Castor oil has been around for centuries, and for many people of my generation it probably brings back memories of being forced to swallow a spoonful of the stuff as a child.
That is not the castor oil story I want to tell.
For me, castor oil has become something much more personal. It has been part of the health journey I have shared with my mother for more than a decade. She is now 104 years old, and castor oil packs have become one of the natural practices she believes has helped her enormously.
It Took Me Five Years to Convince Her
I have been living with and helping care for my mother for about 13 years.
She had major intestinal surgery decades ago after an obstruction, and bowel problems have continued to be one of the recurring health challenges in her life.
Not long after I came to live with her, I began encouraging her to try castor oil packs.
She wasn’t interested.
In fact, it took me roughly five years to get her to use them seriously and consistently.
Once she finally did, she couldn’t believe the difference she felt.
Over the following years she has stopped and restarted the routine several times. She isn’t always great at sticking to routines, and castor oil packs do take a little effort.
But there has been a pattern that both of us have noticed.
When she uses the packs regularly, she feels that her bowels function much better. When she stops for extended periods, she tends to struggle more. A few of those difficult periods have eventually ended with hospital visits.
That experience has made me pretty persistent about encouraging her to keep doing them.
At 104, she certainly knows her own body, and she gives castor oil packs a lot of credit for helping her.
I can’t prove that scientifically, and I wouldn’t pretend that castor oil explains her extraordinary longevity. But after living through this with her year after year, I am not prepared to dismiss what we have repeatedly observed either.
How We Make Her Castor Oil Pack
Our routine is simple.
We use a piece of cotton flannel and soak it with good-quality castor oil. We place the saturated cloth directly over the abdominal area we want to cover.
Then we protect the surrounding area from the oil with a barrier, add towels, and place a hot-water bottle over the pack.
Sometimes we position it higher on her abdomen and sometimes lower, depending on how she is feeling.
I usually help her prepare everything.
It is messy. Castor oil is thick and sticky. It isn’t a five-second health hack.
But the warmth itself is extremely soothing, and in my mother’s case the sessions are frequently followed by a trip to the bathroom—which, given her history of becoming blocked up, is something we pay attention to.
There is at least some published research behind that observation. A small study of older adults with chronic constipation found that castor oil packs did not increase the number of bowel movements, but they did improve several constipation symptoms, including stool consistency, straining and the feeling of incomplete evacuation.
That isn’t proof of everything people claim about castor oil packs. But it is interesting.
I Eventually Started Using Them Myself
After advocating castor oil packs for my mother for years, eventually I figured I should spend some time experimenting with them myself.
I’ve used them over my abdominal and liver area as part of my own broader health routine.
What I can say without exaggeration is that I find them incredibly comforting.
There is something about the combination of warmth, stillness and the heavy oil pack that forces you to lie down and relax for a while. Whether every benefit people attribute to castor oil turns out to be real or not, the relaxation component alone has value to me.
I’ve also used castor oil directly on my skin and like it very much as a moisturizer.
It is oily. It is sticky. You aren’t going to mistake it for some elegant cosmetic cream.
But my skin seems to love it.
Castor oil is also widely used on hair and the scalp, which is another area I think is worth experimenting with if it agrees with you.
What About All the Claims Surrounding Castor Oil?
This is where I’ve changed my thinking since I first wrote about castor oil years ago.
The internet is filled with claims about castor oil packs stimulating the liver, moving lymph, boosting immunity, detoxifying the body, dissolving growths and fighting everything from infections to cancer.
Some of those claims may eventually prove interesting.
But I don’t think we need to pretend the science is stronger than it currently is.
Castor oil itself has a well-established laxative effect when taken orally, although it isn’t generally considered a first-line treatment for chronic constipation today.
Evidence for the much broader systemic effects attributed to topical castor oil packs is considerably thinner.
That doesn’t make my mother’s experience meaningless.
It simply means we should distinguish between what we have experienced, what people have traditionally believed, and what controlled research has actually demonstrated.
I think that’s an important distinction in natural health.
The Edgar Cayce Connection
One reason castor oil packs became famous in alternative health circles was Edgar Cayce, who recommended them repeatedly as part of his holistic health teachings.
That history is fascinating, and it helped keep the practice alive long after castor oil fell out of fashion in conventional medicine.
But I no longer think Cayce’s recommendations need to be the main reason someone considers trying a castor oil pack.
For me, the more compelling reason is simpler.
They are inexpensive. They are relatively easy to use. They encourage rest. There is some preliminary evidence of benefit for certain constipation symptoms. And after many years of using them with my mother, we have personally found them useful enough to keep coming back to them.
One Important Warning
There is one place where I would not fool around.
If someone has severe abdominal pain, vomiting, abdominal swelling, inability to pass stool or gas, or other signs suggesting a bowel obstruction, that is not the time to experiment with a home remedy.
My mother’s own medical history includes bowel obstruction and surgery. When something appears seriously wrong, we go to the hospital.
Castor oil packs are part of our health routine. They are not a replacement for emergency care.
And taking castor oil orally is a completely different matter from putting it on the skin. Oral castor oil is a stimulant laxative and can cause cramping, diarrhea, nausea and dehydration, particularly in excessive amounts.
An Old Remedy That Earned a Place in Our Home
I have tried a great many natural-health strategies over the years.
Some disappear from my routine.
Castor oil hasn’t.
My mother resisted it for five years. Then she tried it. Now, after years of stopping, restarting and observing the difference for herself, she considers the packs important enough that she believes she should probably continue them for the rest of her life.
At 104, I think she’s earned the right to have an opinion.
And after helping her prepare all those hot-water bottles, flannel cloths and sticky castor oil packs over the years, I’ve developed an opinion too.
Sometimes the oldest, simplest health practices are worth another look.
Not because somebody on the internet promises a miracle.
Because you try them carefully, pay attention to your body, and decide whether they earn a place in your own health arsenal.
In our house, castor oil did.