I
had an interesting experience with colloidal silver and a painful boil under my
armpit this past couple of weeks.
Here’s
what happened: We’ve had a lot of hot,
humid weather lately, and as a result I’ve been sweating more than usual. Two weeks ago I noticed my right armpit was
irritated, particularly as I would swing my arms while walking.
Upon
examination in front of a mirror, I found a big, painful knot forming under the
skin surface, right in the center of the armpit.
Worse
yet, it was in the process of forming a big, red, angry rise, or “swelling” that’s
so commonly referred to as a “boil”.
Now
I wasn’t too darned worried about it, because I’ve had this happen once before,
many years ago during the course of similar hot, humid weather.
It
turns out the moist perspiration under the arm is a perfect breeding ground for
infectious microbes like staph bacteria or even fungus. And infected boils can easily form if you’re
not careful.
At
that time I applied Tea Tree oil (i.e., also called Melaleuca oil) to the
budding boil. After all, Tea Tree oil is
highly antibacterial and highly antifungal.
Of
course, Tea Tree oil, being a bit caustic, irritated the tender skin under my
armpit. Nevertheless, it resolved the
problem within three days with repeated twice-daily applications.
That Was Then, This Is Now…
Not
this time, however. After three days of applying the Tea Tree oil
to the newly budding boil under my armpit, rather than receding the boil actually
continued to grow larger and more inflamed.
Soon
it was difficult to hold my arm at my side without noticing the pain. And the skin irritation due to the repeated
applications of Tea Tree oil was getting worse, to boot.
What’s
more, two large pimples developed, one on each side of the boil, about an inch
apart. This, in spite of the fact that I
was still using the Tea Tree oil, which is one of the world’s top natural
remedies for pimples as well as boils.
I
knew that this was not good news,
particularly since many boils are created by staph bacteria (Staphylococcus
aureus). As you might imagine, thoughts
of a potential MRSA infection went running through my head.
So
I stopped applying the Tea Tree oil and tried spraying colloidal silver under my
armpit repeatedly throughout the day.
But
every time I had to go out into the hot, humid 110 degree weather we’ve been
experiencing lately, I’d begin to sweat, which would of course wash away all of
the silver.
So
that treatment option didn’t work, either.
By now the growing boil under my armpit was very uncomfortable,
regardless of whether I was sitting, standing, or moving about.
Old Trick for
Healing Infected Boils
Naturally,
I thought about trying the old trick for healing infected boils which I’ve
written about many times in the past.
You
simply make a wet poultice by mixing 10 ppm colloidal silver with calcium
Bentonite clay powder, forming it into a small, thin “pankcake” you can
comfortably place over the boil. Then while
it’s still moist you cover it over with a large gauze bandage and tape it down.
The
calcium Bentonite clay is said to have some very strong “drawing” properties
when moistened and used as a poultice like this. As the moistened clay begins to dry on top of
the boil over a period of hours, it apparently draws the infectious microbes
out of the boil, and the colloidal silver mixed into the clay kills them.
Years
ago, I used that technique very successfully to get rid of a nasty boil on my
back that my doctor wanted lance surgically.
You can read about that experience in my article, Colloidal Silver and the Demon
Boil from Hell.
But
in this case, I just couldn’t see schlepping around all day with a lump of wet
clay taped under my armpit in this muggy, humid summer heat. So I decided
against that particular solution, even though I know it works extraordinarily
well on painful, infected boils. Logistically, it just didn’t seem to be the
right treatment in this case.
New Clinical
Research to the Rescue
Then
I remembered a study from 2009 in which researchers combined small amounts of Tea
Tree oil and silver nitrate. They discovered
that the combination of the two substances was better at killing bacteria and
fungus than either of the two substances used alone.
“In the fight against infected skin wounds, mixing tea tree oil
and silver or putting them in liposomes (small spheres made from natural
lipids), greatly increases their antimicrobial activity and may minimize any
side effects.
Wan Li Low and colleagues from the University of Wolverhampton
presented research at the Society for General Microbiology meeting…which showed
that although both tea tree oil and silver (in the form of silver nitrate) were
effective against a range of microorganisms, when low concentrations of the two
agents were combined, their antimicrobial activity increased.
They carried out laboratory tests on pathogens that are involved
in skin infections. Bacteria such as Staphylococcus
aureus (which is a common cause of skin infections and abscesses) and the
yeast Candida albicans, which causes
thrush, were killed.
These positive findings led the researchers to use microscopic
spherical bodies called liposomes, made of phospholipids, the naturally
occurring lipids or fats in the cell wall's membranes, to deliver the silver
and tea tree oil mix to infected wounds, killing the pathogens.
This technique allows controlled release and therefore has the
potential to use lower, less toxic, concentrations of the antimicrobial agents
to treat infected wounds. This may also be of value to treat antibiotic
resistant strains such as MRSA.”
From
the article, it appears the researchers mixed small amounts of silver nitrate
and Tea Tree oil (i.e., Melaleuca) into a batch of liposomes, which are essentially
body fats.
In
the process, the researchers discovered that the combination of the silver and
the Tea Tree oil, mixed together into the fatty liposomes and applied to skin
wounds, produced greater antimicrobial effects than if they'd have used larger
amounts of either of the two antimicrobial substances individually.
Sweet! That was exactly what I needed to hear.
The
colloidal silver hadn’t worked for me.
And the Tea Tree oil had failed to work as well. But what if I combined small amounts of the two infection-fighting substances into
some kind of oily or gel-like base, and applied that to the infected boil?
Mimicking the
Study
Now
I’m not a chemist by any means. I’m a
natural health journalist.
But
it seemed to me the liposomes (body fats) were simply being used by the
researchers to stabilize the two
ingredients (i.e., the silver and the Tea Tree oil), bringing them together
into a single formulation in which they could work together synergistically.
Of
course, I don’t have access to a bucket full of liposomes (body fats) to mix
silver and Tea Tree oil together in. And
I wouldn’t know exactly what to do, even if I did have access to the liposomes.
But
it kept running through my mind that this ought to work basically the same way if I could combine some colloidal silver
with Tea Tree oil, using some other fatty or gel-like substance as a stabilizer
in place of the liposomes.
That’s
when I remembered the tube of silver gel I had under my bathroom sink. It’s a commercial product called ASAP Ultimate Skin & Body Care Gel,
and it’s used topically to promote skin care.
What’s
more, it’s available relatively inexpensively, by the tube, through
SwansonVitamins.com and other popular natural health outlets.
What
I found interesting is that the 24 ppm colloidal silver contained in this product
is already stabilized in a gel made up of TEA and Carbomer, which are two
ingredients commonly used together as stabilizers in the cosmetics industry.
So
first, as an experiment, I began applying the ASAP Ultimate Skin and Body Care
Gel by itself to the underarm boil and two pimples, several times a day.
But
there was no change in size of the boil, or in the two pimples on either side,
or in the pain I was experiencing. Everything
remained the same.
Then,
I began applying Tea Tree oil to the boil first,
followed by a nice healthy dollop of the silver gel right on top of the Tea
Tree oil.
I
rubbed the two products together directly onto the boil and onto the two
pimples under my armpit, as briskly as possible with my fingertips. And I repeated the process three times a
day.
Eureka!
And
guess what? As soon as I started
applying the two products together
(i.e., the silver gel and the Tea Tree oil), the painful boil began to subside
in size, and the irritation under the armpit began to be relieved.
I
applied the two products to the boil three times a day for a total of three
days, and the boil disappeared, as well as the two large pimples on either side
of it!
What’s
more, I found that the use of the silver gel in combination with the Tea Tree
oil mitigated most of the caustic effects of the oil. There was not nearly as
much skin irritation from the Tea Tree oil, as long as I applied the colloidal
silver gel along with it!
And
finally, for some reason, by using the colloidal silver gel along with the Tea
Tree oil, my normal perspiration in this hot, muggy weather we’ve been
experiencing didn’t seem to wash the substances away, as it did when I had tried
applying liquid colloidal silver alone, or Tea Tree oil alone. I believe the gel was most likely
responsible for the added “staying power.”
Rock n’ Roll…
Okay,
I admit, it. This isn’t a very good
example of the scientific method. It was
more like garage band rock n’ roll. By
that, I mean I was clearly winging it, experimentally, out of desperation to
get rid of this nasty underarm boil before it got any worse.
Yet,
in spite of my unscientific experimentation, I nevertheless found something
that worked extremely well!
Would
the same technique work for other people who end up with an infected boil in an
inconvenient place on their body? I
don’t know.
But
if you ever experience such a thing and decide to try this technique, please be
sure to post your results on the Colloidal
Silver Secrets Community on Facebook, so everyone can learn from it.
I
don’t see why this technique wouldn’t work with other commercial colloidal silver gel-type products, as well.
For
example, our good friends at Sovereign Silver have a colloidal silver gel
product called Sovereign Silver First Aid Gel, which contains moderate levels
of silver hydrosol along with homeopathic levels of metallic silver.
Their
wonderful little product uses carbopol and sodium hydroxide – two more common
gelling agents -- as the stabilizer. And
it’s also usually available fairly inexpensively at SwansonVitamins.com.
Would
the Sovereign Silver Gel product work, combined with a little bit of Tea Tree
oil, to eliminate a nasty, infected boil in a difficult-to-treat area of the
body? I don’t know. But I’d bet it would, and I’d sure have no
problem giving it a try.
Another
thought:
Our
good friends over at SilverPure.com have a very interesting silver cream,
rather than a gel. It consists of 10,000
ppm silver nanoparticles in a base of organic raw materials including aloe vera
extracts, jojoba extracts, glycerine, lanolin and organic Cocoa butter.
Would
the Silver Pure cream with its organic oils as a base work in conjunction with
small amounts of Tea Tree oil? And would
the effectiveness of the silver and the Tea Tree oil be increased when combined
together in small amounts and applied to an infected boil?
Heck,
once again, I don’t know. 10,000 ppm
silver nanoparticles is pretty darned strong, on its own. But I’d sure have no problem trying it, for
example, if that boil under my armpit had turned into a raging MRSA boil.
Make Your
Own…
And
of course, you can always make your own colloidal silver gel by mixing a few
tablespoons of 10 ppm (or preferably stronger) colloidal silver with a one-half
cupful of pure, 100% aloe vera gel, as explained in this article.
Again,
I don’t know if this homemade colloidal silver gel combined with Tea Tree oil
would work on a nasty, infected boil as well as the ASAP Ultimate Skin &
Body Care gel and Tea Tree oil combination worked for me.
But
you can rest assured the next time I have a boil in a difficult to treat area
of my body, I’m going to experiment with this technique again, using some other
silver gel or silver cream product, now that I know this technique works well,
in principle.
The
bottom line is that the trick of using colloidal silver and Tea Tree oil
together seems to be in finding a gel-like product that stabilizes the two
ingredients so they can work synergistically
together in relatively low dosages.
The
gel also appears to help keep the silver and the Tea Tree oil on the skin
longer, so that greater therapeutic effect is realized.
I’m
anxious to try this again someday. But…I
hope you’ll understand when I say I’m not anxious enough to want another
infected boil under my armpit anytime soon!
Yours for the
safe, sane and responsible use of
colloidal silver,
Helpful Links:
Important Note and
Disclaimer: The contents of this Ezine have not been
evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
Information conveyed herein is from sources deemed to be accurate and
reliable, but no guarantee can be made in regards to the accuracy and
reliability thereof. The author, Steve
Barwick, is a natural health journalist with over 30 years of experience
writing professionally about natural health topics. He is not
a doctor. Therefore, nothing stated in
this Ezine should be construed as prescriptive in nature, nor is any part of
this Ezine meant to be considered a substitute for professional medical
advice. Nothing reported herein is
intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The author is simply reporting in
journalistic fashion what he has learned during the past 17 years of
journalistic research into colloidal silver and its usage. Therefore, the information and data presented
should be considered for informational purposes only, and approached with
caution. Readers should verify for
themselves, and to their own satisfaction, from other knowledgeable sources
such as their doctor, the accuracy and reliability of all reports, ideas,
conclusions, comments and opinions stated herein. All important health care decisions should be
made under the guidance and direction of a legitimate, knowledgeable and
experienced health care professional.
Readers are solely responsible for their choices. The author and publisher disclaim responsibility
or liability for any loss or hardship that may be incurred as a result of the
use or application of any information included in this Ezine.
Copyright
2012 | Life & Health Research Group, LLC | PO Box 1239 | Peoria AZ
85380-1239 | All rights reserved.
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