Activated Charcoal for Boils

5 star (2) 
  100%

Phyllis (Norwood, Nc) on 12/25/2011:
5 out of 5 stars

A paste made of charcoal powder and water will draw the fever out of a boil very quickly. Cover the boil with the paste and then with a damp, flat cotton pad covered in plastic to keep from drying out and wetting clothing. Can tape in place.
REPLY   3      

Melissa (Houston, Texas) on 04/04/2010:
5 out of 5 stars

My two year old son has had recurring boils in his buttcrack ( sorry, but that's where they are :) ) - anyways, previously we have used the heated bottle method with good results. However, this time it only released a little bit of fluid with that method...it just kept getting bigger and bigger even with turmeric applied to it. He couldn't sit down and his little butt cheek was all purple. Doc's office was closed for the weekend, so I hurried to the health food store, desperate for some help and the lady suggested Activated Charcoal - it was sold in capsules.

I wet piece of gauze, opened the capsule and sprinkled a decent amount across the bandage (it needs to be damp to work, so make sure the gauze is significantly damp so it won't dry out quickly). That usually takes about 1/2 the capsule.

Then I dump the rest of the capsule into a little bowl of yogurt so he can eat it.

I have him eating the yogurt/charcoal mix 2x a day (morning and night) and changing the charcoal bandage about 3x a day (the health food store lady advised every 2 hours, but bandage changes were a little traumatic for my guy, so 3x a day it was) I think the main idea is you want a consistently damp bandage, so a fresh one ensures that.

Anyways, after 24 hours, his huge boil (biggest one he's experienced) burst - I mean, really, hours later, the stuff won't stop coming out...I will ALWAYS keep this stuff on hand now. Also said to work for bug bites, rashes, etc - pulls the poisons right out of the skin. It's not completely eradicated right now, as it just burst this evening, but I just applied more charcoal before he went to bed, so I'm certain it will be completely gone within a few days. It is amazing the improvement in just 24 hours.

side note: charcoal has no flavor, so is REALLY easy to get a toddler to eat - especially mixed in a creamy something - like pudding or yogurt. However it is BLACK and stains REALLY bad, so I literally just spoon feed it too him myself - he thinks it's cool to watch the yogurt turn black...lol...although chocolate pudding would make it easy too. Do all your bandage preparation over a papertowel or plate, or you'll have black countertops!

REPLY   5      
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