Interest Group: Thai Herbs

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34 Comments

Comment by Kelly Kidson on November 2, 2009 at 11:31pm

Met with a woman from this company yesterday. They are located in Nonthaburi, TH.www.herb2u.net They make a very nice Ya Hom (fresh) She said they can ship larger orders if anyone is interested. E: send-to-herb2u@hotmail.com The Ya Hom retails for about 10,000 kip, 40 baht or little over 1USD. Monwipa also speaks English. ;)

Comment by Jo Jensen on September 20, 2009 at 11:14pm

When I was at Sunshine we learned about and experienced the herbal sauna. We got instuctions on how to build a permanent stucture, but it seems to be too much of an investment for me. The one we used there was made from PVC pipe and blue tarps. That would be easy to duplicate, but I don't have anywhere to set it up, though I did consider it for a while. I was a very nice experience to sit in that herbal sauna. I have an infared sauna in my basement that I have used with herbs. I steamed them in a crock pot. It works very well, but I don't share it with my clients. I live on a farm and have my massage room in town.

Comment by Kelly Kidson on September 20, 2009 at 9:41pm

Being in Lao now, I am noticing more and more herbal saunas in conjunction with traditional massage, and less compress work. Is anyone offering sauna's to their clients? I'd love to hear about it if you are! :)

Comment by Tevijjo Yogi on January 20, 2009 at 5:09am

The oil you are referring to is called Nam Pim Sen and is a combination of the three ingredients you listed. As for its properties, whether hot or cold, it depends on the amount of each ingredient you put in. If all parts were equal it would lean towards the cool side since Menthol is stronger than the other ingredients. Menthol is cold, Camphor is hot and Borneol is mild. Of the potency, we can say that Menthol is strongest, Camphor next and Borneol again being the most mild. It's important to know that at least 90 percent of what you find in the shops is synthetic or chemically created. Real Menthol comes from mint and has a greenish hue. Real Camphor comes from the Camphor tree and is brown. And real Borneol comes from the Borneol plant which is in the same family as Patchouli. I should say that Borneol, or Pim Sen in Thai, has many sources and there are a bunch of different plants which produce a similar crystal but all have slightly different properties. With regards to this 3 ingredient oil, there are certain contra-indications with it. Since it can be very cold it is usually not good to use with certain imbalances. The most dangerous is in a cold fever. This can cause the body to be far to cold and can shock the system.

As for the oils. Infusion is great for fresh herbs and if the climate it warm enough. For dried herbs it doesn't work as well but can still be done under the right conditions. What I've seen from essential oils used to make balms, I'd say, they never compare with using real herbs. However, if it's all you have or if it's more convenient I'd say give it a try. Make sure to use beeswax and not vaseline or parrafin or the like to make the balm.

Please let us know how it turns out.

Comment by Jo Jensen on January 19, 2009 at 11:09pm

Thanks for your comments. I am always learning more about herbs and their properties.
I have made some very nice balms by infusing herbs in oil. I have let the sunshine work its magic in the summertime. I also have some experience simmering the herbs, straining, adding oil and letting the mixtue cook on low heat until the water is gone. I really like the oils made with sunshine the best even though it takes longer. I also have some experience with essential oils, which is why I thought I might try to make a balm using those. I have collected some of the essential oils of the herbs that are in an herbal ball. I am still working on getting the proportions the way I want them. I have an oil that I learned to make in Thailand that is menthol, camphor, and borneo flakes. We used it in our herbal compresses. I wonder if that would be heating or cooling? What is Thailand if not a country of contradictions?

Comment by Tevijjo Yogi on January 13, 2009 at 7:59pm

No problem Kelly. How are you by the way?

Yes, I was speaking of Datura, among other herbs, when talking about the narcotic affects. It might be ok to use a few leaves as they also help to kill pain and help with many breathing problems. The leaves are smoked to help cure asthma and other diseases of the lungs. But don't use the seeds as they would be too stong and inhaling the vapors could cause some negative side affects. Using Datura is great but I don't recommend it for people who aren't experienced with the herb. It's easy to go over board and I've seen many people do so here. Perhaps, though, the North American variety, being in a temperate climate, isn't as toxic though.

Comment by Kelly Kidson on January 13, 2009 at 7:48pm

Dreams - Datura also comes to mind. My brother-in-law grows it for me. However I wonder about making a compress out of it ..never tried.

Comment by Kelly Kidson on January 13, 2009 at 7:45pm

So, that's exactly why I mentioned David to begin with.... David -"thanks". ; )

Comment by Tevijjo Yogi on January 13, 2009 at 7:36pm

Ah, I try to stay away from things like this but since Kelly called...

Making balms and liniments is fairly easy. Especially if you are using stable herbs, like the ones Kelly mentioned. Ginger, Galanga, Cayenne, etc. Are all good for making a warming/heating liniment or balm. To temper it you can use Coconut oil since it is cooling. If you want to increase the heating affects Sesame oil would be used. You can slowly cook the herbs into the oil one by one being careful not to over heat them. Slice them very thin so that you get the most surface area and the oil can penetrate all the way through. The herbs, once cooked should be like potato chips. Infuse the herbs separately to insure that properties aren't lost or in opposition with one another. Once you have done this you can combine the oil and let it cool a bit. While it's still warm but not hot add the Camphor. Then let it sit. You can use Camphor for more heating properties and Menthol for cooling. If you'd like to make a balm add pure bees wax to the oil before it completely cools. You can melt the bees wax separately first. Then add it together constantly stirring. The ratio depends on how firm or soft you want the balm. As for other herbs to use in a liniment balm... Warming and heating herbs include... Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Black Pepper, Long Pepper, Cayenne, etc. Warm to mild herbs include... Turmeric, Galanga, Citrus rinds, etc. Cooling herbs include... Mint, Bitter Greens, Plaintain, etc. It's necessary to look at the properties of each herb and how they work in of themselves and how they interact with other herbs. For example, you wouldn't combine cooling herbs and heating herbs as they would cancel each other out. Also, things like Clove, while warm, also have an analgesic affect.

If you are using fresh herbs you can infuse them right into the oil if you are using dry it's better to make a decoction with the herbs, leaving the herbs in the water and then adding oil and cooking the water out. It's a much longer process but it yields better results. Or you could cook the herbs with water and oil until the water cooks out. Of course you have to be careful with this method not to over cook the oil and not to leave any water in the oil as both will cause the oil to spoil.

To answer Damion, there are many herbs which would have that affect but in general you have to be careful with such herbs. They usually have narcotic effects as well. In all honesty, nutmeg, mace and star anise are very good for this sort of thing but you have to use it in the right doses. Also, many flower herbs are good as well. Lotus stamens, jasmine, etc. The thing with these are that they are so delicate it's easy for the effective components to be lost. They require a very slow and steadily increasing heat. There are many Thai herbs which I would recommend as well but are rather hard to find here. There is one that is perfect for this but I'm not sure it's possible to get fresh here. I'd say some forms of Sage might really do the trick though.

Hope this helps...

Comment by Kelly Kidson on January 13, 2009 at 4:53pm

Jo- you could try making a ginger/camphor/cayenne oil like the one Mama Lek sells.. there are lots of things really you could make.. Pierce has a recipe for a "tiger balm" in his book.. even common plantain ผักกาดน้ำ makes an awesome healing oil..

Damion - Mugwort of course first comes to mind. As for dreams,I honestly don't know as much about that, maybe David has some tips : )

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