How To Make a Cinnamon Painkilling Tincture

Cinnamon is loved for its comforting aroma and delicious, sweet flavor. It is regularly being touted as the healthiest spice. Certainly, no argument from me! It is the main ingredient in our powerful Cinnamon Painkilling Tincture. Below, we have a simple step-by-step preparation for this tincture. We will also be learning how to use it both externally and internally. It is dangerously delicious!

Cinnamon – The Healthiest Spice is Commonly Available

Most of us will be familiar with cinnamon, a common spice that is available in just about any grocery store. You can find ground cinnamon or cinnamon sticks. For this recipe, we will be using cinnamon sticks, simply because they are the easiest to strain.

Cinnamon’s Companion, Cloves

We are going to use cinnamon’s incomparable partner, clove in this tincture as well.

Clove too is generally available from most grocery stores in ground or whole form.

Where Do Cinnamon and Clove Come From?

Both cinnamon and clove come from tropical evergreen trees. Cinnamon that we know is harvested from the bark of tree branches. The bark rolls up when dried, forming the familiar cinnamon sticks. Cloves are the flower buds from the evergreen clove tree.

Do You Need Special Cinnamon to Relieve Pain?

There are two familiar kinds of cinnamon. The one most of us are familiar with is cassia cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon is also known as true cinnamon and is grown mostly in Sri Lanka. Both cassia and Ceylon cinnamon come from the Cinnamomum genus of plants. They contain high amounts of compounds that contribute to their antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties.

Both Cinnamons Have Powerful Pain Fighting Abilities

Cinnamon contains powerful polyphenol antioxidants. These are known as cinnamaldehyde and they work wonders as anti-inflammatories. Cinnamon even outplays the well-known superfoods, garlic, and oregano, in the antioxidant department! The antioxidant compounds in cloves are called eugenol, which also helps reduce pain and inflammation.
No wonder cinnamon and cloves have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years!

Cinnamon Painkilling Tincture Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons crushed cinnamon sticks.
• 1 tablespoon whole cloves.
• 2 ounces of high-quality liquor.

A Note About Liquor

Alcohol is a great substance for extracting medicinal compounds from plants. It is fast and my understanding is it extracts both oil and water-soluble properties. There are a few schools of thought on the matter. Some feel in herbal medicine that if it is a tincture, it is made with alcohol.
I’m using alcohol in this tincture but cinnamon and clove both extract well and deliciously in water, honey, oil, and vegetable glycerin so there are options if you wanted to try other methods of extracting the powerful pain-relieving substances.
The alcohol I use is our neighborhood’s white lightning, also known as moonshine. It is clear and strong, (maybe even too strong). Other choices that are often recommended for making tincture extractions are vodka or brandy. The stronger the alcohol content, or the higher the proof, the faster the extraction, is my basic understanding for choosing the alcohol that suits your needs.

Step-By-Step Process

Step 1

Gather the best quality cinnamon and cloves that you can find. I use whole cloves and cinnamon sticks in this recipe to avoid having to strain finely ground cinnamon and cloves.

Step 2

Use your hands or a mallet or hammer to break up cinnamon sticks. If any inner parts are discolored or not a deep rich brown, it may be best to throw those out.

Step 3

Place the crumbled cinnamon bark and cloves into a clean, sterile jar.

Step 4

Measure 2 ounces of your preferred alcohol.

Step 5

Cover cinnamon bark and cloves with liquor. Put a tight-fitting lid on the jar. I put the jar in a sunny window for 48 hours. Some people may prefer to put it in a cool dark place. The sunny window worked extremely well. I did attempt to research the best ways to extract cinnamon in light or in dark. The research available is extensive, so I ended up going with my gut and putting it in the window. It was pretty with the sunlight coming through the cinnamon-colored liquid.

Step 6

At 48 hours later, about ½ an ounce of the liquor has absorbed into the cinnamon bark and cloves. The remaining liquid is dark brown, gorgeously rich in color and aroma.

Step 7

Strain the dark golden liquor.

Step 8

Pour the tincture into a brown tincture bottle to protect the liquor now that the extraction process is complete. I’ll confess that I think there may still be many great attributes left in the jar with the whole cloves and cinnamon bark. I recovered with more liquor. I look forward to seeing how it turns out in a day or two.

The Many Uses of Cinnamon Painkilling Tincture

Internal Uses

• Add a drop or two to a morning beverage, coffee, or a warm cup of tea.• Use as a morning anti-inflammatory tonic, using 1 to 2 cups of warm water +/- 104° F (40° C), ginger and lemon slices, a couple of drops of Cinnamon Painkilling Tincture, and a teaspoon of honey.
• Place a drop under your tongue 2 to 3 times a day and monitor the effect on your pain symptoms.
• Use in sauces, marinades, salad dressings to spice up your meals with complementary antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

External Uses

• Apply a drop or two directly onto swollen, sore areas.
• Mix 2 to 4 drops into massage oil and use as you might cinnamon essential oil for massage.
• Mix 2 to 4 drops into a cup of Epsom salts to use in the bath for a relaxing therapeutic soak.

Precautions

Each of us is different. Always consult your medical care practitioners when beginning new complementary health care. Start with the smallest dose or skin test to check for any unwanted or allergic-type symptoms.
Cinnamon and cloves are common spices but at high doses may have interactions with some medications. Always check with your doctor if you are taking any medications that may interact with cinnamon or clove. If you have any chronic issues such as liver or heart conditions, it may also be advisable to talk to your doctor about taking spices at high doses.

Final Thoughts

Cinnamon is one of our healthiest spices to use. It has many benefits for many aspects of our health. A common and readily available spice, it can help us ease our pains. This Cinnamon Painkilling Tincture allows us to extract many of the helpful and potent compounds in cinnamon so that we can easily include it into our daily lives.

You may also like: 

The Killer Tree You Should Never Have In Your Backyard

6 Autoimmune Tinctures You Are Missing From Your Medicinal Cabinet (Video)    

How To Make A Pain Healing Mint Salve

What Happens If You Add Cinnamon To Your Honey Jar

How to Make an Antihistamine Balm for Natural Allergy Relief