[YEA]  07/02/2009: K from Chicago, IL: "I have been using fresh aloe juice/gel/flesh topically overnight on my chest and back to try to heal scarring due largely to acne. I had been dealing with acne and scarring for months now. Just two nights of applying aloe liberally and directly onto my skin, letting it dry a bit, and then putting on a pajama top overnight has produced surprisingly good results. I am so relieved and amazed. I recommend this very simple, inexpensive, and natural method to everyone."

07/15/2009: Stacy from Atl, Ga replies: "This is great information but when I went to my local grocer to pick an aloe leaf, one question came up: How do you preserve your fresh aloe vera. How long does it keep? Thx!"

07/19/2009: Kathy from Stanwood, WA replies: "My grocer doesn't sell aloe leaves. Go to your nursery or Lowe's, WalMart etc and buy the plant. It will grow fast so make sure the pot is big enough. Needs lots of light, Bring indoors when it gets cold. Just pick a leaf as needed."

01/08/2010: Jason from Long Beach, California replies: "Im just curious about aloe vera lotion not aloe vera gel, will that help take away acne scars?"

EC: Most potent form is fresh aloe.

09/06/2011: Agapegirl from Orlando, Fl replies: "A cut piece of fresh aloe can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated to prolong the freshness. But better yet, cut tiny pieces from the plant as needed instead of cutting a larger piece and trying to preserve it."

[YEA]  11/17/2007: Jessica from Vancouver, Canada: "A while ago I experimented with a bunch of home remedies to clear up my acne scars and found that topically applying the following worked for me:

- aloe vera gel (works better on fresh wounds)
- lemon juice
- honey
- vitamin e oil or capsule
- toothpaste
- cucumber juice (leave it on for 15 minutes and wash off with cold water)
- make a paste of salt, baking soda, lemon juice, and honey. Leave on face for 15 minutes and wash off with cold water.

Hope these help someone!"

[YEA]  10/05/2008: Sarah from Dubai, UAE replies: "I used toothpaste, cucumber, lemon juice and the face mask Jessica advised to use. My results are amazing! My scars are fading and the toothpaste makes the pimples smaller and the puss decreases quite visibly. I just mix about two tablespoons of honey, the juice of one or two lemons, two teaspoons of salt, three tablespoons of fuller's earth. This adds a glow to my skin, the scars are fading away slowly. Also, I use a scrub daily before school/work; two tbspoons of honey, three tablespoons of unrefined brown sugar and fullers earth( as much as you want, not more than four tablespoons), 1 1/2 teaspoons of ACV. This is for general use..."

03/09/2011: Toni from Hutchinson Island, Fl replies: "What type of toothpaste is best?"

09/18/2011: Joy from Pensacola, Fl replies: "If you use toothpaste, use a white paste, NOT gel."

[YEA]  11/11/2011: Helpyourself from Houston, Texas, Usa: "Started drinking 2 tbls of acv, 1 tbl honey and a splash of lemon instead of coffee.

Drink coffee a couple times a week with 1 tbl blackstrap molasses. The scar tissue on the bottom of my big toe quit growing. Used to have to dig out tissue every three days or so.

It stopped growing! Amazing. I had this problem for 20 years and now after a couple weeks with the above I no longer have the scar tissue.

Also, put Apple Cider Vinegar on my dry legs and the dryness is gone, legs look like fresh skin. Amazing!"

04/07/2012: Zg from Santa Barbara, Ca replies: "I had a similar experience with scar tissue disappearing. I was taking ACV for digestion and I noticed a scar from two years ago (which was pretty bad from an infection) started to flatten out--very surprising, I thought it would never go away. I wonder if it works on internal scarring from injuries/surgeries as well?"

08/01/2012: Phylday from Cisco, Tx replies: "How to make a castor oil pack?"

11/30/2011: Valerie from Los Angeles, Ca : "Hi, I had breast augmentation surgery and I keep getting scar tissue so as a result of this I already had 3 surgeries to remove it but keeps coming back. Will a castor oil pack work to soften it?"

12/01/2011: Maria from Gippsland, Australia replies: "Hi Valerie, I have no experience with castor oil but I have seen great results with serrapeptase on abdominal surgery scars (30 yr old)."

03/06/2012: Mary from Dayton, Oh replies: "Diane, I was wondering how you took the serrapeptase, what brand and dosage? I read that to take that enzyme, there is another that goes along with it. Can you elaborate on how it helped your scar? Thanks!"

[BETTER BUT NOT CURED]  11/26/2012: Janet from Asheville, Nc: "I have been battling a small bleeding spot on my nose for 2 yrs. I tried vit c but because of work only let it scab once so that wasn't enough and I use h202 on it too. Finally I used effudex for 3 weeks which turned it into a pea sized (flat) tender scar which only ended up bleeding 2 mos later after I scrubbed it so it could have been bcc not just ak. I couldn't get an appt with the Dr. for 5wks so I started EVCO and powdered melatonin tabs paste. Fantastic! First of all there was no nasty scabbing, just night 5 I think I made a crusty paste and woke up with some blood on my face but the skin looked o. K. There was tremendous healing in 10 days and I would say 2 weeks I could no longer discern the spot or root of the bleeding. I still have a spot of pinker skin from the effudex damage but its not tender anymore. I don't have insurance so that is why I was trying natural cures. It is day 18 and I feel very good about it so far, but I will follow up my post since so many things failed. I had made an appt for a biopsy coming up in 2 wks so I might be cancelling that since I'm tired of having a wound on my face."

11/29/2012: Sunscreen User... from Boca Raton, Florida replies: "Please don't cancel your biopsy!! I had a similar problem... A small cut that would never go away, just kept scabbing up, then getting better, then it started all over again for years. I had to have surgury to remove the basal cell that ended up being an invasive nodule because I ignored it for so long. It didn't look any different on the outside but it was growing down into my skin. Please see a derm right away :-) good luck!"

02/28/2013: Jan from Asheville, Nc replies: "Well, I wasn't really sure if anything was going on with my "spot" see earlier post so I put iodine on it and in the morning I saw a center like thing. So long story short, I burned it acouple of times with iodine and a couple of times the center oozed something and then it just quit reacting but I had it biopsied anyway which seemed like a breeze after all the self treating and of course the effudex! Well the biopsy came back OK (keratosis) and the recommendation was to f/u in 3 mos. While I was waiting for the biopsy results I hit with 7% iodine, now I'm thinking I may have been overdoing it and just need to let it heal. Well at least it's not bcc. I'm just confused that the efudex didn't work. This has been my first problem like this so this is what I've learned: I think anything that looks weird or bleeds, if you hit it right away with vit c, coconut oil and/or iodine, maybe vinegar you might have a chance of it going away pretty easily but if it continues for more than 4-6mos just get a biopsy. The face heals pretty fast, especially with coconut oil. Since I started using coconut oil daily on my face and I also got a bottle of Vit C serum I think I've prevented anything new popping up."

[YEA]  08/21/2011: Psyborg from Indianapolis, Indiana: "I mix equal parts DMSO and SSKI (Super Saturated K (potasium) Iodide, which is basically Iodine. Google SSKI and see. I apply it several times a day to a scar I have between my knuckles and the scar has gone down from what looked like a dome to almost flat."

01/04/2013: Veritas from Philadelphia, Pa, Usa replies: "A few follow up questions for those who've used a combine of 50% DMSO and 50% SSKI.

1) What was the approximate volume applied and is one to rub it in until fully absorbed?
2) What is the duration of treatment I. E. How long did it take to cure the scar?
3) What adverse effects, if any, did you experience e.g. burning sensations during treatment?

Thanks for your response."

[YEA]  11/01/2007: Cary from phoenix, Arizona: "I have never used bloodroot, however I have read that it can cause scars. Scars such as burn scars are treated by continually keeping the skin moist. Extreme moisture should allow all of the capillaries to grow back to gather fully, thus preventing scar tissue. The point I am making is that if it works for preventing scars for burn victims than it should prevent most other scaring. Keep in mind that what ever you use, it must contain antibacterial properties. Failure to do so my allow the area to become infected with bacteria and other nasty fungus, etc Neosporin and burn creams such as 1% silver sulfadiazine cream are two product that work well. It would also be beneficial if you can cover the area with a thin plastic wrap. Here in the USA we call it saran wrap. Its the same thing they put over a new tattoo. Then a bandage, gauze or ace bandage will hold it in place. DO NOT let a scab form or else it will prevent the capillaries from forming new healthy skin. The scab is what causes the scaring in the first place. I have found that it is ok to let the bandaged area dry out a few hours a day. If the skin starts to harden, that's ok. It should soften up once again after you reapply the ointment and bandage.

Ps. If you have pre existing scar tissue you can use the same method, however it take much linger once the scar has already had time to form. God bless."

[WARNING!]  09/02/2009: Ellis Garvin from Haiku, Hi replies: "I appreciate your suggestions, Cary, but the one about covering skin with plastic wrap went against what I'd heard about skin needing to breath, so I did some quick internet research about it. From what I've read, some tattoo parlors mistakenly tell people to use plastic wrap to cover their new tattoos (so people can see the tattoo without the person needing to remove a bandage to show them.) However, many states make it illegal to use plastic over tattoos due to the higher risk of infection. Also, the The National Tattoo Association and the Alliance of Professional Tattooists prohibit tattoo artists from putting plastic wrap over tattoos because the skin needs to breathe, and plastic wrap traps moisture and heat against the skin and fosters the growth of bacteria which leads to infection.

I hope everyone using this wonderful website is smart and uses critical thinking before trying alternative remedies suggested by a single source. This website has literally saved me hundreds of dollars in doctor bills and much emotional and physical pain, but I still am very careful to cross-check and do further research on any remedy that I find here."

[YEA]  03/05/2009: Kathy from Chicago, IL. USA: "03/05/2009: Kathy from Chicago, IL. USA writes: "have a question and didnt know how to ask. my house was infested with fleas. i got many bites on my legs. everywhere i was bitten is now a brown mark. flat not like scar tissue. is there any way to get rid of the marks or does anyone know why they would turn brown. my legs look horrible. just discovered your site. its awesome. started the oil pulling. all i had was olive oil and i have noticed no difference. will try with sesame oil when i go to store. for those having reactions to coconut oil you may be allergic so try a different oil. thanks for any help""

EC: Hi, Kathy. Your question has also been posted on fleas remedies page in the pets section...

06/17/2010: Sarita from New York, NY replies: "hello, whenever i travel to mexico to the pyramid sites, i always get stung by mosquitos, especially on my legs and develop spots. the pharmacies there sell a black ointment in a jar and the main ingredient is iodine. the same ointment is sold over the counter in new york at my pharmacy. i noticed that if i applied the ointment to the sting area asap, the area would not discolor and it would stop the itch and the infection would heal rapidly. i always carry a tiny jar of this ointment 24/7. it works for any type of sting or bite."

06/03/2012: Alexis Baker from North Charleston, South Carolins, US replies: "I know this thread is two years old but I was wondering if you could tell me the name of that black ointment. I live in SC and gnats and mosquitoes are always a big problem and they just seem to get bigger. I would really appreciate the name of that ointment."

05/20/2009: Diane from Lisbon, IA replies: "To: Karen from Freeport Re: Scarring from surgery. You may wish to try Serrapeptase. It is an enzyme that dissolves fibrinic tissue. Do not expect a miracle over night, but it is worth taking long term and seeing if it helps. Good Luck! Hope it helps."

07/08/2009: Diane from Lisbon, IA replies: "Look at the castor oil pack page on this site. The section about abdominal scar tissue and internal adhesions is very interesting and could be directly applicable to your situation. Warm castor oil packs would cetainly be worth trying on the scar on your neck. He mentions one hour per day for two months, although I would try to do longer than the one hour.

http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/castor_oil.html

Good luck,

D."

[YEA]  07/02/2008: Pran from Hillsborough, NJ: "ACNE SCARS:

NUTMEG POWDER AND HONEY (1TSP EACH)
APPLY TWICE A WEEK ON THE SCARS."

07/02/2008: Travis from Chicago, IL replies: "Csn you use any old ordinary nutmeg and honey and how long do you leave it on?"

07/06/2008: Mike from Peoria, IL replies: "Does anyone know how to get rid of those hole in your face associated with acne?"

[YEA]  12/19/2007: Patricia from Laguna Niguel: "I love this website! Lots of wonderful home remedies. I read about Iodine and went on ebay- I bought Povidone- Iodine first to try, and painted myself with it over every problem area of my skin- the colors were disappearing in 15 minutes or so. The bottle says for external use only and do not apply it over large areas of the skin. Well, I have not tried take it internally yet, but as I understand it, Povidone is used for prep surgeries, which means it is in contact with blood and internal organs. After my first application on small areas, I noticed that the morning after I could see significant improvement on my skin where there used to be acne-like pumps that I had for several years- some shrank and some went away. I then started using it on all scars and it seems to make them more smooth and heal better. Upon seeing that, I asked my husband to paint me all over my back- dry, flaky skin with red irritable spots- and over night, they became more smooth. So I started to use it more and more, sometimes it stains my clothes, but my skin seemed to be healing. Don't know if that is also indication of my iodine deficiency. I wonder if it works any differently from Lugol's. I do have signs of low thyroid function, like cold intolerance, poor circulation. Can you tell me if I can take the Povidone internally? How is it different from Lugol's?"

[WARNING!]  03/07/2009: Adriana from Van Nuys, California replies: "Do not ingest providone iodine, yes it is used in surgeries but only for prepping. It does not come in contact with the organs."

11/21/2011: Rick from Dayton, Oh replies: "Iodine defficiency is common, because most of what we eat is grown in mineral-depleated soil. It makes sense that iodine would clear up skin conditions, since that point was made many times by Cayce in his health readings. The concept is to give each cell what it needs, usually iodine (defficient) and it will restore circulation that is lacking / messed up, then clear out blockages, like redness, bumps, moles, warts, scars-- all results of poor circulation (superfiicial/ surface-level).

No, one should NEVER ingest Povidone-- it is not made for that, neither are iodine sanitizer tablets (that's why they taste horrible & you will immediately spit it out! ). But since most of us don't live near seawater, the source of iodine salt (it can be a liquid or salt dissolved in water, and evaporates when heated like anby salt will), and lack access to safe seafood and fresh kelp or any sea plats would be great (but taste awful dried), then either 1. ) eat sushi, as it is wrapped in Nori, a dried kelp (favorite snack of Japanese-- they eat it like jerky), or 2. ) have some miso soup -- it comes with Nori or some other kelp pieces in it, or 3. ) purchase Atomidine, is 14. 00 a reg. Sized dropper bottle which will last you forever nearly. Directions for its use, also called tri-chloric iodine (tastes like pool water -- take alone in pure water an hour after morning meal -- as it's a slight stimulant, like ginseng is-- or take 1/2 hour before breakfast), directions are readily available on many websites: like any thyroid-related remedy, one should not take it constantly (though doctors advise T4 replacement thyroxine to be taken daily & regularly for life, this syntheti drug has a LOT of side-effects that may be worse than a low thyroid function; I recommend everyone try iodine supplement only in this orally-designed supplement before going onto thyroxin permanently, to see if you can allow your thyroid to fix itself first.)

It was originally patented by Dow Chem. Co. (one of the actually good things they come up with) in 1931 or 1932 (there is also a Dr. Who/ chemist who came up with the bascially identical tri-chloric iodine, besides Dow's Atomidine, around the same time), and the patent for the latter was transferred to Cayce's Foundation via its Heritage Store (from Dow, I think is how it went). It is purported to also protect from polio (a virus) and some other stuff like malaria (a mosquito parasite they carry in their blood of the female ones).

It is said that making sure you enough iodone (the recommended RDA of the FDA) is the most crucial mineral or viatamin because Cayce asserted that it is the thyroid (! ) that is the ''master gland'' (! ) and not some part or gland of the brain (the hypothalamus controls the thyroid via a feedback loop, so that it is mutual control, but modern belief calls the pituitary the ''master gland, '' which controls growth, even though the pituitary is controlled by the thyroid-- so go figure), as is erroneously believed today. (While self-hypnotised, the ghost of an ancient learned surgeon, an advanced doctor--from a time when medicine was even more advanced than today, spoke though Cayce, allowing him to cure thousands or tens of thousands of supposedly incurable cases with various maladies, including using OMT/Osteopathic spinal manipulation that a D. O. Does, which is vagely similar to Chiropractic adjustment, and all done from his couch-- he would float there he said, and could see the person, from accross the country, inside & out, and immediately know their ailments & how to cure them, but remembered nothing on waking, so someone was there to write it all down. He was also studies by the AMA, and told a person to perform the first modern bone mending successfully with a nail).

Directions/ Doage: findable on numerous websites, the treatment regimen for the dietary supplement includes varying dosage and not continuously: 1 drop in 1/2 cup purest water 1st day, then 2 drops in water 2nd day, then then 3 drops the 3rd day, then 4 drops the 4th day, then leave off & stop taking it for like 4 days. Other direcrtions say a drop each day for 2 days, 2 drops for days 3 & 4, and then 3 drops for day 5 & 6, then 4 drops the 4th day & then quit & stop for a whole week, but then resume the following week. If you seem to hyper or flush or anxious, then only do it for 1 week out of the month. You should see much more energy and sleep better and feel less tired. This is suupposed to help just about any condition (especially hair & nails, but that also calls for calcios bone marow paste, or sardines, daily on a cracker too, with lemon flavor).

Some people even claim thay had been diagnosed with terminal unreatable cancer, moved to the seaside to die, had someone tell them to eat tons of kelp with iodine and then made a full recovery. SO goes the stories in published books about his life work & people who stumbled on his remedies. By the way, the FDA says it is safe to eat seafood that grows close to the coeastlines, like oysters, crab, some lobster, scallops?, especiialy bottom-feeding carp and catfish, and small or canned tuna (not deepwater tuna like endangered bluefin or plentiful small ocean skipjack) once per week and not more than twice (maybe 3 times) because you never know where it was caught and metal levels there in the water and the danger of heaby metal toxins accumulating faster than you can eliminate them, like mercury and lead or cadmium from batteries, etc. Dumped in the oceans, usually near coastlines where those things grow and eat from. Once or twice per week, I believe is what the FDA says. But you can always eat plenty of kelp or take pills of it, since it grows mainly in deepwater clean areas. (Yikes! , no Japanese-waters-caught kelp for a while, so no glowing in the dark, though, ok?)"

11/21/2011: Rick from Dayton, Oh replies: "Oh, I forgot to mention a warning (though I did say to abide by FDA dietary recommendations in my other post): not only is THIS (Povidone iodine) form of iodine designed only for topical use and should never be drank, it is also very easy to poinson yourself when taking even an approved iodine dietary supplement, and extreme caution taken not to exceded recommended dose daily. I believe the FDA says something like one and a half to 2 thousand MICROgrams, 2 I think. And I believe anything over 6mcg can be dangerous (according to several thyroid problem websites). SO no, don't ever drink this stuff, but do look for a natural supplement that adheres to strict manufacturing control guidelines or eat a lot of seafood , mainly fish & others that are NOT bottom feeders (except once or twice per week for those) and a lot of kelp or any other sea vegetables (they do a lot in Scotland at foorball games like we do hotdogs). Sunomono is the Japanese word for seaweed salad-- very tastey, as it is flavored with sesame oil. Or buy the dropper bottle of tri-chloric iodine & have a dop in 1/2 cup of water every other day or something. Testing your T4 level will tell you if youmay not be getting anough iodine from produce / vegetables, etc. Grown in good, mineral-rich soil (containing salts and alluvian soil from the sea). This is also one reason it is usually better to buy locally-grown produce."

01/18/2013: Joyjoanne23 from Dfw, Texas: "Hi! I have a friend who's had many skateboarding accidents and built up so much scar tissue, there's a golf ball sized lump on his ankle. It causes him a lot of pain and his doctor wants to do surgery to remove it. Are there any remedies that would help him so he wouldn't need surgery?? Thank you! :)"

06/26/2012: Lisa from Thousand Oaks, Ca, Usa replies: "Hi Oldriska, Two things come to mind immediately for scarring- MSM and vitamin E. My mom, when growing up would always have us use vitamin E on our skin for prevention and reduction of scars. She had learned that from Adele Davis who, at that time was at the leading edge of nutrition and natural living.

The other, MSM, I discovered after using it originally for muscle pain on my dad's recommendation. This was 17 years ago, well ahead of anything really known about it, yet. What I would notice is that a long- standing scar on my foot from surgery disappeared! Now, I can't say it was overnight because it wasn't something I set out to do. It was just that one day, after taking msm on a regular basis for my muscle pain, I noticed the numbness and the scar were gone! My interest was piqued at this point and I began to do research on msm and its benefits and sure enough, it is good for eliminating scars! I was ingesting it since in those days, it was only available in pill/ powder form. When I told my dad this, he started adding it to lotion and applying it topically to his skin for age spots and it was working! Now, of course it is available in all sorts of forms.

Sorry to hear that your gums give you so much pain. Pain is never fun. Anyway, I hope this information helps, Lisa"

06/27/2012: Oldriska from Prague, Czech Republic replies: "Hi Lisa, Thank you so much, you're a wealth of knowledge when it comes to all sorts of cures. You'd be surprised, but little is known about MSM in my country, I had to google it as I wasn't familiar with it myself, and it's just fitness shops that sell it in its pure form and they only sell it by kilos! It seems like a good remedy for many a condition, so I feel it would be worth trying out. Regarding vitamin E, I found some creams that contain about 2% of it, but I'm not sure if I'd be comfortable using them internally on my gums (they'd probably taste awful:)). Maybe I'll look up some foods that contain a lot of vitamin E, make a mash and use that instead. I'm thinking maybe certain oils have a high content of the E vitamin so perhaps I could use some of them!

Once again thanks, you're very helpful!

Oldriska"

06/28/2012: Timh from Louisville, Ky, USA replies: "Oldriska, I sometimes simply take a 400IU liquid soft-gel of Vit-E (mixed tocopherols), place it in my mouth and bust it between my teeth and let the oil cover my entire gums. The E also covers the entire throat and also deeper in the Thyroid and Thymus glands (what i'm usually seeking). I also bust Vit-A soft-gels in my mouth periodically to strengthen gums and glands.

Try and find MSM in bulk powder for money savings as opposed to capsules; as it mixes well in fruit-juice. You could swish it around your mouth prior to swallowing for healing benefits.

As for scarring, Nattokinase and Serrapeptase systemic enzymes break down the fibrin tissues which allows for better healing of normal tissue.

Hope this helps."

06/28/2012: Lisa from Thousand Oaks, Ca, Usa replies: "Hi Oldriska, Yes, MSM is an amazing supplement. I recommend it to all my dancers for its healing qualities and reduction of swelling and inflammation. It can be used for all sorts of ailments and is related to DMSO. It would be best to buy it in bulk form as it is quite expensive in capsules and I think it is more effective in powder form since the body doesn't have to break down the pill or capsule. It can help reduce pain so you may even affect your pain from your trigeminal neuralgia. I believe that MSM is a very safe supplement but always starting at a low dosage and then building is just safe practice.

As for the vitamin E, I would just ingest the capsules as they can help a host of issues as well, in your body. Then it will affect your scars and other benefits will occur too since it's good for your skin, your brain and so much more, too numerous to go through. Anyway, then you won't have to taste it, if it seems too much to deal with.

Hope you are doing better! Keep us posted on your experiences. Best to you, Lisa"

04/16/2012: Janet from Kendal, U.k replies: "Hi, I have been reading some very interesting stuff lately on the use of Iodine. This might be worth researching for yourself. Garlic and Tumeric also have great healing properties. Good Luck .:)"