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A poultice, also called a cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth and placed over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed, or
pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...
ful part of the body. It can be used on wounds, such as cuts. 'Poultice' may also refer to a porous solid filled with a solvent used to remove stains from porous stone such as marble or granite. The word "poultice" comes from the Greek word "poltos" transformed in the Latin ''puls, pultes'', meaning "porridge".


Types

* Some Native Americans used mashed pumpkin or devil’s club as a poultice. *Native Americans have thousands of plants for the making of poultices. The known tribes who utilize(d) plants for poultices include the
Abnaki The Abenaki (Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predom ...
, Aleut, some Algonquin bands, Anticosti, some
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
tribes, Atsugewi, Bella Coola,
Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...
, Cahuilla, California Indian,
Carrier Carrier may refer to: Entertainment * ''Carrier'' (album), a 2013 album by The Dodos * ''Carrier'' (board game), a South Pacific World War II board game * ''Carrier'' (TV series), a ten-part documentary miniseries that aired on PBS in April 20 ...
bands, Catawba,
Chehalis Chehalis may refer to: People * Chehalis people, a Native American people of Washington state **Lower Chehalis language **Upper Chehalis language * Sts'Ailes people (Chehalis people), a First Nation in British Columbia * Chehalis First Nation, Bri ...
, Cherokee, some Cheyenne, Chickasaw, Chippewa,
Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
, Clallam, Coahuilla, some Cocopa,
Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
, Concow, and many more. * In addition to bread and cereals, bran may also be used as a poultice because of its absorbent quality. It is packed into the wound and then covered with a piece of sacking or similar material before being bandaged onto the site of the wound. * There are also many commercial poultices that are ready-made. Some of these may be labeled as " drawing salves". * Ash poultices can cause a chemical burn.


Inflammation treatment

A poultice is a common treatment used on
horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
to relieve inflammation. It is usually used on the lower legs, under a stable bandage, to focus treatment on the easily injured tendons in the area. Poultices are sometimes applied as a precautionary measure after the horse has worked hard, such as after racing, jumping, or a cross-country run, to prevent heat and
filling Filling may refer to: * a food mixture used for stuffing * Icing (food), Frosting used between layers of a cake * Dental restoration * Symplectic filling, a kind of cobordism in mathematics * Part of the leather crusting process See also

* Fi ...
. They are also used to treat
abscess An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pressed. The area of redness often extends b ...
wounds, where a build-up of pus needs to be drawn out. Poultices may also be heated and placed on an area where extra circulation is desired. A poultice is a cooling product that is commonly used for show-jumpers and
racehorses Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
, as it is often cheaper and easier to administer than many other cooling products. A poultice is applied to the horse's distal limbs after exercise, for 9–12 hours. The intended effect of the poultice is to cool the horse's legs over a long period of time, by drawing heat out of the leg through evaporation. It is a common practice to bandage over the poultice, using bandages and bandage fillers, and to place either wet newspaper or cellophane wrap between the poultice and bandages, yet bandaging over the poultice may also prevent the action of heat evaporation and, therefore, prevent cooling—i.e., heat can't escape. It is also worth noting dry poultice stores heat.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Medical treatments Equine injury and lameness