Those of us living close to the land tend to be physically active people. Active people with sore muscles. Thankfully, we can find herbal relief with birch leaf oil.
A Spring Project for Year Round Relief
This is a super easy process and should be done in the late spring and summer months to take advantage of the birch tree's medicinal benefits. The leaves are likely to have less of their healing powers in the fall as they prepare to be shed from the tree for winter, so harvest early and make a big batch to last the year.
Why Birch?
Birch leaves contain anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties which is why it's so helpful to use on those sore muscles. They also help detoxify the blood (they make a great tea too) and body, and are often used in commercial products to help with cellulite in the body. Cellulite isn't something I worry about personally but those sore leg muscles after a training run most definitely have my attention.
How to Make Birch Leaf Oil
Fill a clean glass jar to within 1/2″ of the top with fresh, washed and dried, birch leaves. Use the best looking leaves – nothing wilted, brown, diseased, or infested with insects. Cover these leaves with oil (olive, grapeseed, almond, etc.) and be sure to remove any air bubbles.
Secure a piece of cheesecloth or other breathable cloth over the opening of the jar with a rubber band instead of using a lid. This breathable covering means that any moisture in the leaves can evaporate rather than cause mold in the jar on top of the oil.
Put the jar in a sunny window and leave to infuse for 1 month. Check the leaves now and then and make sure they stay submerged under the oil. Look for mold, don't use if the leaves/oil mold.
At the end of the month, strain the leaves from the oil and store the oil in a clean jar. Once the oil is done infusing, keep the oil out of direct sunlight by storing in a dark bottle or in a dark cabinet.
Using Birch Leaf Oil
The great thing about this medicine is that it requires no other preparation. Simply massage the infused oil into sore muscles as needed and allow the body to rest a bit and recover.
Before the leaves need raking and the snow flies, collect some birch leaves and infuse some oil for all those sore muscles that are bound to come from work and play later.
All oils go rancid, use up within a year.
Becca says
Need to give this a try for James to perhaps use in his practice. Give our giant birch tree something to do with all of its leaves. :)
tessa says
I had no clue you could do this with birch! I need to learn more about herbal trees, I really do.
Amber says
Fantastic!
Margaret says
This is wonderful. I intend to give it a try directly. Perhaps it will be the answer to my husband’s consistant aching tractor back.
I need to learn more about healing trees, too Tessa. We always think of herbs and forget that other plants are probably just as helpful in many ways!
Thank you for opening my eyes.
Marcie says
can any birch tree leaves be used? We have a river birch….would that work?
Kathie says
According to the book, Backyard Medicine, the 3 best birch types for this kind of medicine making are Silver birch, white birch, and sweet birch (betula pendula, betula pubescens, betula lenta). It doesn’t seem like river birch is the right type but I can’t say definitively. Buggers.
Naomi says
I had the same question, Marcie — we have a river birch, too.
There seems to be incredibly little information about them, and with this gorgeous one in our front yard, I /really/ want to know.
You may already know all this, but, own best information is as follows:
1) As a general rule, plants of the same species tend to share at least /some/, and usually a large number, of medicinal properties. So, when in doubt, one can assume overlap.
2) Also as a general rule, indigenous people simply used whatever species grew where they lived. So, for example, while supermarkets and major brands have all fixated on Echinacea purpurea, multiple echinaceas were historically used — including Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower), Echinacea pallida (Pale Purple Coneflower) and Echinacea augustifolia (Narrow-Leafed Purple Coneflower), just to name a few
3) Sometimes, the only way to find out is to try. Me, I’m going to fill a jar with river birch leaves, oil-infuse them, and then give some to a runner friend to see how they do. :D
Really curious to see the result!
Susannah Shmurak says
So cool — never heard of this one! Thanks for your informative post!
Homespun Seasonal Living says
Thanks so much. Let me know how it works for you if you give it a try, please.
Patricia says
This looks like it will be so easy to make. I want to start collecting natural recipes made with backyard materials.
Homespun Seasonal Living says
It is so easy! Enjoy using those backyard plants!
Lisa says
How long can a batch be stored?
Homespun Seasonal Living says
I’d use it up within a year. All oil can go rancid after time.
Mike Matthews says
This is awesome, I and my wife suffer from Chronic pain. Am going to give this a shot for sure. Thank you for sharing..
Homespun Seasonal Living says
I hope this gives you both some relief.
Lisa from Iroquois says
Got my leaves on a recent trip to the woods but will have to hold them for a couple days before they go in oil because I am travelling. Do you leave them whole or shred them before putting in oil?
Homespun Seasonal Living says
I leave them whole but chopping is never a bad idea either – it’s just that I’m usually doing lots of other things so whole is easier.
Susannah~Healthygreensavvy.com says
I’ve never read about using birch leaves before — delighted to be introduced to yet another wonderful natural remedy! Looking forward to making some this summer — thanks for this post!
stacy says
I am so very thankful when information like this is available. We started having health issues a few years ago and started down the road of prescriptions and more prescriptions. After some time we realized that the only thing that was being treated was the symptoms and not the causes. We had a very serious talk with our doctors and found that they almost always only treat symptoms to give temporary relief. The actual curing or finding out what was causing the issue was not much of a concern. We decided that very big change in our life style was in order and the first big change was starting to grow our own food. We decided to go as organic and as not chemical as possible. We did not change much else at first but the results of this one thing were nothing less than miraculous. After only three months of eating whole, non chemically treated foods, we were off of all our med’s and the doctors and our friends wanted to know what we had done. I don’t know if this would be as big a help for others as it was for us but I would think it would not hurt to try.
Homespun Seasonal Living says
Thank you so much for sharing your story – everything begins with a good diet, I whole heartedly agree!
Tim says
Can I make Birch Tea by putting Birch Syrup in water?
Homespun Seasonal Living says
I’m sure putting birch syrup in water would give you a delightful sweet drink but usually, birch tea is made from the twigs and leaves not the boiled down sap.
Chris says
Noyau is a birch leaf liquor which you put the leaves in gin and sugar, not sure it’s as good for you but rather yummy! :-)
Caz says
Noyau – isn’t that almonds in alcohol?
Homespun Seasonal Living says
I thought it was made with apricot kernels.
Deb says
crème de noyaux is made with brandy and almonds and apricot kernels.
Valerie M says
Could the leaves be dried first? Can’t wait to try this.
Homespun Seasonal Living says
You could use dried leaves just fill the jar about 1/3 to 1/2 full instead of all the way up.
Paula says
I make salve and pain sprays but have never tried birch this spring will be a first for me. Thanks
Amanda says
I am so excited about this!! I’m an avid essential oil user and the company I work for doesn’t sell the birch oil. One can only hope to receive it as a gift or through a promotion. I will definitely be trying.
I’m curious.. how would I go about finding birch leaves if I do not have a birch tree nearby?
Kathie Lapcevic says
You can buy dried birch leaves from herb / health food stores most of the time. Mountain Rose Herbs sells them too, I believe.