Ingredients
The key ingredients that make Udder Comfort so effective include:
Peppermint Oil
Peppermint oil is distilled from fresh or partially dried flowering
tops of several varieties of peppermint plants. It is cultivated
around the globe with Mentha piperata being the more predominant
variety in Europe and the Americas, while Mentha arvensis, which is
native to China and Japan, is more common in the Far East. The
arvensis variety is said to produce some of the finest oil, and is
consequently used mostly in pharmaceuticals and toothpastes.
While peppermint oil is largely used as a flavouring agent for a
broad variety of consumable articles, it has considerable vogue in
medicines. The historical use of peppermint oil as an herbal
medicine dates back to the early eighteenth century. Today it is
recognized for easing intestinal cramping, reducing gas production,
and generally soothing intestinal irritation. Peppermint’s oil’s
pleasant cooling properties and muscle relaxing effects also extend
to external use. When used topically, it acts as a counterirritant
and analgesic with the ability to reduce pain, tension, and improve
blood flow to affected areas.
Tea Tree Oil
Tea Tree Oil is extracted from the leaves of the Australia Tea Tree Melileuca alternifolia. While there are over three hundred varieties
of Australian tea trees, only one variety, found in the swampy
northern region of New South Wales, produces the beneficial
medicinal oils that are finding more and more uses every day. Pure
Tea Tree Oil is extremely complex chemically, containing close to
fifty organic compounds. Much of the oil’s beneficial properties
have been attributed to
the camphorous cineol, and the isomeric
hydrocarbons and alcohols, found only in the leaves of Melileuca
alternifolia. In fact, one of the compounds, viridflorene, has so
far been found nowhere else in nature.
The oil’s benefits, particularly in terms of its antiseptic powers,
were first scientifically researched and reported in the 1920s. This
early research found the oil to be thirteen times stronger yet
possessed none of the caustic or burning properties of carbolic
acid, the standard antiseptic of the period. More recent research
has found the oil to also be five times more effective at removing
surface bacteria than most household disinfectants. As the oil’s
anti-septic, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and non-toxic qualities
are better understood, its uses are also becoming more diverse.
Today, Tea Tree Oil is used to disinfect wounds, burns, and insect
bites; combat fungal outbreaks such as athlete’s foot and ringworm,
as well as yeast-based vaginal infections; and to treat acne, mouth
ulcers, and herpes simplex. It is even used as a flavouring additive
to some foods. Given the diversity of its benefits, the oil’s use is
also no longer exclusive to humans. Tea Tree Oil has found its way
into a number of veterinary products to treat such common ailments
as mastitis, edema, somatic cell, abrasions, and other injuries.
Menthol
Menthol is the distinctive alcohol found in peppermint oil (see description). In Japan where the predominant peppermint plant variety is Aentha arvensis, menthol is isolated from the freshly distilled peppermint oil by "freezing out" the alcohol. As the oil is cooled to room temperature, the menthol forms into fine, colourless, acicular or "needle-like" crystals. Menthol is largely employed in medicine, and is useful in dental preparations for obtaining that cooling freshness after application. Because one of the principal ingredients of peppermint oil is menthol, it’s benefits when used both topically and internally are similar to the oil from which it is derived.
Lanolin
Lanolin (Anhydrous lanolin) is a natural fat found in the wool of
sheep Ovis aries. It makes up some 15-20 percent of wool and is
extracted by scouring the fleece with a soap solution or through a
separation method using volatile solvents. Lanolin is composed of a
complex mixture of esters, alcohols, and fatty acids. In recent
years, a sizable variety of lanolin derivatives have been developed
from the base or "anhydrous" lanolin – each with its own unique
characteristics and uses. Anhydrous lanolin is commonplace in both
the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. An absence of any
tendency to rancidity, and its ready absorption by the skin make
lanolin a highly valued commodity – particularly for the preparation
of pharmaceutical ointments and lotions, as well as for general skin
and hair care products.
