Poultice

{{Short description|Soft moist mass applied to the skin as wound or pain treatment}}

File:Schoolgirl Into Nurse- Medical Training in Britain, 1942 D8770.jpg

A poultice or cataplasm, also called a fomentation, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is applied to the skin to reduce inflammation, soothe pain, promote healing, or otherwise treat wounds or ailments. Soft materials like cereals are used as a base, to which agents intended to affect the body, transdermally, may be added. The preparation is usually spread on cloth, which is then applied to the body part to be treated. The cloth is used to keep the preparation in place, or additional bandaging to hold the poultice may be employed. Direct topical application (without cloths) is also used.{{cite news |last1=Chríodáin |first1=Louise Ní |title=Poultices: the moist cure-all that came to a sticky end |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/poultices-the-moist-cure-all-that-came-to-a-sticky-end-1.3798036 |work=The Irish Times |date=8 March 2019 |language=en}}

Poultice may also refer to a porous solid, filled with a solvent used to remove stains from porous stone such as marble or granite.

The word poultice comes from the Greek word {{Transliteration|grc|poltos}} transformed to the {{langx|la|puls}}, {{lang|la|pultes}}, 'porridge'.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

History

=Asia=

=North America=

Native Americans have thousands of plants for the making of poultices.{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Native American Ethnobotany Database |publisher=BRILL; University of Michigan |edition=2003 rev. |url=http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/filtered/?string=Poultice&tribe=&use_category=1 |access-date=30 April 2025 |title= Poultice}}

Preparation and composition

Some Native Americans used mashed pumpkin or devil's club as a poultice.Roberts, Margaret. Edible & Medicinal Flowers. Cape Town, South Africa: New Africa Books, 2000. {{ISBN|0-86486-467-1}}
In addition to bread and cereals, bran may also be used as a poultice because of its absorbent quality. It is packed into the wound and then covered with a piece of sacking or similar material before being bandaged onto the site of the wound.
There are also many commercial poultices that are ready-made. Some of these may be labeled as "drawing salves".
Ash poultices can cause a chemical burn.{{cite journal |last1=Morritt |first1=Andrew N. |last2=Bache |first2=Sarah E. |last3=Ralston |first3=David |last4=Stephenson |first4=Andrew J. |title=Coal Ash Poultice: An Unusual Cause of a Chemical Burn |journal=Journal of Burn Care & Research |date=October 2009 |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=1046–1047 |doi=10.1097/BCR.0b013e3181bfb83b|pmid=19826262 |s2cid=3665946 }}

Types

Fomentations{{snd}}heated poultices{{snd}}may be used to promote blood circulation to an affected area; these may be unmedicated.

Cold poultices are sometimes used. An example is the use of cabbage leaves to reduce breast engorgement in breastfeeding mothers. The leaves are applied directly to the breast, often simply held in place by a bra. Evidence for effectiveness as a treatment is weak: cabbage poultices are about as effective as the frequent, unrestricted feeding of the infant; they have no effect on the rate of progression to mastitis.{{Cite journal|last1=Zakarija-Grkovic |first1=Irena |last2=Stewart |first2=Fiona |date=18 September 2020 |title=Treatments for breast engorgement during lactation |journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=2020 |issue=9 |pages=CD006946 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD006946.pub4 |issn=1469-493X |pmid=32944940 |pmc= 8094412}} There is some slight evidence that cabbage poultices reduce the pain of engorgement.{{cite journal |title=Cabbage |journal=Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed) |orig-date=Revised from 2006 original |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK501774/ |date=15 April 2024 |publisher=National Institute of Child Health and Human Development}}

File:Linseed flax (Linum usitatissimum), near Whitsbury - geograph.org.uk - 1377610.jpg) may be used in a poultice for boils, inflammation and wounds.]]

Veterinary use

Poultices are used on horses to relieve inflammation. Usually applied to the lower legs, under a stable bandage, to focus treatment on the easily injured tendons in the area. Poultices are sometimes applied as a precautionary measure after the horse has worked hard, such as after racing, jumping, or cross-country riding, to forestall strains or stiffness. They may be used to treat abscesses, with the intention of drawing out pus from the wound.

Cooling poultices are sometimes used for show-jumpers and racehorses; these may be cheaper and easier to administer than commercial cooling products. A poultice is applied to the horse's distal limbs after exercise, for 9–12 hours. The intended effect is to cool the legs over a long period of time, by dispersing heat from the limb through the action of evaporation. Commonly, the poultice is bandaged over, sometimes with materials such wet newspaper between the poultice and bandages; this greatly reduces evaporation and heat loss, rendering the poultice ineffective at cooling.{{cite web |title=How to Care for Horse Legs |url=https://www.yourvetonline.com/how-to-care-for-horse-legs/ |website=yourvetonline.com |date=20 February 2018 |access-date=14 September 2021}}

References

External links

{{Wiktionary-inline}}
{{cite web |last1=Wyatt |first1=Louise |title=Poultice |url=https://louisewyattsmusings.wordpress.com/2024/01/07/a-medicinal-history-of-poultice/ |website=A Medicinal History of ... |language=en |date=7 January 2024}}

Category:Medical treatments

Category:Equine injury and lameness