Home Herbs 14 Natural Remedies for Open Wounds

14 Natural Remedies for Open Wounds

by Andreea Laza

If you are looking for simple and effective natural remedies for open wounds, continue reading this article and find out what they are. But first.

Open wounds, when left untreated, can lead to a bacterial infection. This is why, if you’ve got wounded it’s important to act fast. First, wash the wound well with plenty of clean water to remove all the dirt and debris. When the wound is perfectly clean, you can use a natural herbal salve or simple poultices that help the wounds heal quicker and without scarring. There are many other natural remedies for open wounds that you can try. Below is our best collection of natural remedies for open wounds that have proven their efficiency over time. Let’s get into the remedies.

open wounds natural remedy

14 Natural Remedies for Open Wounds

1. Calendula – the Ultimate Remedy for Open Wounds

(Calendula officinalis)

This is one of the simplest natural remedies for open wounds that my grandmother used to prepare when I was a child. In her small vegetable garden, she used to grow her own calendula flowers that she picked herself to make this miraculous all-purpose salve. I remember that she used to prepare this salve with pork lard in which she simmered the freshly cut calendulas. Then she used this salve to anoint her cut and burn wounds and also her joints that were aching at the change of the season. Here is her old calendula salve recipe.

Calendula Salve Recipe

  1. Heat up 300 g of unsalted pork lard until it starts to sizzle.
  2. Then add two handfuls of chopped calendula flowers with strains, and leaves.
  3. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer them in the hot fat for 3-5 minutes.
  4. Turn the heat off and leave the salve to sit until the next day.
  5. The next day, warm it up slightly and pass it through a clean piece of gauze.
  6. Pour the calendula salve into small jars or cosmetic containers and keep in the fridge.

Calendula salve is especially good for healing open wounds, no matter their cause. Another highly effective herbal balm is the comfrey one, made from the roots of the comfrey flower to be more exact. You can prepare this salve exactly as the calendula one.

Natural Remedy for Priapism - Calendula Salve
Calendula salve

Calendula Tincture Recipe

Calendula tincture is another great natural remedy for open wounds. For this you need the following ingredients and containers:

  • one handful of fresh or 30 g of dried calendula flowers
  • 200 ml of alcohol with 40% alcohol content (vodka or distilled rye alcohol)
  • 1 jar with a lid
  • 4 amber glass spray bottles (50 ml/1.7oz)

Fill up the jar with the calendula flowers and pour the alcohol on top, so that they are entirely covered. Seal and keep the jar on the window sill for three weeks, in sunlight. Shake daily. Strain the tincture and pour it into small amber glass bottles. In order to use it for washing open wounds or for deep bruises and scratches, dilute the tincture in the water at a 1:10 ratio (one part tincture, 10 parts water).  

This remedy for open wounds can also be used to rinse your mouth in case of mouth sores or gum problems. This is one of the best among all the natural remedies for open wounds, scars, and bruises because calendulas have active anti-inflammatory substances that stimulate the growth of new skin tissue and quick skin repair.

2. Birthwort Remedy for Open Wounds

(Aristolochia clematitis)

This remedy is very useful for open wounds after surgery that don’t seem to heal. This is what you need to do. Before bandaging the wound, wash it well with birthwort tea. Birthwort is a weed that grows in corn plantations. Make a simple infusion by scalding 1 tsp of dried herb in one cup of hot water for 10 minutes. Whenever you need to bandage the wound, heat up 2-3 tbsp of this infusion and pad/wash the wound with it. You’ll see the effects of this simple remedy in a maximum of 3 weeks when a new layer of skin will begin to grow back in place. Another way to use birthwort is to prepare a decoction for compresses.

  • Simmer 1 tsp of plant in a cup of water for 20 minutes.
  • Leave aside to cool down, and strain.
  • Soak a sterile gauze in and apply it directly to the open wound.
  • Leave the compress on overnight.

Repeat the process daily until the open wound has closed and healed. Wash your hands well after every use of this decoction. This medicinal herb is one of the most powerful natural remedies for open wounds.

Natural Remedies for Skin Moles - European birthwort
European birthwort plant (Aristolochia clematitis)

3. Horsetail and Marshmallow Natural Remedies for Open Wounds

In the evening prepare a cold maceration by adding 1 heaped tsp of common mallow (Malva sylvestris) in one cup/250 ml of cold water and leave overnight (8-10h). In the morning make a horsetail (Equisetum arvense) infusion by steeping 1 tsp of plant in one cup/250 ml of hot water. Wash the wound with this natural antiseptic tea. Then strain the cold mallow maceration, heat it up slightly to reach body temperature, and wash the open wound with it. Use the warm horsetail infusion first and the common mallow after. It’s really important that you use them in this order. These herbs are some of the most powerful natural remedies for open wounds.

4. Remedy for Open Wounds with Elder Bark

(Sambucus nigra)

This simple remedy is amazing for open wounds, as well as much worse conditions, such as mouth cancer. For this remedy, gather a few elder tree offshoots, 2-3 cm in diameter. Remove the bark from the offshoots and then put the barks into a pot and pour 4 liters of water over them, so they are almost fully covered with water. Place the pot over medium heat and boil until the water quantity drops to one-quarter (1 liter) of the initial quantity.

Leave the pot aside to cool down, and then strain the elder bark decoction into another pot. Add 250 ml of sunflower oil, 3 tbsp of honey, and a piece of natural beeswax the size of an egg into the pot over the decoction, and bring once again to a boil. Continue boiling until the liquids drop to half (2 cups), then strain through a clean piece of gauze. Keep the remedy in the fridge in glass containers, where it will solidify into a salve due to the beeswax. Use this salve on the open wounds until they fully close up and heal.

Complete Home Remedy for Acrocyanosis
Elder trees orchard

5. Nettle & Wormwood Natural Remedies for Open Wounds

Fill up a glass bottle with fresh nettle leaves (Urtica dioica), but without stuffing them. Pour alcohol over the leaves. Seal the bottle and keep it in direct sunlight for the following 2 weeks. Strain the nettle tincture and pour it into small amber bottles. The cuts and bruises treated with nettle tincture heal fast and without pain.

Wormwood tea (Artemisia absinthium) is also as effective if you let it dry on the skin and then anoint the wound with egg whites. When the egg whites dry, wash off with wormwood tea. Repeat the process 3-4 times a day until the wound closes and heals completely. Nettle and wormwood are powerful cleansers, which makes them some of the best natural remedies for open wounds.

6. Olive Oil Salve for Open Wounds

Combine 2 cups of olive oil with 1 cup of beeswax in a pot and bring to boil. When it starts to simmer, put it aside to cool down. You will obtain a salve that has the consistency of butter. Apply the olive oil salve to the wound after you’ve washed the wound thoroughly.

14 Natural Remedies for Open Wounds - Olive Oil

7. Greater Celandine Remedy

(Chelidonium majus)

Open plagues heal faster if you use sterile compresses soaked in greater celandine oil. Greater celandine salve is just as good if you apply it before bandaging the wound. Celandine is one of the most powerful natural remedies for open wounds.

8. Propolis Tincture

Pad the open wound several times a day with propolis tincture. You can find propolis tincture at your local beekeeper’s shop or in natural stores. After padding the wounds with this tincture, apply a few well-washed plantain leaves (Plantago major) over the wound. Propolis tincture is one of the most miraculous natural remedies for open wounds. Important! Do not use propolis tincture on open wounds with puss, as this tincture makes the wound close very quickly. For wounds with pus we recommend the wormwood and sage remedy below.

Home Remedy for Mouth Cancer with Grape Peels - Propolis Tincture

6 Natural Remedies for Open Wounds That Won’t Heal

1. Wormwood and Sage Natural Remedies for Open Wounds

If the wound is purulent (with pus), sprinkle some powdered dried wormwood and sage directly on the open wound, and apply a bandage. Wash the powdered herbs off after 2-3 hours with a herbal tea, preferably burdock root tea (boil 1 tsp of root in 100 ml of water). Club moss herb powder (Lycopodium clavatum) is also amazing for closing open wounds. These herbs have a strong cleansing effect and are especially good for wounds with puss, which makes them some of the best natural remedies for open wounds.

2. Leopard’s Bane Remedy

(Doronicum orientale)

Leopard’s bane balm is amazing for open wounds if you use it alongside a natural soap to wash to wound with prior to applying the balm. Leopard’s bane tincture is just as effective for wounds that just won’t close, and you can prepare at home as follows. Macerate 50 g of dried leopard’s bane flowers in 250 ml of 70° alcohol for 48 hours. Strain and pour in amber glass bottles with droppers.

Dilute 10 drops of tincture in 100 ml of boiled and chilled water and use it to pad the wound. Leopard’s bane is native to Europe, Asia, and Siberia, but you can grow your own from seeds. Common centaury (Centaurium erythraea) infusion washes are also amazing for wounds that have a hard time healing. These are some of the best natural remedies for open wounds.

3. Sea Buckthorn Oil Remedy for Open Wounds

Anoint the wound with sea buckthorn oil in the evening and leave it to take action overnight. You can also apply smashed seabuckthorn berries directly to the open wound. Beware! The seabuckthorn oil and berries can stain, so make sure you bandage the wound well before going to bed. Sea buckthorn is one of the most effective natural remedies for open wounds.

4. Herbal Remedy for Open Wounds that Don’t Close

Combine 15 g of leopard’s bane flowers with 20 g of chamomile, 25 g of oregano, 20 g of common comfrey root, and 20 g of oak bark. Put 2 tbsp of this herbal blend into 10 ml of alcohol and leave to soak for 12 hours. The next day pour 100 ml of boiling water over the maceration and steep for 15 minutes. Strain the content and pour it into amber bottles. Use three times a day to pad the wound with and then bandage. These herbs are some of the most powerful natural remedies for open wounds.

5. Clay Cataplasm

Before applying the clay cataplasm, wash the wound with concentrated yarrow tea. Apply the clay cataplasm, leave it on for 30 minutes, and then wash it off with the same tea. After repeating the process for 1 week, the wound will be almost completely closed and healed. This remedy has been successfully used for dog bite wounds. Clay is a natural disinfectant, helping cleanse the wound deeply, making it one of the top natural remedies for open wounds that don’t heal.

6. Red Wine Cure

Find a high-quality, preservative-free red wine. Pour 200 ml of honey into a 1-liter glass jar and fill the rest of the jar with red wine. Stir with a wooden spoon, until the honey melts completely. Use this sweet wine to wash the wound. You can also use this remedy in poultices (you can apply 2-3 a day).

Read More: 15 Home Remedies for Infected Cuts

These are some of the most powerful natural remedies for open wounds from parts of Central and Eastern Europe and we really hope that they will truly help you out too. Let us know in the comment section below if they have worked for you too. Stay healthy, naturally. Much love.

Natural Remedies for Open Wounds

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