For the easing of pain from inflammation, Baltic Amber could be your new holistic therapy best friend. The therapeutic part of Baltic Amber is the high concentration of Succinic acid it contains. This acid makes up as much as 8% of in Baltic Amber by weight.
The Sojourner now has in stock Baltic Amber necklaces ($30-70), bracelets ($20) and baby teething necklaces ($17) imported from Lithuania. The beads are individually knotted for additional safety. Read on for more history about this therapeutic “stone.”
Amber Necklaces, Bracelets, baby teething necklaces at the Sojourner
But what is Baltic Amber exactly?
Besides a solid “stone-like” substance often featured in “healing” jewelry.
Baltic Amber comes from extinct trees that once grew in the region surrounding the Baltic sea, in Europe, especially abundant in modern Lithuania. The resin found in those now-extinct trees was a lot like confier tree resin. “This means that the resin would have acted as a sealant by coursing down and through the limbs and trunk of a tree, sealing off cuts to protect the tree from harmful bacteria, fungus, and other threats to its livelihood. Let’s just say that if a tree were a human, the trunk would be its epidermis and the resin would have served as its sticky band-aid.” (source)
After these now-extinct trees died and decomposed, they left their resin behind. Over time the amber resin would become buried under the earth. For millions of years, under pressure, it would eventually fossilize and change into the dense substance we now know of as Amber. Amber is between 30 and 95 million years old. Resins younger than that are softer, and are called copal.
So, the medicine we find in the particular amber which grew from these extinct trees in the Baltic Region, then fossilized in soil of that particular environment, happen to have a high concentration of Succinic Acid, which is a natural part of many types of plant and animal tissues. It is this medicinal constituent which has been used in Europe as a natural antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, treatment for pain, and general curative for centuries. Even before mankind knew about germs and the the roles nutrients play in health, the people of Europe recognized that amber had magical curative powers, and used it like we’d use an antibiotic today. Modern science now knows what succinic acid can do for human health, and confirms what the people of Europe knew for centuries.
Succinic Acid “is very important to your body. It is used in the Krebs Cycle which is involved in the intermediary metabolic process. Another name for the Krebs Cycle is the Citric Acid Cycle. A powerful anti oxidant that helps fight toxic free radicals and disruptions of the cardiac rhythm, succinic acid has been shown to stimulate neural system recovery and bolster the immune system, and helps compensate for energy drain in the body and brain, boosting awareness, concentration and reflexes, and reducing stress.” (source)
Ancient European people wore jewelry of the the Baltic Amber which washed upon the shores of the Baltic Sea. They also made medicines from powdered amber chips and stones. They applied amber oils to their skin to slow aging and cure sickness. Amber was burned as an incense to improve indoor air quality, and repel insects.
We can thank the Dominican Monk, Albert The Great, born in 1193, for much of this information. He called Baltic Amber Succinium and stated that it was the most effective of the leading medicines of the time. Amber tinctures were made from beer and wine. When the plagues of the middle ages devastated Europe, amber was used for fumigation, which helped because a high content of succinic acid remains in the smoke. (Source)
Amber Beads, Public Domain, Pixabay
Succinic acid is now produced commercially, and it is approved for use by the United States Food and Drug Administration. There are many modern forms of usage. However, the easiest way to utilize the healing properties of Baltic Amber, is to wear the “stone” against your skin in the form of a necklace or bracelet. Body heat encourages the release of the succinic acid from the amber, which is absorbed slowly and consistently through the skin, and into your body’s systems. There it most noticeably acts as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory, preventing the ills caused by our increasingly toxic environment.
This method of wearing Baltic amber “healing” jewelry became very popular with parents of babies over the past 20 years, in the form of “infant teething necklaces.” These wee, carefully knotted necklaces made for infants reduce the pain of teething, greatly reducing the tears and suffering of their little ones. With careful observation pf the infant wearing the necklace while awake during the day (for safety purposes) parents find the soothing effect to be miraculous.
I’m 46, and have long suffered debilitating pain and stiffness from arthritis in my lower back, inflammation around the sacroiliac joint in my hips, and scoliosis in my upper back, neck and shoulders. In my own experience, after only 24 hours of wearing the necklace, I felt a radical reduction of the stiffness which previously caused a imitated range of movement. My pain is reduced at least 95%.
I’ve now worn this necklace and bracelet continuously for several months, and what was once constant debilitating pain, is now almost entirely unnoticeable. I now live a normal, active life with minimal difficulty. The simple act of wearing a necklace changed by life entirely for the better! I’ve heard the anecdotal stories of many friends and customers who also swear their migraines have been greatly fewer, and the pain of autoimmune disorder inflammation, and fibromyalgia pain lessened. This winter I was a caregiver for my child during both the flu and a wicked head-cold, and did not contract the viruses myself. Perhaps the necklace (and my daily elberberry syrup) aided my general health as well.
~Heron Michelle
Owner, The Sojourner Whole Earth Provisions
414 Evans Street
Greenville, NC 27858
252-758-7656 (SOJO)
www.thesojo.com
Additional Resources, cited for this article:
Amber Acid
https://www.balticwonder.com/blogs/news/where-does-amber-come-from
https://www.wired.com/2010/04/cretaceous-time-capsule/
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