The Wonder of Spruce Resin – Matic and Ivo Konc in Zarja Jana, 2020

Original article published in January 2020 in Help Yourself (Zarja Jana)

I used spruce resin to treat cold feet, calcification in my shoulder, pain in my knees, hips and spine, and even a lump in my throat that had troubled me for years. I rely on it for all sorts of problems – toothache, inflammation, wounds, headaches, neck pain – in short, there is hardly an ailment I don’t try it on. This is just one of many testimonials from satisfied users of spruce resin products. When I arranged this interview, I myself was suffering from severe gingivitis and persistent shoulder pain that had lasted for half a year after a wrong movement, so I decided to see for myself how spruce resin works on the body.

We met in Ljubljana, where Matic Konc has been successfully continuing his father’s work for several years. He was joined by his 72-year-old father, Ivo Konc from Naklo near Kranj, a former professor of physical education and ski-jumping coach, who thirty years ago created the first spruce resin ointment, later known as Konc’s Ointment.

Before we began talking, he turned his attention to my problems. He adjusted my cervical vertebrae and put my left shoulder back into place. At first my neck cracked, and when he realigned my shoulder I briefly saw stars. But then my arm became mobile again, though it hurt at a specific point. “In your case, it was such a slight dislocation of the shoulder joint that even the best medical equipment wouldn’t have detected it. Until it heals, apply Smrekovit 365 twice a day. For sore gums, use the Smrekovit oral spray.”

Less than a month later, my shoulder is almost as good as new. It still hurts a bit sometimes, and my mobility is not 100%, but it's getting better every day. In the meantime, I have forgotten about my inflamed gums. They healed in a few days. And the annoying heartburn caused by festive overeating.

The resin has stuck to him since birth

Fortunately, Ivo has shown resilience since birth. “As a baby, I was covered in sores. They treated me with ichthyol, a resin made from Russian shale. At the age of nine, I injured my shin so badly that the bone began to rot. Nothing helped until I was taken to the well-known doctor from Kranj, Dr. Božidar Fajdiga, who healed my wound in a month using his yellow ointment made from spruce resin.” He also suffered from meningitis at ten and severe back problems in his twenties. “At 25, I was dragging my legs behind me. An orthopaedic surgeon told me to have surgery or I’d be in a wheelchair by 30.” He turned away from surgery and searched for another solution. In the end, he was healed by a well-known herbalist, Prežla from Lesce, who knew how to treat the skin and applied black resin when the moon was right.

The fateful year 1989

1989 was a year of great sadness for the Konc family. They lost a child in a car accident. One day, in the worst of his grief and pain, Ivo heard a voice: "Go into the bush and do so and so." He went to the spruce trees, gathered resin, boiled it and made it into a salve. First he offered it to a neighbour whose knees hurt so much that sometimes she couldn't get on her feet for a whole week. When she told him she could walk normally again, he took his paste to his colleagues at work and offered it to the young ski jumpers he trained at Triglav in Kranj and in Tržič. "The boys laughed at me at first. But when they saw for themselves that it worked, they started asking me for it. I have helped many athletes get back on the track, including Olympic and World champions. They include cyclist Andrej Hauptman, rowers Iztok Čop and Sadik Mujkič, gymnast Mitja Petkovšek, athletes Jolanda Čeplak and Britta Bilač, and ski jumpers Petek, Prevc, Kranjc, Peterka."

Shortly after 1990, when Ivo Konc started to produce the spruce ointment Smrekovit klasik, he also developed his own Smrekovit manipulative, bio-nutritional therapy for the treatment of spinal and other problems. "As a professor of sports education, I was familiar with functional anatomy, and in my 20 years of coaching ski jumpers, I also gained experience with sports injuries. Gregor Ahčin from Domžale, a master of manipulation who supposedly got his knowledge from the Indians, taught me a lot." It is a mechanical method based on stretching and mechanical adjustment of those moving parts of the skeleton which, by pressing on a nerve, cause problems along the nerve that is being compressed. Ivo Konc stopped his therapies in 2011 and continues to do them only as an amateur. His manipulative therapy is continued by Roman Perko, former Junior Nordic Combined World Champion, and his son Matic Konc.

He said that nowadays young athletes no longer come to him for help. "Times are different now. Athletes are more inclined towards people in white coats and expensive apparatus." But ordinary people still hold him in high esteem. "When I made the ointment 30 years ago, I never imagined it would spread like wildfire almost overnight. People came to Naklo from everywhere. From all the republics of the former Yugoslavia, even from abroad." A year after he filled his first jars, in 1991, he opened an afternoon craft and by the following year he was able to live off the sales of his ointment. At first he sold it by mail order, but soon pharmacies and specialised shops all over Slovenia were ordering it as well. This is still the case today. Except that for the last ten years, his son Matic, a graduate of the Faculty of Sport and the Faculty of Pharmacy, majoring in laboratory biomedicine, has taken over the reins of the company. Matic has expanded and upgraded the offer. Like his father, who now only practises as an amateur, he has taken on every role in the company: owner, manager, resin collector and production worker. He is also intensively studying the effects of spruce resin and writing internal studies on his findings. His father's findings are of a more practical nature. "I feel sorry for people because when they have problems with their musculoskeletal system, doctors only offer them analgesics or refer them for operations. Nobody waits for me either, because I only order for the current day. I help for free. I work for goodwill, and if anyone thinks they owe me anything, I take ten euros." The son also does not charge anything for counselling and manipulative therapy, as he says it is part of the support for their products.

The son successfully continues his father's mission.

In 2010, when Ivo had already passed on his knowledge to his son Matic, they made a spruce ointment with a cooling effect together, then still in Naklo. "My father helped me for some time afterwards, collecting resin and making the ointment, as I was still studying at the time." Five years ago, Matic moved production to Ljubljana. He upgraded his laboratory equipment and developed new products. "They are even better and more effective than my father's Smrekovit klasik ointment. In addition to two versions of the cream, one containing added camphor, menthol and essential oils, I have also made capsules for oral consumption of the resin and oral sprays." Although people have been able to take Smrekovit klasik orally all along, Matic decided to make it easier for them by putting the ointment in capsules. "The capsules are very effective for treating inflammations of the digestive tract. We have excellent results in healing stomach ulcers, and people report success with Helicobacter pylori and gastritis. They also help with chronic conditions such as Crohn’s disease. The effect is very rapid. After just a few days, symptoms are reduced. When the disease is in the acute phase, three capsules should be taken in the morning and evening, then the condition is maintained with one capsule twice a day. Regular use can also prevent recurrent urinary tract infections. However, resin is not very effective for treating the acute phase of urinary tract inflammation." The oral spray has also been used successfully to cure incipient periodontal disease. "The lady's tooth was already shrinking and the spray helped her gums to regain their firmness. The spray is also very effective for sore gums, sore throats and aphthae." Smrekovit Klasik ointment is also effective for burns. "We have also cured quite severe burns with it. If you get burnt, I advise you to apply the ointment immediately. In ten minutes the pain will be gone. Overnight, apply the ointment and cover the burn with gauze. In the morning, the blister will be gone and new skin will be forming underneath. The ointment has an amazing effect on the skin's ability to regenerate, even in the case of wounds. We once had a patient with a severe leg wound. He told us he had been visiting the doctor for 14 days, but the wound had still grown sixfold despite the treatment. When he began applying our ointment, it healed completely within two weeks." In addition to the ointment, which is a traditional ointment with camphor, menthol and essential oils, they also have creams. "We have found that creams are more effective than ointments, and they don't leave greasy stains. The effects of the cream can be further enhanced by putting a compress over the affected area. However, I would caution against using compresses in combination with extra-label products containing camphor and menthol."

What about fungal diseases, a common disease of modern times? "For fungi, a resin in the form of a cream is suitable. First dry the affected area well, then apply the cream. You’ll notice improvement in just a day or two. If the fungus is on the skin, it can clear up completely within two days. If the fungus is on your skin, you can be completely cured in two days. More stubborn nail fungi should be treated by applying the ointment and covering it with micropore tape until the nail has grown out past the infected area. If the whole nail is affected, the treatment will take about ten months. Good results are also seen with heel spurs. Although it doesn't go away, the pain of the inflammation heals very quickly and usually never recurs." All their products are also certified organic, and those for internal use are vegan. You can buy the products at a reduced price from Ivo Konec in Naklo or Matic in Ljubljana. "We decided to go for the lower price because we like to have contact with the users," said Matic.

Not all the effects of resin have been studied

When I asked Matic why resin has such power, he replied that it is a synergy of several substances. "There are more than 80 organic substances in resin that have an effect on our organism. For example, when they looked under an electron microscope at how resin affects fungi that cause skin and nail infections, they found that it causes the cell wall to break down. In the case of wounds, the number of immune cells increases.

Research shows that the resin stimulates a local immune response. It increases the migration of immune cells to the diseased site, even in deeper tissues, not just on the surface." Father Ivo added that the resin is a self-help for the organism to heal itself. "It is an energy that cannot be detected and measured with instruments. Disease always arises where the flow of bodily fluids is too weak to carry away the poisons that are constantly being formed as a result of metabolism. Where there is stagnation in the body and there are too few of these fluids, there is inflammation, disease is nested, there is pain. The energy of the resin helps the body to stimulate its own defence systems. Modern civilisation has weakened these systems because we no longer expose ourselves enough to natural challenges that strengthen us. Medicines also suppress our immune systems, especially antibiotics." What advice does he give to people to keep them as fit as he is? "They should be smart and moderate and never overdo it. And perseverance when they do something, especially with medical treatment. You have to rub resin on yourself for so long that it stops hurting you. Usually this is not difficult for people, especially when they find that after 14 days of lubrication the pain is much reduced. This is the case, for example, with arthritis in the knee. And then it takes a few months to get completely better, depending on your age." What about back pain, does that increase with age? "When the discs are no longer in place, they are labile. There is a lot that can be done with correct posture, but as far as exercise is concerned, it is overrated. Walking, which is the most natural movement, and stretching exercises for the spine are the best." Does it matter where we apply the ointment on the spine? “It matters a lot. For arm pain, we apply it to the cervical vertebrae, for hip pain to the sacrum, even if there is no pain there. It should always be applied along the spine. It is very important that there is a reaction, even if it hurts intensely for a day. It has often happened that someone has put ointment on and, because it hurt so much, they have thrown it away. People would do anything to stop it hurting. But in healing, there is no reaction: any relief comes after the pain."

Ivo concluded by saying that his ointment is not to be believed in, because it works whether we believe it or not. "The proof is the good results in the treatment of children and animals."