10/03/2025
Pine trees are historically known for a wide range of medicinal uses due to their antiseptic properties and was widely used by indigenous people and settlers for hundreds of years. You can even make "sprite" from white pine needles.
Wood pulping to make paper was industrialized and like many other discoveries, the by product was a sulfur based compound with several applications. For horse owners, over the last several decades we were given this by our veterinarian to reduce inflammation and address pain in our beloved equines.
Well many of us...(and you know who you are) have used things for our horses on ourselves. DMSO is a naturally occurring sulfur based by product we have used for decades....BUT for external only. The FDA only approves therapeutic grade DMSO for one specific human indication: the treatment of interstitial cystitis, a bladder pain syndrome.
So of course I twisted my ankle and pretty badly and I grabbed the animal grade DMSO I use to wrap the horses legs after an injury. My skin was slightly dry and scaly the next morning but no pain and the heat and swelling were gone.
So, more research industrial grade...not good, actually bad...used as a solvent. More refinement...animal grade is 99.5 now which is way better than stuff we used in the 90s, therapeutic grade for human use 99.99% pure and clear.
Now why the concern. This stuff is the mother of all carriers, so you don't want anything on your skin or other contaminates or impurities going straight into the muscle. So the elite, more refined version is key. Now that I have this much higher quality, more refined therapeutic human grade version, I no longer use animal grade for my animals but it is not for the lickers...(dogs and cats).
Infused in pure aloe gel, this slightly diluted DMSO gel with an essential oil infusion worked better and faster than any other topical medication I have used. So far and without any smell or the weird garlicky sulfur aftertaste of the less refined versions. It has addressed neck pain, arthritis flair ups, lower back pain, a huge kick on my mare, my pig had a sore hock...my sprained ankle...well the list of applications goes on and on.
This is my go to for sports type injuries (actually I'm just uncoordinated), acute pain relief and the kicker...its natural....from Pine trees....
