Mom's Arthritic Knees....

My Mom has suffered for years from her arthritic knees. My parents used to own a little Mom and Pop hotel on a beach in Florida. I think years of being on her knees mopping floors everyday took their toll. She can predict the weather better than most meteorologists just by the swelling and pain in her knees. She really needs a knee replacement (maybe two) but she wants to avoid doing this as long as possible. We have tried many salves to try to relieve the pain in her knees (Tiger balm, Icy Hot etc.) but nothing seemed to do the trick...plus most everything on the shelves is petroleum based or is full of chemicals. So... a few years ago...I set about to develop a deep-heating salve that would be all natural and that would help her . When I begin to work on a salve, the first step is to research herbs. I was looking for herbs that had anti-inflammatory properties, herbs that would produce heat, and herbs that would help with pain. Then I began with an Arnica base - one of the best anti-inflammatory herbs. Now it was time to work on blending, quantities and combinations. It was fun to work on, although I am not sure Mom would agree. Since this salve was for her, she needed to be my guinea pig! I am sure she got tired of the phone calls...."come try this one, I added another essential oil"! And she probably wanted to run and hide when she saw me walking in the door with another spoon of salve to try! I remember the last weekend I worked on it, I was fine tuning some of the last ingredients...she was sitting in my kitchen with her pants legs pulled above her knees and little shiny salve spots covering her legs in different place...."does this spot feel better than the last spot?" She was a great sport! When we thought we had perfected it, I called all the boys in and began applying it to their sore backs and legs since they had been hoeing the corn all afternoon. Boy did my house smell wonderful....and all of our sinuses cleared right up! It is amazing to me that when you use all natural ingredients the healing process is so much faster! The pain relief lasts so much longer. I guess it is just that our body has the ability to process natural things much more effectively as opposed to chemical things. Isn't God great?! My Mom was surprised at how well this salve worked compared to the others she had tried. I used it on a shoulder injury that I received in a car accident 20 years ago. I had been using Tiger balm extra strength up until I created this salve....the pain relief lasted so much longer for me with my salve than with anything I had tried from the store! Well, as things seem to go around here -I would give a jar here and there to a friend who mentioned sore muscles, aches, arthritis, carpal tunnel (sure helped my symptoms!) and they began to ask to buy it....so...I made a larger batch. We then had to name the salve...always the hard part for me.... and I began selling it. Looking back, I have never developed a salve, soap or tea for the purpose of selling it.....it has always been to benefit my family or a friend in some way but God seems to always take it a step further. The requests for Aches Away began to grow....totally by word of mouth. The most rewarding part is that people began to write to me sharing how much this salve had helped. I loved hearing their stories. There is something so rewarding in knowing that the work of my hands has blessed someone else. I also had requests to put it in a container so that it could be applied without having the deep-heating effect end up on fingers and hands. I thought this was a really good idea....I had been putting on a surgical glove to rub it into my boys backs....so I put it into a roll up deodorant tube....so much easier! I had some requests to make it a little stronger...so I did....Ooohhh! even better! One woman bought a jar at one of my classes to giver to her son for his tendinitis. He says it is the only thing that has really helped in years....the last time he ordered he bought a whole case of the salve!! I began rubbing it on the boys chests at night, instead of Vicks Vapo-rub, and covering it with a flannel cloth ....the essential oils in the salve help to break up their chest congestion and clear their sinuses so they can breathe easier through the night. I use it myself when I have a cold and it helps so much. I have finally added Aches Away to my website....you can find it here or under the Herbal Salves button on the left of the home page. I hope it blesses those of you who try it as much as it has blessed my family!