Many people with thyroid and autoimmune thyroid conditions have thyroid nodules. I commonly receive emails from people with thyroid nodules asking if natural treatment methods can shrink them. I’ve written separate articles about thyroid nodules, and to this day I don’t know of any specific supplement or herb which can shrink thyroid nodules. I’ve had some people ask me whether castor oil packs can help shrink thyroid nodules, and so I figured I’d dedicate a post to this topic.
If you go online and perform a search for “castor oil packs and thyroid nodules”, you’ll see some natural healthcare professionals recommend for people with thyroid nodules to use castor oil packs. One simply places the castor oil pack over the thyroid gland for a couple of hours per day, or they can also massage castor oil onto the area for about 10 minutes. Either way, doing this supposedly can help to dissolve thyroid nodules, as well as nodules and cysts in other parts of the body.
To no surprise, there is no research which proves that castor oil packs can help to shrink thyroid nodules. This doesn’t really mean much, as just because research studies haven’t been conducted doesn’t confirm that certain natural treatment methods aren’t effective. One problem is that thyroid nodules may shrink on their own, and so if one uses castor oil packs and the thyroid nodules decrease in size, there really is no way to tell if this would have occurred without the castor oil packs. Similarly, some people who follow a natural treatment protocol will have their thyroid nodules shrink, but perhaps this would have happened even if they didn’t follow a natural treatment protocol.
Are There Risks With Using Castor Oil Packs?
As far as I know there aren’t any risks or side effects of using castor oil packs for thyroid nodules. But since everyone is different, there is always a chance that any type of treatment can cause a reaction, and so I still would advise people using this treatment to exercise some caution. But so far I haven’t heard of anyone experiencing any negative side effects from using castor oil packs.
With that being said, should castor oil packs be incorporated into a natural treatment protocol for those who have thyroid nodules? Well, before I answer this, let me add that most thyroid nodules are benign and don’t cause any problems. And so while it would be great to shrink these nodules, one has to consider that 1) they apparently will need to dedicate two hours per day to apply the castor oil packs, and 2) there is no guarantee that castor oil packs will shrink thyroid nodules. One can save time each day by rubbing in castor oil, although this supposedly isn’t as effective.
In my opinion, using castor oil packs have a low risk, but probably a low reward. Perhaps I’ll receive a flood of emails after posting this from people who have tried castor oil packs and had great success in shrinking their thyroid nodules. Then again, as I suggested earlier, even if this is the case there is no guarantee that the nodules wouldn’t have decreased in size without any intervention. However, one might argue that since the risk of any side effects is low then “why not give castor oil packs a try?” After all, if it most likely won’t cause any harm, but might potentially help, then why not utilize this treatment approach? I can’t argue with this, and I’m definitely not opposed to my patients with thyroid nodules using castor oil packs.
In summary, there is no proof that castor oil packs can help to shrink thyroid nodules. However, since the risk of using them is low, then some people with thyroid nodules might want to consider this treatment approach. If someone is willing to dedicate the time to administer the packs each day, then other than spending their time and a small sum of money putting together the packs, there really isn’t much else to lose.