Mullein Flower Infused Oil for Earaches
You can’t miss mullein! It sends its beautiful flowering stalks straight toward the sky and brightens up the environment with its sunny yellow blooms.
Most people know of mullein as the earache herb. The flowers were historically solar infused into olive oil that was then used as a home remedy for earaches. We make our mullein-infused oils a bit differently today than herbalists of old did, but they are still quite effective, especially when combined with a few other ingredients.
To make your own ear oil, you will need to find a mullein plant cluster from which you can harvest a jar’s worth of mullein flowers. Look for a patch of plants growing in soil that has not been contaminated (avoid roadsides, places where heavy metals or runoff could be an issue or where conventional pesticides and herbicides are sprayed). Whilst the flower spikes have lots of flowers on them, only a portion of them will be blooming at any given time, so you will likely need to harvest from several different plants. The best time to harvest the flowers is in the morning after all of the dew has evaporated.
After you have harvested your flowers, follow the steps in this lesson to create an herb-infused oil. The entire plant must be dry (fingers and your jar too) if you are going to pour the oil over your flowers right away. Alternatively, you can lay the flowers out on a screen or tea towel and allow them to wilt for a few hours before infusing.
Once your mullein oil is finished infusing and strained, you’re ready to start using it. I like to double or triple-infuse my mullein oil to increase its potency, so the process takes a couple of months for me, but you could always use the quick stove-top method if you need it more quickly.
When making ear oils, I like to combine my mullein-infused oil with St. John’s wort and garlic-infused herbal oils. Sometimes I will also include calendula-infused oil or lavender bud-infused oil as well.
If mullein flowers are out of season where you are and you need an ear oil right away, consider purchasing a pre-formulated one from a company like Herb Pharm or Gaia Herbs. Both of them carrier fantastic ear oil products that I have used and recommended to clients in a pinch.
About the Author
Hi there, I’m Erin! I am the main instructor here at Floranella. I am a clinical herbalist, aromatherapist, artisan distiller and organic gardener based in the Pacific Northwest. Here at Floranella, I teach people how to work with plants safely and effectively from the garden to the apothecary. Thanks for being here! I’m glad you stopped by.