A salve is a medical ointment used to soothe the head or other body surface. A popular eye medicine known as "Phrygian powder" was one of Laodicea

Laodicea on the Lycus

Laodicea on the Lycus was the ancient metropolis of Phrygia Pacatiana , built on the river Lycus , in Anatolia near the modern village of Eskihisar , Denizli Province,...

's sources of wealth. The medical school at Laodicea was famous for the preparation and use of this eye salve.

Medical uses

Like aloe vera

Aloe vera

Aloe vera, pronounced , also known as the true aloe or medicinal aloe, is a species of succulent plant in the genus Aloe that is believed to have originated in the Sudan. Aloe vera grows in arid climates and is widely distributed in Africa, India, Nepal and other arid areas.The species is...

, a drawing salve is a salve used to help treat various minor skin problems such as sebaceous cyst

Sebaceous cyst

A sebaceous cyst is a term that loosely refers to either epidermoid cysts or pilar cysts . Because an epidermoid cyst originates in the epidermis and a pilar cyst originates from hair follicles, by definition, neither type of cyst is strictly a sebaceous cyst...

s, boil

Boil

A boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, infection of the hair follicle. It is always caused by infection by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by an accumulation of pus and dead tissue...

s, ingrown toenails and splinters. It is sometimes known as Black Ointment, or Ichthyol Salve. The main ingredients are often ichthammol, phenyl alcohol, or arnica montana

Arnica montana

Arnica montana, known commonly as leopard's bane, wolf's bane, mountain tobacco and mountain arnica, is a European flowering plant with large yellow capitula....

, and several familiar herbs such as echinacea

Echinacea

Echinacea is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called purple coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have...

 or calendula

Calendula

Calendula , pot marigold, is a genus of about 12–20 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the daisy family Asteraceae, native to the area from Macaronesia east through the Mediterranean region to Iran...

.

Agricultural uses

A greasy salve was rubbed into the wool of sheep in the autumn in the days before dipping, as a precautionary measure - as referenced in social literature about ancient farming areas in England.