Flax, Linum usitatissimum, has gotten some good press & diverse sales in last few years.

For over 35 years I have planted it, bought it, begged it & hauled seeds around the world for 1st aid.

An old Provo, Utah mentor taught me how to use the boiled seed to "draw". You will get instructions at end of this post.

Here is my latest personal use testimonial. I hope some readers will carry on

the tradition & use common sense about limitations.

When clearing land for agriculture a rigid type of cactus spine became snugly imbedded in between the knuckle bones on one of my fingers.

The cactus spine's covering dissolved, the infection was controlled, digging it out with a knife point was unsuccessful, no surgery was available & the flesh healed over. Months, plural, passed & intermittently working with that hand's finger was painful.

Now you know I am a procrastinator , because wouldn't bother to fix it promptly. But, finally work load eased & suffering stupidly really abashed me.

So, I boiled some flax seed & wrapped it on the knuckle with obstinate deep embedded cactus spine between the bones. When didn't get the anticipated quick draw my previous experiences gave I admit to disheartening doubt.

Well, you guessed right if figured that, it took a few days to open up the puncture & loosen the spine to where it retracted from it's inaccessible penetrated bone joint depth. After I could finally pull spine out without surgical digging I chastised myself for ignoring it & dreaming it would go away.

Another use over the years has been to clear obstinate foreign material from the eyes; whether agro-industrial accidents of flying debris or undiagnosed infection/inflammation. Remember to use common sense if dealing with any open wounds (see later in post).

I take the tepid boiled flax, slap it on the closed eye & bandage wrap it to some how stay in place. Usually done overnight, without changing the

applied flax, it lifts clean away & the eye recovery will have noticeably begun &/or the offending particle will be accessible for extraction near the corner/lid of the eye. For a surprisingly short span repeat applications may be indicated .

Here's how I won some overseas Customs Inspection indulgence recently after the fellows' steel pinned broken leg surgical scars refused to stop oozing serum & blood for months. This was NOT a raw, completely open new surgical wound.

Response, using boiled flax wrapped overnight (air was day time strategy with less boiled flax applications), was noticeable quite quickly & the wound site first cleaned up it's definition - whereby the number of focal points became less. It was daily obvious there was less volume of discharge, more skin knitting the area together & the subsurface swelling was subsiding.

This instance brings up another use for boiled flax. This fellow, mentioned with the broken leg, had compromised circulatory swelling in the lower extremity. The family would pack these areas with boiled flax & the underlying tissue would soften, as well as limb diameter would decrease.

You, yourself, may also know of some individual professing the "Toxin" theory who regularly ingest boiled flax for prevention. I have not administered it internally & have no informed opinion; it is not poisonous.

Preparation:

1) take flax seed (threshed/winnowed) & bring it to boil (clear/cleanest water)

2. simmer for a LONG time ( 1/2 hour +) until the seed exudes a mucus,
   
   absolutely important the "gel" extraction occurs & you do NOT need to
   
   separate the seeds from the gel matrix
   
   2a) seed freshness will determine the speed which extraction occurs
   
   & amount of total gel obtained; old seeds are better than none
   
   2b) you want the gel/seed goo & not water so it will stay better where
   
   you put it on the body; if you use too much water just
   
   simmer it away; if you use too little water initially add more to
   
   keep gel from burning onto pan
   
   3) apply the tepid flax gel, fix in place anyway can & do NOT fuss with the
   
   poultice worrying about it's temperature or lift it to inspect (let it work
   
   undisturbed); overnight is good time for convenience & duration span
   
   in place
   
   3a) repeat as needed & use common sense when open wound involved