by Deirdre Layne Published June 14, 2020 Updated July 7, 2020
Tincture of Benzoin, also known as Friar's Balsam, is a neat little inexpensive item that you might want to keep in your medicine cabinet. It has traditionally been used externally to treat wounds and blisters, and in steam preparations for coughs, bronchitis, and asthma attacks.
Benzoin products are made from a resin from a group of Styrax trees that grow in tropical regions.
The resin is produced after they cut into the bark of trees that are at least seven years old. The resin hardens to give a grey-brown solid with a vanilla-like odor. Tincture of benzoin is then made by soaking benzoin resin in alcohol.
Friar's Balsam smells a bit like vanilla with balsam undertones.
Throughout its 600 year history, Friar's Balsam has been known as Balsamic Tincture, Balsamum Traumaticum, Jesuits' Drops, and Jerusalem Drops.
It was one of the most popular natural remedies during the Victorian era. A formulation was invented by Joshua Ward, an English doctor, in 1760.
Ingredients included benzoin resin, Cape aloes or Barbados aloes, and storax resin.
Here is Tincture Benzoini Composita listed in the British Pharmacopoeia of 1867 on Google Books. Steam inhalation of Friar's Balsam was often recommended to thin mucus and relieve asthma.
Today, benzoin tincture is most often used to make a bandage stick to the skin longer. What it does is form a coating over the skin, which protects the skin from harsh body fluids and adhesives from bandages.
It is also used by athletes and the military for blister protection. Doctors also apply it under a cast because it reduces itching and protects the skin.
One more typical use is to heal painful canker sores.
A 2011 study to analyze 25 commonly used essential oils' antioxidant activities showed that benzoin contained +90.64% of DPPH free radical scavenging activity (Huang, 2011).
Watch Earth Clinic's new YouTube video on Friar's Balsam to learn how to use Friar's Balsam for bandages and blisters!
Have you ever used Tincture of Benzoin for wounds, bandages, lung conditions or blisters? Please send us your feedback!
