@Lionlady I don’t think there’s any wrong answer here. Both fresh and dry will work, and I’ve used both for salves & body budders and honestly not seen much difference when using dried. You don’t lose much if you dry carefully. Treat it low & slow like the finest BBQ - low temp, high humidity, and a slow process.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I prefer to always decarb half of what I use for topicals. That way I get the best of both worlds of cannabinoids - half with no decarbed cannabinoids, half with decarbed cannabinoids - since both are important for inflammation and pain. Also, lots of people swear by using the lower stem and upper root mass for topicals - I think @ReikoX has some insight about this.
For my psoriasis, the coconut oil is the active ingredient. I can rub coco oil and it clears up in a couple weeks. I love getting high and the anti-inflammatory benefits of the ganj as I get older, so I add weed to it. 