Is there a balm in Giliad? Yup.

There is a famous verse (in Jeremiah 8:22): 

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?

The Levant is a dry climate, so the reference is probably to a skin ointment

 

In regards to the balm of Gilead, this balm is related to the balsam poplar (Commiphora opobalsamum) and is considered a myrrh-like resin/chemical compound found in the Arabian Peninsula, specifically in ancient Palestine east of the Jordan River; it was used for medicine. ... The balm was known to be combined with other ingredients to increase its potency....(such as) oil or lard for bruising, swelling, or damage to the skin. Inflammation is what the balm of Gilead is used most for, presently, especially for sunburns or arthritis. Some ancient historians say that Queen Sheba gave a gift of the balm to King Solomon.

 Here, coconut oil is a commonly used for dry skin or to treat dandruff/dry scalp; and our staff uses it with guava leaves for wounds

Whole leaves can be lightly crushed and placed on top of wounds to help heal them and prevent infection.  

Ointments are expensive: 

We used to give out Fluffo from one clinic for ordinary dry skin problems, because our budget was limited.

Fluffo is yellow Crisco, a lard substitute used in cooking but I haven't seen it on the shelves for 40 years.

In Africa, they used chicken fat ointment Mafuta to keep their skin from drying out: But even when I worked in one country 40 years ago, they were starting to use Vaseline.

Vaseline of course is still used in the black community.

but what about chapped skin or minor abraisions? 

Well we used to use BagBalm for sore nipples for our breast feeding ladies because it was cheap and available in our rural area.

The active ingredients of Bag Balm are 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate 0.3% (antiseptic) in a petroleum jelly USP and lanolin base.[2]

 ... Originally, it was used for only cows' udders, but farmers' wives noticed the softness of their husbands' hands, and started using the product themselves. 

What brought this up was in reading Strategypage about skin problems in the Middle Eastern Wars, they noted:

Fifteen years ago soldiers fighting in the deserts of Iraq and southern Afghanistan endured lots of burns, abrasions, insect bites and scratches. While the medics could treat these minor injuries, the troops preferred to obtain their own cures. But none of the available ointments seemed to do the job well. Then the wife of a soldier developed a new skin balm which she called Combat Ready Balm. Commercially this was a profitable item. That made it possible to send thousands of 59 ml jars of Combat Ready Balm to military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers and marines bought a lot more at $25 a jar because, as most of them pointed out, it worked. The balm was even useful during Afghan Winters, when dry skin replaced insect bites.

....,,

cross posted from my medical blog