Want to know how to make cabbage salve for pain? Discover our cabbage salve recipe and make your own at home.
Cabbage salve is one of the most effective topical remedies for pain. It is a well-known fact that topical applications with crushed cabbage leaves have remarkable healing properties, and this is backed by science. However, cabbage salve is even more effective than cabbage leaves, as it penetrates much more easily through the skin. Making cabbage salve at home does not require any special knowledge or equipment and anyone can make it quite simply. Without further ado, here is how to make cabbage salve for pain.

In This Article You Will Find:
How to Make Cabbage Salve for Pain
Ingredients
- 50 ml fresh cabbage juice (approx. 3-4 tbsp)
- 200 g pork lard (or lanolin)
- 1 tbsp beeswax
- 10 ml vegetable oil (1 tbsp)
- 10-15 ml alcohol 38-40% (or the same amount of herbal tinctures – 3 tsp)
- 1 tsp honey
Melt the lard (or lanolin) and beeswax in an enameled pot, and after they have melted add the oil. Heat everything up to 60°C/140°F. In a separate pot heat the raw cabbage juice at the same temperature, add the honey and refined alcohol or herbal tincture/s of choice, and mix everything well. The herbal tinctures must be chosen according to the condition you want to treat. Find more information here. Remove the melted oils from the heat and pour them over the cabbage juice, honey, and alcohol mixture very slowly. Stir gently until the fresh cabbage salve cools down slightly. Pour the salve into a glass jar with a lid and keep it in the fridge.
Cabbage Salve Recipe Tips
If you want, you can add some essential oils of your choice at the end to make the cabbage salve smell nice. A nice combo is 10 drops each of pine, lavender, rose, and jasmine essential oils. Kids especially appreciate a nice-smelling salve. Although the shelf life of the cabbage salve is 2-3 months, we do not recommend making a larger batch, to make the most of the active ingredients in the cabbage juice. If you use lanolin instead of pork lard, the cabbage salve does not go rancid so quickly and can be kept for a longer period of time. This also makes a vegan salve.
How to Use Cabbage Salve for Pain
Anoint the affected or painful areas with the cabbage ointment, and then wrap a clean piece of gauze around the area. Usually after about two hours, you will feel the pain has gone away. Repeat the process 2-3 times a day. From my own experience, I found that the pain subsides 15 minutes after using the cabbage salve, even if it is a sharp pain.

Natural Cabbage Salve Uses
This cabbage salve is a very good skin repair ointment for most skin conditions, but most importantly for pain. This is because it penetrates the skin much faster and can have amazing effects in reducing arthrosis, rheumatic, or other types of pain. You can even use the cabbage salve to reduce skin tumors or skin cancer, in which case add arnica or celandine tincture when making the salve instead of the alcohol. Before applying the cabbage salve in a thin layer, wash the affected skin area with warm celandine leaf or burdock root tea.
Read Also: Original Pine Needle Salve Recipe for Pain Relief
This cabbage salve recipe is a natural topical remedy for rheumatic pain, joint pain, and skin problems. If you’ve enjoyed learning how to make cabbage salve for pain and for many other skin conditions, please share this article so more people can make their own cabbage salve. Stay healthy, naturally!
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