Natural Remedies for a Skin Infection

This is my recipe for an infection (of any kind) and general well being.

1st Step:

1/4 cup boiling H2O, 1 Tablespoon ACV, Cayenne to taste and a squirt of Honey. I make a tea from this. Let it cool and drink down. This is fast and easy.

2nd Step:

Take a large serving spoon add honey and 1/4-1/2 teaspoon Turmeric. Mix with a smaller spoon and gobble down.

The Cayenne in the tea drink will support the Turmeric/Honey mix. Otherwise if you only want to do step 2 then add Cayenne to that.

Chase with water.

I am 66, female, white, weigh 130 and in good health. I am not on any Rx drugs. And I LOVE Earth Clinic.

My daughter had a finger infected along the side of the nail. I think it was an ingrown nail that got fooled with. The finger was red and swollen and angry and was beginning to get red streaks. I had her take turmeric internally morning and evening. I was keeping charcoal poultices on the finger. It was helping but not solving the problem. We switched to bentonite clay. The clay turned out to be easier, more comfortable and more effective.

I mixed the powder with water to reconstitute the clay. I applied it thickly to her finger and covered it with plastic wrap and a bandage. (The clay won't work if it dries out.) Overnight it was dramatically better. I am continuing to use clay poultices at night until it is completely healed.

~Mama to Many~

Paronychia Finger Infection

Somehow my middle finger on my right hand became infected near my nail bed. It was very painful and swollen. It kept swelling to where I thought it could just explode. It was larger than my thumb and twice the size of my non-infected middle finger on my left hand. The pain also started to spread to my other fingers as well. To make matters worse I had cut 2 fingers on my left hand while cooking. 😥 So with 3 fingers out of commission and in pain I was miserable.

I researched the issue of my swollen middle finger due to this green line in the infection near my nail bed. Upon my research I discovered it was called Payronchia due to the same green line I found in images on the internet. I came across a remedy for using vodka to soak my finger in. I used enough vodka to submerge my finger in a small glass jar. I kept it that way for hours throughout the day as I couldn't do much else due to the pain anyway. Within 1-2 hours I noticed the puss moved to the outside of my finger instead of my nail bed even though the green line still remained on the skin outside my nail bed. So I soaked it some more then kept soaking it in warm water and epsom salts because the swelling was so bad. I applied all kinds of other remedies like colloidal silver and neosporin when I wasn't soaking it which I'm sure played a role as well. But the most important was the vodka and epsom salts and warm water. Throughout that night my finger hurt worse as I could barely sleep without elevating my finger by keeping my middle finger in the air. 😔😑. But that was the healing taking place.

The next day after my morning shower I noticed at the spot where the pus moved to there was an opening and pus was coming out on its own! I had my Fiancé squeeze the rest out as much as he could. I noticed after 30 minutes the pain started to subside. Since the pus was out I soaked it in vodka again throughout the day to be sure to kill whatever infection was there since there was now an opening which I did not have to make due to the vodka doing this for me.

After soaking with vodka I put colloidal silver in the opening and then neosporin then wrapped with a band-aid then went on with my day. Later that night I soaked in Vodka again for about 1 hr to kill the remaining infection and squeezed out more pus which this time I was able to do myself because my finger did not hurt as bad as before. After soaking I applied aloe vera gel straight from the leaf and after my night-time shower colloidal silver, aloe vera and neosporin and went to sleep. The next day I woke with 80% less pain and 1/3 less swelling. I would continue the remedies until I am 100% healed as infections are nothing to play with.

I refreshed with a new clean jar of vodka just in case. If you don't have all the remedies I had just be sure to have vodka, epsom salts and warm water, neosporin and band-aids to keep out infection.

There will be no need to cut your finger open which was a great help because I feared that if I went to the hospital that's what they would do and my finger was already in pain on a scale of 9-10 especially when I hit it against something. 😨

Do what I did and stay out of the hospital and avoid more pain by not having to get cut open.

Hi, I am very new to this site. I'm going to enjoy reading it though. My remedy might be old news here. I was in my 20's and nursing a baby boy. I took a round of anti-biotics to cure my mastitis infection. Several months later I had another breast infection. This time the infection was much worse.

My husband talked to a Native American woman at work who gave some great advice for infections. I visited my Dr.again and again she gave me antibiotics. But before I took them I thought I would give the alternative way a try. The information this woman gave my husband worked!! I took a clean potato and cut a nice slice from the middle and put it on my breast infection. I think the slice was about a quarter to a half inch thick. I put the slice directly on my infected breast and held it in place with my nursing bra. I woke up the next morning and ALL the infection was gone. I did not use the antibiotics for mastitis again. I hope this helps!

It was 2 years ago that I noticed some red bumps on my arms. I felt like crap, had no energy and they just popped up overnight. They looked like cysts, but I could not pop them, and it was very strange. I went to the GP and he gave me something for Eczema. Next AM I demanded to see a dermatologist. I got an appointment that day, and this Doctor recognized it as Mycobacterium Abscessus. Because it is contagious, a sample was sent to the CDC in my state.

I am very honest and mentioned that I used Bee Venom Therapy to treat my MS. So, I also sent him the bees that I had been using, so they could be tested as well. These also went to the CDC. They were negative.

Then I was sent to an infectious disease specialist who could not hear past Bee Venom Therapy. As far as he was concerned, the bees were the reason for this condition. There are 3 antibiotics that are used to cure this because this is a very hard thing to kill. I was only given 2 of the oral antibiotics. I was told by this doctor that the 3rd antibiotic was extremely expensive (I have insurance) but apparently it would cut into the group profit somehow. (only guessing)

After 6 months I was taken off the 2 antibiotics after a couple of weeks, they began to pop up again. I went back to the dermatologist and he was furious at how I was being treated. He called the infectious disease doctor, and we had a lot of fun on the merry go round.

Then I had an idea. I was wondering what would happen if I used slippery elm bark as a poultice, and added the Propolis (wet) to it. It could act as an astringent and pull out or kill this stuff. And that is exactly what I did.

The next day, where there had been red bumps, with white insides, there were only red bumps. On the inside of the bandages I used, were white lines. The organisms had been killed and were drawn out by slippery elm bark as it dried. My only regret is that I did not save the debris.

I still use Bee Venom Therapy, and I no longer have any issues with Mycobacterium Abscessus. By the time I went to another doctor, by the grace of God, I had already done my experiment and I did show them the pictures.

If you look at this organism under a microscope it looks like white sprinkles you might put on a cupcake. Blown up, my photo had the same structure.

Propolis and Slippery Elm Bark are my 2 new best friends. God is still #1, and I believe that all medicines come from nature. The earth is the Lords and everything in it. I respect doctors and their hard work etc. But sometimes you have to listen to what your body is telling you and since necessity is the mother of invention.......I had to invent...... God Bless

Hey ya'll. Fastest cure for drawing out an infection? Potato.

I have been dealing with an infection on my hand for over a week and nothing was improving. In fact, it was swelling so much and spread so deep it was making my bones and joints hurt. I was trying everything since the swelling and pain was making me miserable, soaks with acv, tumeric, garlic, baking soda...basically just about every remedy that's listed here. Finally, I got sick of how painful it was and asked a family friend to help me lance the worst area. Well, we couldn't get deep enough even with the sharpest lancet. Ugh.

As I was wrapping my hand in gauze, thinking 'crap, now I will have to go see the doctor', friend said: Put a slice of potato on the spot and wrap it in place overnight.

Well, when I got home, took the smallest russet potato I could find, cut off a quarter size slice from the end, so that the skin part is still on there. Scored hatch marks on the pulp of the potato, placed over the worst of the infection and wrapped it all in place with self sticking gauze, and went to bed. By the way, I wrapped the remaining potato and stuck it in the fridge.

This morning, the potato slice was black and holy moley...the infection is just sitting at the top of this boil like 'Hey, I'm ready to leave'. A gentle squeezing push of this nasty stuff under lukewarm running water...and it's so much better already. I still have some more infection lower down (I can feel it), so I sliced off another quarter size off the other end of the potato and covered the area with the potato and a bandage and wrapped again. As soon as most of the swelling and pain is gone, I will continue treating the area with antibiotic ointment and other open wound remedies. Hopefully this helps someone else with boils/skin infections. Remember to disinfect and keep all deep wounds clean and covered until full dermal healing. Peace.

Ever tried taping the inside of banana peel to an infected wound? Even took gangrene out of one of my fingers once.

My daughter had an infected big toe. It was swollen and very painful to the touch. I mixed equal parts of French green clay and water into a small mug. When the clay was the consistency of mud, I spread some on her toe. I covered that with a piece of paper towel and covered that with plastic. I used cohesive tape to keep it all secure. I used this protocol over night a few nights and for a while during the day for a couple of days. After a few days there was no more pain, heat, or swelling!

French green clay is one of my favorite remedies now! (Thanks Mmsg! )

I love inexpensive, easy, safe and simple remedies!

~Mama to Many~

I have had recurring cracked thumb tips on the sides of the fingernail and have tried many types of moisturizing creams, vaseline, bandaids, etc. The cracks would heal and then kept coming back.

After learning from your site that painful, cracked finger tips can be caused by a bacterial infection, I mixed 1/2 tablespoon Boric Acid and 1/2 cup boiling water and allowed the mixture to cool. Every time I walked by the mixture, I dipped my fingertips in the boric acid solution, immediately the pain ceased and within two days the cracks were entirely healed over.

Thanks Earthclinic for all of your wonderful suggestions, and I hope this one will help someone!

For years I suffered from skin fold infections which actually led to cellulitis and landed me in the hospital several times for weeks and on antibiotics, which lead yeast to infections and trying all kinds of medications and ointments with no relief from of any kind. It was a roller coaster. Then finally one day I was reading and came across an article on skin fold infections that recommend ed diaper rash ointment and I thought I tried everything else so might as well try this too.

So I did and wow it worked I finally found relief. I would just gently clean the area not to cause weeping to the area. I take a tiny amount of Destin and apply it gently rubbing it into the skin fold The ointment kept it from sweating and after a few days, it was looking good. I continue to rub some in the fold daily to keep it from starting again. I hope it helps someone. God bless.

When my oldest son was a young boy, he contracted a serious infection in the palm of his hand. He got up one morning with red streaks running up his arm past his elbow. I knew the seriousness of that, called the pediatrician, but the earlist they could get him in would have been 4 that afternoon, and I knew that would be too late. The only other alternative was take him to the ER. With two additional children under the age of 5 and no car, ER wasn't an option. I had read somewhere how to make a charcoal/flaxseed poultice for infections, and decided to give it a try.

It worked SO WELL! I applied warmed poultices to the palm of my son's hand every 10-15 minutes (starting at about 10 that morning) and could physically see the red streak being pulled down his arm by the poultice after just a few applications. By about 2 that afternoon, there was no redness in the arm at all, and he was touching the area around the wound in his palm saying, "Gee, it doesn't even hurt any more. "

The toughest part was actually calling and cancelling the appointment I'd made with the pediatrician. I was excitedly sharing the good news with the nurse when she interrupted me, told me that what I was telling her wasn't possible, that I would be "irresponsible" if I didn't bring my son in to see the doctor, because I'd described a serious, life-threatening condition to her. Even when I told her again that the poultice had worked amazingly well, she seemed not to hear me, and when she began to call me a negligent parent I told her she was simply being a very rude nurse, ended our relationship with that office, and hung up the phone.

Here's the recipe for a charcoal flaxseed poultice:

Grind 1-3 TBSP flaxseed in a blender. Mix with 1-3 TBSP activated charcoal powder.
Mix with 1/3 to 1 cup of water. Let set for about 10 minutes OR heat till bubbly and remove from heat, allowing mixture to gel. (For smaller amount, the ratio is 1TBSP/1TBSP/1/3 cup water; larger amount, 3TBSP/3TBSP/1 cup. )

Cut a rectangle of paper toweling twice the size of the finished "square" that you need--fold the rectangle in half to make your square, then open out again. Spread about 1/4 inch of the poultice mixture over half the paper toweling; fold the remaining half over to make a square "sandwich" with the poultice as the "filling. " Cut a piece of plastic wrap (a plastic sandwich bag also works nicely) about ½ inch larger (all around) than your poultice. Place the poultice on the area to be covered, lay the plastic wrap over that, and then tape in place with cloth tape, or in a pinch, use bandaids.

These types of poultices work very well when left in place overnight. Infections are often gone by morning. If using overnight, or for a long period throughout the day, after securing plastic wrap with tape, wrap area with an ace bandage to hold all securely in place. (Obviously, that's not possible on every area of the body; if you can't ace-bandage leaving the area securely covered with just the plastic will work just fine.

If doing an emergency, intensive care poulticing, the way I did with my son, don't use an ace bandage; keep the area heated constantly by soaking a washcloth or other absorbent material in very hot water, and hold it in place over the plastic- covered poultice until the cloth cools off, (10 minutes) then re-soak in hot water, and keep re-applying for as long as necessary to see some improvement. Depending on severity of infection, the poultice itself can be changed/renewed if necessary after several applications of heated washcloth have been applied.

Happy Poulticing!

Bread Poultice - Infection & Splinter Cure

This was a remedy used by my Grandmother for years, living on the farm, it was too far to run to the doctor for small infections, spider bites, splinters, glass, asphalt, scrapes, puss, etc.. You would soak a piece of bread with water, at bedtime, wrap it with bread wrapper to hold moisture in, and wrap with Ace (elastic) Bandage. When you awoke in the morning the venom, splinter, glass, rocks, infection and or puss lay on the surface of the bread. Acts like a sponge drying out, creating suction & removing obstruction. Other than the 3 hour bath (wrinkly) skin, laughing aloud, it works miracles.

One of the best remedies for infections is strong chamomile tea. Our family has used this for many years. An elderly woman we knew years ago, fell down the stairs which resulted in an ugly infection in her hand. She was diabetic and the doctors could not heal her. My mom made a pan of strong chamomile tea and the woman soaked her hand in it for 15 minutes. Immediately you could see a difference. She continued doing this for a few days and was completely healed. It is best to make the tea fresh each time. Thank you for this excellent website!

Dear Sandy,

If you have the clay, I think it will work well. A charcoal poultice or a potato poultice would work too, I think.

For potato, you grate up a bit or raw white potato and attach it to the infected area overnight. It draws out infection.

If you can take turmeric and vitamin C internally it will help with swelling and infection, too.

During the day, try soaking in hot salt water or hot Epsom salt water - 1 Tablespoon in a cup of water.

I hope it feels much better soon!

~Mama to Many~

My grandson had a huge boil on his butt, I took a raw potato and grated it, put this into a big gauze and taped around the outside edges of the gauze with the potato to his skin, being sure I didn`t tape over the middle of the gauze because the gauze has to be able to breathe to let the air help pull the boil out, the raw potato was wrapped inside the gauze then taped to his skin, that nite he felt it hurt, then the next morning I took off the gauze with the raw potato off of his skin, the potato had turned black, which is what it was suppose to do, this meant it was working,

I cleaned the yucky mess from where the potato had pulled out the core with hydrogen peroxide, he healed up in one week completely, and if you feel you want to do another raw potato, this would be safe if only you feel it needs it again.I even did this to my husbands 4 toes on his one foot, he had infection on all 4 toes, he had something at work drop on his toes, I took a large gauze big enough to cover all 4 toes with the raw grated potatoes and lots of it, with tape and a sock to help hold it on, next morning his toes were pus looking and yucky from where the infection was pulled out, I cleaned his toes up with hydrogen peroxide every day and covered them in a plain gauze to keep them clean, no more potatoes though because the potatoes had pulled out the infection that one nite, he healed up within one week.

And then I myself had a splinter in the bottom of my foot from last summer for a whole year, it kept hurting and going deeper into my foot, I finally could not walk for the pain, I took a raw potato for 4 nites in a row, grated the potato and put this into a gauze just big enough of a little square to cover the tiny area, I split open my foot where I wanted the potato to pull out the splinter, just a very tiny slit to get the juice from the raw potato to get into under my skin, the potato turned black every nite after each time I did this and it would hurt but it would hurt less each time, finally I pulled off the potato gauze for the fourth day in the morning and found I tiny piece of dried up skin which had a very tiny piece of a wood splinter I had gotten from last summer, I took this off and I no longer hurt at all, I only had to do this at night, not during the day, I did this all because of a tiny piece of splinter you would think would not hurt anyone.

Thank you for this post. I also developed paronychia on my right thumb. It began with pain without any visible sign of injury. Very strange, though I was working with acrylic paints a day before the onset of the pain. The swelling gradually increased and became very ugly. Everyone thought I was crazy not to go to the doctor's. I found this post and decided to follow the protocol and my result was exactly the same.

I soaked my thumb in a shot glass of vodka as much as I could during the day and before bed soaked it in very warm Epsom salt solution. By the next day, the fluid build up in my thumb began to leak out which instantly helped relieve the pain. I imagine it will take a couple of weeks for the skin to heal but I can deal with that. I always hit this site before heading to the doctor for anything and haven't been to the doctor in years. Thank you again for the paronychia remedy!

Thanks for your website. I developed a skin infection several weeks ago. I manifested itself by an itchy, red rash that developed into blister/boil type skin irritation just north of the knee. I soaked a piece of cotton gauze with apple cider vinegar and applied it directly to the area secured by a piece of paper tape overnight for 4 or 5 nights and also during the day a couple times. It completely healed up and is gone. Thank you.