How do Castor Oil Packs work?
Written by: Victoria Williams R.H.N.
Medically reviewed by: Melanie Swackhammer B.A.
Est. reading time: 9 minutes.
As a health care practitioner, you may have prescribed the traditional treatment method of castor oil packs for liver detox, lymphatic drainage or colon cleansing, right?
You did this by saturating an old cloth with castor oil and applying that gooey mess to various parts of the body because you know of the great health benefits that this treatment method offers. Can you relate?
And, if you’re like me, you stopped prescribing the old way of applying castor oil packs because that 12-step method was too messy, too complicated and your patients just didn’t comply to it. And I don’t blame them, do you?
Or maybe you had your patients do it the “lazy way” by simply just rubbing on the castor oil and then having them wear an old t-shirt. Sound familiar?
But, with the application of just the castor oil without the castor oil pack, we only get half of the benefits
How do Castor Oil Packs work for lymphatic drainage and cleansing?
Secondly, it’s neurological, when placed on specific dermatomes this activates the somatic visceral reflexes triggering the activity of internal detox and cleansing organs like the liver, kidney, gut, gallbladder2 and more.
Thirdly, it’s a combination of both mechanical and neurological because the Queen of the Thrones® Castor Oil Pack stimulates the body’s skin receptors which stimulate the natural oxytocin3 feedback loop activating the vagus nerve, shifting the body into a rest and digest state where liver detox is optimized.
Plus, the penetration of the castor oil into the tissues stimulates lymphatic drainage and reduces inflammation via the Peyer’s patches7.
With no pack, castor oil will not penetrate as deeply and would act much more like a skin emollient, so the full range of benefits of the oil cannot be reaped.
Why is it important for castor oil to be in glass?
You see, castor oil is the master carrier oil, due to its structure and the molecular weight of ricinoleic acid11. And because of this amazing capability of transporting and transferring substances into the body, it is of the utmost importance to only use a high-quality oil that is organic, extra-virgin, cold-pressed, hexane-free and in glass.
And I am sure we are both on the same page when it comes to ensuring our prescriptions and protocols – like the application of Queen of the Thrones® Castor Oil Packs coming from a plastic-free environment – are helpful for our patients and ourselves, and not a harmful endocrine disruptive burden. Would you agree?
Why you need to replace your Castor Oil Pack?
Why? Well simply because we are unsure where the castor oil and toxins it collects eliminate through the body, or back into the pack through the skin.
A study compared oral castor oil metabolites and the metabolites produced with the castor oil pack and no castor oil metabolites were produced with the castor oil pack12.
This suggests that either the castor oil wasn’t absorbed or that the metabolites came out another way, perhaps via the skin into the pack.
So, to prevent possible reabsorption of any toxins that are being pulled out by castor oil, use a fresh coat of oil on every application and replace the pack every 3 months.
Queen of the Thrones® Castor Oil Packs – the game changer
Plus, with regular practice your patients will train their body to respond better to stress, as well as naturally liver detox, lymphatic drain and colon cleanse with the support from their Queen of the Thrones® Castor Oil Packs.
Then what happens is we begin to start…
You see, this is what makes Queen of the Thrones® Castor Oil Packs so unique and game-changing.
Are you a practitioner, health coach or wellness influencer? If you’re interested in recommending our easy-to-use tools and practically applying them in your health and wellness professional practice, in clinic, or online with the people you serve, you can join now!
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers, are those of the respective authors or distributors. Neither Queen of the Thrones® nor any third-party provider of information guarantees the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content. This communication does not create a doctor-patient relationship. Information provided does not replace the advice of your health care practitioner. If you happen to purchase anything we promote, in this or any of our communications, it’s likely Queen of the Thrones® will receive some kind of affiliate compensation. Still, we only promote content and products that we truly believe in and share with our friends, family and patients. If you ever have a concern with anything we share, please let us know at care@queenofthethrones.com. We want to make sure we are always serving Our Queendom at the highest level.
Click here for references
1. Moore JE Jr, Bertram CD. Lymphatic System Flows. Annu Rev Fluid Mech. 2018 Jan;50:459-482. doi: 10.1146/annurev-fluid-122316-045259. PMID: 29713107; PMCID: PMC5922450.
2. Sikandar S, Dickenson AH. Visceral pain: the ins and outs, the ups and downs. Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2012 Mar;6(1):17-26. doi: 10.1097/SPC.0b013e32834f6ec9. PMID: 22246042; PMCID: PMC3272481.
3. Walker SC1, Trotter PD2, Swaney WT2, Marshall A3, Mcglone FP4. C-tactile afferents: Cutaneous mediators of oxytocin release during affiliative tactile interactions? Neuropeptides. 2017 Aug;64:27-38. doi: 10.1016/j.npep.2017.01.001. Epub 2017 Jan 19. PMID: 28162847.
4. Rolls ET et all. Representations of pleasant and painful touch in the human orbitofrontal and cingulate cortices. Cereb Cortex. 2003 Mar;13(3):308-17. PMID: 12571120.
5. Francis S, Rolls ET, Bowtell R, McGlone F, O’Doherty J, Browning A, Clare S, Smith E. The representation of pleasant touch in the brain and its relationship with taste and olfactory areas. Neuroreport. 1999 Feb 25;10(3):453-9. PMID: 10208571.
6. Löken LS, Wessberg J, Morrison I, McGlone F, Olausson H. Coding of pleasant touch by unmyelinated afferents in humans. Nat Neurosci. 2009 May;12(5):547-8. Epub 2009 Apr 12. PMID: 19363489.
7. Holmes GM, Browning KN, Babic T, Fortna SR, Coleman FH, Travagli RA. Vagal afferent fibres determine the oxytocin-induced modulation of gastric tone. J Physiol. 2013 Jun 15;591(12):3081-100. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2013.253732. Epub 2013 Apr 15. PMID: 23587885; PMCID: PMC3832121.
8. Kim H1, Oh S1, Gye MC1, Shin I1,2. Comparative toxicological evaluation of nonylphenol and nonylphenol polyethoxylates using human keratinocytes. Drug Chem Toxicol. 2018 Oct;41(4):486-491. doi: 10.1080/01480545.2017.1391829. Epub 2017 Nov 10.
9. Amar SK1, Goyal S2, Srivastav AK3, Chopra D3, Ray RS2. Combined effect of Benzophenone-2 and ultraviolet radiation promote photogenotoxicity and photocytotoxicity in human keratinocytes. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2018 Jun;95:298-306. doi: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2018.04.003. Epub 2018 Apr 4.
10. Hafezi SA1, Abdel-Rahman WM1. The Endocrine Disruptor Bisphenol A (BPA) Exerts a Wide Range of Effects in Carcinogenesis and Response to Therapy. Curr Mol Pharmacol. 2019 Mar 6. doi: 10.2174/1874467212666190306164507.
11. PubChem [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US), National Center for Biotechnology Information; 2004-. PubChem Compound Summary for CID 643684, Ricinoleic acid; [cited 2022 Mar. 31].
12. Alves SP, Araujo CM, Queiroga RC, Madruga MS, Parente MOM, Medeiros AN, Bessa RJB. New insights on the metabolism of ricinoleic acid in ruminants. J Dairy Sci. 2017 Oct;100(10):8018-8032. doi: 10.3168/jds.2017-13117. Epub 2017 Aug 10. PMID: 28803011.
I was sent a link to how do castor oil packs work, and I was sent to a picture, but there was no text. I am 84 years old and technologically illiterate! I don’t do Facebook and can’t set up
Messenger. Could you please just email me some directions?
Hey there! Thank you so much for reaching out! I have an amazing blog for you on how castor oil packs work! https://queenofthethrones.com/castor-oil-packs/
We also have some great videos for you (Youtube) Let me know if you have any trouble accessing these!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4jMeV7v-6s
Perhaps Luise May is experiencing the same thing I encounter… to wit, the “DOWNLOAD” links you send via email go to (your) Google Drive where printing (and saving – read: DOWNLOADing) are disabled. Thus, to re-read the document one must revisit the page each time…
In my case, I access the internet via an ISP where my bandwidth is limited, thus ‘costing’ me some of that bandwidth each time…
It sure would be nice if we could save the documents to our devices….
Hey there! Thank you so much for reaching out and letting us know! Our team is looking into this issue!
In the meantime, we will send you an email with the guide!
how can I remove this box from the page since I can’t read the information? Help.Thank you.
Hey! We would love to help you out with this! If it’s the chat box, you should be able to exit! Let me know if this works for you.
Very annoying that I can’t find a way to save this very important info or send a link to sick family members. Can’t find an order or price for pack anywhere.
We would love to assist you with this, we can send you any link or videos you’re looking for via email! Reach out to us at care@queenofthethrones.com
I have been using this pack for a year and it is amazing, I was having flair ups of my inflamed liver and within one day of wearing it I could feel the swelling and pain lessening. I highly recommend it
You suggested changing packs every 3 months. Is this recommendation based on daily use? For example, if the liver pack is used once a week, would you still have to replace the pack after 3 months? Or is replacement recommend after 90 uses? I understand about the toxins. Love your products!
Hey there,
Great question. We want to replace the pack every 2-3 months regardless of use.
I hope this helps!
Is the pack to be worn at night while sleeping or during the day?
Hi there! Thank you for reaching out! We recommend wearing your pack overnight since it can support better sleep. You can also wear your pack during the day if this is more convenient for you!
question: How would the pack support me with microscopic colitis and a heel spur in the back of my foot?
Hey there,
Thank you so much for reaching out!
Castor oil packs are safe and supportive of all conditions, there are no known contraindications (except for pregnancy). Although we cannot comment on your case specifically, colitis is essentially inflammation of the colon, and castor oil contains ricinoleic acid which is a strong natural anti-inflammatory and pain reliever. Many natural practitioners prescribe castor oil packs as part of a supportive protocol for colitis and other digestive and intestinal conditions to help reduce inflammation and ease pain and discomfort. They also help to move the body into the relaxed ‘rest and digest’ state which is essential for rebalancing.
For heel spurs, plantar heel spur is a condition usually associated with plantar fasciitis, which involves the inflammation of the thick tissue running across the bottom of your foot, connecting your heel bone to your toes. Castor oil can be beneficial since it can support balanced inflammation, act as pain reliever, and improve circulation to the area.
Please always check with your doctor if any new practice is right for you. This is not medical advice. This is not intended to treat, cure, prevent or diagnose any disease. This is for educational purposes only.
Do I wash after every use? If so, then how?
Hey there! Your goal is to not wash the pack once you have started using it, as washing may cause the oil to get all over the outer “less mess” layer of the pack, making it messier and decreasing its natural lifecycle.
Here are some great tips to extend the life of your pack:
– Use 1 tbsp of fresh Castor Oil with each use
– Keep the Castor Oil in the center of the pack (away from the seams)
– Avoid washing your oily pack
Remember, it’s unknown whether or not substances are absorbed into your pack, so it’s important to always use fresh oil and replace your pack regularly (a good rule of thumb is to replace it every 2 months if you’re using it daily!)
If you DO want to try washing your oily pack here is a great video for you!
https://youtu.be/ib1JEBpbVbg