Castor Oil for Arthritis: Will It Help?

Folk medicine recommends using castor oil for arthritis treatment. Castor oil is derived from castor beans. The oil has an unusual composition that benefits for its healing properties. Castor oil can be used to treat constipation, inflammation, yeast and fungal infections, headache, acne, etc. How can the oil help for arthritis?

Benefits of castor oil for arthritis

Castor oil is mainly unsaturated fat. It consists of ricinoleic acid, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids. According to Wikipedia the ricinoleic acid is proven to be anti-inflammatory. Arthritis is joints inflammation in the body. It is difficult to cure the disease as commercial medications can only relieve pain but cannot stop the inflammatory processes. As castor oil has the anti-inflammatory effect it can help treat arthritis. In comparison with medications castor oil is a natural product. It can be applied for a long period of time and castor oil side effects are less frequent.

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How to use castor oil for arthritis

You may use castor oil for arthritis treatment in different ways. It is possible to take castor oil internally or apply it topically. Some people even combine these two ways. Before castor oil applications for arthritis consult your doctor as the internal intake of the oil has a range of contraindications. Here are some tips of how to take castor oil:

 Topical application

• Put a cloth in castor oil, let it get soaked and put on the joints. It is recommended to warm up castor oil before usage or put something warm over the cloth.  The warm oil will penetrate the cells easier and can reduce pain and inflammation in the joints effectively. Leave the soaked cloth for 45 minutes.
• Another way of castor oil application for arthritis is to massage the swollen joints with castor oil. Repeat the procedure every evening before going to bed. Don’t rinse the oil; let it soak your skin.

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 Oral intake

It is possible to take castor oil orally. Add a tablespoon of the oil to any beverage or ice-cream. Blend it. As Dr.Mercola says the World Health Organization has established that the maximum safe daily dose of castor oil equals to 0.7 mg/kg weight. This is one tablespoon for adults and one teaspoon for children. If you don’t like the oil taste there are castor oil capsules available on sale. You may take castor oil orally but never increase the permitted dose and don’t use castor oil for a long period of time. Castor oil has side effects and contraindications if taken orally.