2021 “Clamber Up” and while it definitely moisturizes, that much beeswax clings to my hands forever, and I’d rather have something more fast-absorbing.

Then I went down a rabbit hole regarding the “healing properties” of wheat germ oil, and was wondering what other oils might speed up healing blisters and sooth sore skin?

I know that when selling it’s legally iffy territory to claim medicinal properties (rightly so), but for personal use, does anyone have experience with oils that REALLY help skin heal? And what quantities are needed to make a difference?

Thanks!

Hi! I'm just now seeing this thread, so sorry to come in late to the conversation. Idk about a lotion bar, mainly because I try to stay away from wax. But, I make an all-purpose healing cream that I keep in my house that works wonders on blisters. My son is 10 and is training for cross-county try-outs. As his #1 fan, I started running with him over the weekend. On Sunday morning, I had a blister on the back of my ankle. I put some of my healing cream on it and a band-aid. Sunday night, I took the band-aid off and the tiniest bubble was left. Yesterday morning (Monday), I woke up with no sign of ever having a blister. As an all-purpose healing cream, I also put this on bites, burns, scrapes, cuts, and rashes. It's a pretty useful staple that gets used regularly. Anyway, here's the ingredient list.

Beef Tallow
Palm Oil
Avocado Oil - carrier for herbal extraction
HO Sunflower Oil - carrier for herbal extraction
Lemon Balm
Calendula
Yarrow
Lavender EO
Rosemary EO

Comfrey and arnica are awesome healing agents, but arnica isn't for open skin and comfrey can cause the top layer of skin to close before the sublayers are fully healed if you have a bit of a deeper cut. Since this is an all-purpose cream, I left those 2 herbs out to make it more versatile.

 

[Savage Daughter]

Regarding ingredients, to summarize advice from this thread…

Waxes
- ewax may be better than beeswax at locking in moisture, so maybe good for overnight lotion
- cera bellina

Solid butters
- mango butter, less greasy (good in thirds with wax and liquid oil)

Liquid oils
- rosehip oil (fast absorbing, maybe good against scarring)
- macadamia (inflammation)

Active ingredients
- helichrysum eo (maybe anti-inflammatory and analgesic)
- Arnica (NOT for blisters, maybe bruising?)

Yes, arnica can be used for brusing.

- calendula (infused oil; soothing)

Very healing to skin which is abraded / cut / blisters / wounds. Antibacterial. There is a simple salve recipe linked after the article on this website's page.
https://www.ediblewildfood.com/calendula.aspx

- marshmallow
- aloe
- seabuckthorn
- comfrey (infused oil; with arnica?)

NO, definitely not. No arnica for blisters, cuts, scrapes. Olive oil infused with comfrey, or buy comfrey oil which is already made. Avoid the arnica, period. Or not & you will experience why I say this

No aloe as it's water based. Water based ingredients do not ever go in salves.

Sea buckthorn is unnecessary. It's not bad, just unnecessary for what you are trying to achieve - heal blisters.

Marshmallow root - again, unnecessary in this case. It's a great infused oil, but not the best choice here. See below.

- cannabis (once it’s legal )

Cannabis isn't necessary in your case. You've just got blisters Cannabis is great used topically, especially when mixed with other plants, post surgery & for a whole lot of other things, but for this, unnecessary.

- plantain (?)

not that kind of plantain There are 2 types of plantain being spoken of for healing skin, broad leaf & narrow leaf.

This is an excellent website with any free or very low cost resources. I have been in contact with this woman & she is quite amazing. I highly recommend her publications as a good place to start learning about plants & their healing properties.
https://www.ediblewildfood.com/broadleaf-plantain.aspx
Notice that this article mentions blisters.
http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/medicinal_plants/pages/Narrow_Plantain.htm
I prefer broad leaf plantain when I can find it, but I use narrow leaf if that's all I have available to me.

Fragrances:
- lavender
- rosemary (antibacterial?)

Both are very healing & antibacterial. Likewise helichrysum. Incredibly healing.

Remember that you're using these for healing the issue. Any fragrance you smell is besides the point. Helichrysum should be in this list with the other essential oils as you will most likely find it as an essential oil. You don't want to be putting fragrance oils on any type of abraded skin either.
___________

What I would do, as I make a lot of salves for a lot of people, is mix calendula infused oil, comfrey infused oil, plantain infused oil. Add some cocoa butter & beeswax. Add some lavender and / or rosemary essential oils. Simple as that.

You can play with the texture, whether you want the salve thicker or thinner. Start with less beeswax & cocoa butter. Cera bellina is absolutely unnecessary for this product.

Add more beeswax / cocoa butter if you wish for the salve to be thicker / more waxy. The people I make salves for privately prefer a thinner, more emollient salve as they can more easily rub it into their skin.
___________

The ingredients I have given you above make a great basic salve for many issues with skin, including cuts, scrapes, blisters, burns, rashes, bites, you name it.

Ignore people on websites telling you to infuse the fresh plants into any oil until you know exactly what you're doing. Just use dry plants & allow to infuse for at least 3 weeks, or if you want to make it much sooner, buy the oils pre-infused.

 

[Savage Daughter]

While I fully understand that when you’re trying to cure your own injury, the only sensible thing to do is throw everything you have at it and hope something works,

Actually, it's the opposite. Use the most appropriate plant based oils / medicine for what you are trying to heal, whether it's blisters or a broken bone or post surgical wounds. There's no hope involved. if you choose mindfully, you have the capability to heal your issue. Period.

but in the long run I think the only way to really get a good understanding of what’s important to use is to try one ingredient at a time, then pile together the most successful ones.

That will take much longer than looking at the properties of the plants recommended below & then combing your chosen plant oils, believe me. It's not about piling them together. It's about combining them in the most logical manner possible to obtain the most efficacious results.