Suranjan — colchicum root — is the herb Unani physicians have reserved for painful, swollen joints for centuries. It is too strong to be taken lightly, which is why Laraib works it into a slow-infused massage oil instead: all of the warming, penetrating character of the root, delivered through the skin where the ache actually sits. This is a working oil for people whose joints have started keeping the score.
What it is traditionally used for
- Massaged into tired, aching muscles after physical work or long standing
- Rubbed along the lower back to ease persistent backache and stiffness
- Applied over joints troubled by waja-ul-mafasil, the rheumatic joint pain of the Unani texts
- Used on knees, ankles and toes made stiff and tender by gout and arthritis
- Worked down the leg for the shooting discomfort of irq-un-nisa, or sciatica
- Traditionally massaged as supportive care in falij and laqwa, alongside a physician’s treatment
How it is made
Dried suranjan root from a single Himalayan sourcing lot is coarsely ground and steeped in cold-pressed sesame base oil, then held at a low, steady heat for many hours until the oil takes up the resin and colour of the root. It is pressed off, settled and filtered. No mineral oil, no synthetic warming agents and no fragrance are added.
How to take it
Warm a little oil in the palms and massage firmly into the affected joint or muscle for eight to ten minutes, twice a day — morning and again at bedtime, when the warmth carries you into sleep. Work towards the heart. Cover the area with a woollen cloth afterwards in cold weather; heat helps the oil do its work.
Good to know
- 60 ml bottle, sufficient for roughly three weeks of twice-daily use on one joint
- Strictly for external massage — suranjan must never be swallowed
- 100% natural, with a cold-pressed sesame oil base and no mineral oil
- Prepared in Multan by Laraib Herbal Pharma, DRAP-licensed Unani manufacturers
Sohail Iqbal (verified owner) –
Gout in the big toe, twice a year, every year. This does not stop an attack but it takes the edge off in a way the tablets alone do not. Reliable, and cheap for what it is. Jhelum.
Javeria Zafar (verified owner) –
It does help my shoulder, which had frozen up over winter here in Mardan. It is quite heavy and greasy though, so I only use it at night and put an old sheet on the bed.
Sumaira Akram (verified owner) –
I drive a tractor and my lower back is finished by evening. My wife massages this in before I sleep. Warms up properly after a few minutes and I wake less stiff. Ordering three bottles this time from Sahiwal.
Maryam Hussain (verified owner) –
Bought this for my father in Lahore, who is seventy-one and stopped walking to the mosque because of his knees. Six weeks of nightly massage and he is going again, slowly. That is enough for me.