Jennysmom2 (Idaho, US) on 07/22/2015
Of course you need to take it regularly, or the pain etc. comes back. I am on the go and work out of town, so a great solution for me is to keep candied ginger with me. (Not ginger candy) I eat a couple of pieces a couple of times a day. Some people may be concerned with sugar content, but this is good on the go solution for me.
Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 12/28/2009
Subject: callouses on heels (wonder what this would do with the cracked heels?)
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Get rid of calluses for good
Q: I've had very thick heel calluses for most of my adult life. I've tried everything from lotions to scraping to soaking and nothing seems to work. Is there anything that will help?
Dr. Wright: In the 1970s, I read a book about nutrition and general medicine written by a Yale professor. In that book, he observed that heavy heel calluses were a sign of long- term vitamin A deficiency. He recommended vitamin A supplementation for individuals with this problem.
Since that time, I have recommended the same treatment for my patients and have found it quite reliable, although in many cases it takes three to four months to begin to see results, and complete disappearance of the calluses can take eight months or more.
For adults, the dose is 75,000 units of vitamin A per day until the calluses are gone. Then you can decrease your dose to a "maintenance amount" of 15,000 to 25,000 units per day. (If the calluses return, the quantity can be increased once more.) In over 20 years, I've never observed any adverse effects with this treatment.
Pip (New Zealand) on 11/29/2019
PB (North Carolina) on 03/09/2019
Finally I thought I would try my first ever castor oil pack on my bunion for an hour. It felt like the fluid was decreasing so I used a castor oil pack on my foot for the next four nights in a row for an hour. By the second night most of the pain was gone. I can't predict when the rain is coming now because I no longer feel pain in my foot days before it rains. It feels like 99 percent of the fluid is out of my foot now. I think I will try the castor oil pack on my TMJ and over my sinus areas next to see what happens.
Jen (Longview) on 03/10/2018
Bentonite clay food grade all the way. Use this topically and with help of tea made of bay leaves to drink cured it fast.
Catherine (Fort Lauderdale) on 06/05/2015
Catherine
Nicole (Harmonsburg, Pa) on 10/18/2014
Re: Iodine for Bunions Bill (San Fernando, Philippines) on 03/28/2014
Doctors seem to believe that bunions are caused genetically or by rubbing on the shoe. I think this is bunk. Bunions are caused by deep-seated subdermal fungal/bacterial infestations in these regions. I also had very hard and unusual callous build up all around the back of my heels. And when you think about it, a foot inside a shoe wearing socks etc is a prime region for sweat build up and infections.
What's more, when I came to the Philippines and wore simple sandals and flip-flops every day (not shoes) my bunions still did not improve.
The fastest way to get rid of bunions/hard skin build-up on the feet is to first shave these regions down to the normal skin if you can and then apply a disinfectant like iodine to get rid of any discreet fungal/bacterial infections sub-dermally.
I would also not recommend topical application of lugol's iodine alone.
Only about 4%-8% of the iodine is absorbed into the skin this way. But if you use a 50-50 mix of one teaspoon of 70% DMSO(Dimethyl-sulfoxide) and one teaspoon lugol's iodine on the shaved bunion regions, you will get much faster results because of the penetrative and transdermal carrier abilities of DMSO. In other words DMSO carries much more iodine into the skin transdermally giving you faster and quicker outcomes.
DMSO is also an anti-inflammatory and will reduce the pain. Result: All bunion pathogens killed with no more bunion formation thereafter.
Coconut Oil for Bunion Brian (Sth Aus, Australia) on 10/15/2013
Just over a week ago I began to limp from minor pain in my left foot. Closer inspection revealed a lump protruding at the base of my small toe about the size of a pea. I have never experienced this before but I googled ‘bunions’ anyway and proceeded to tick every box for descriptions and matched every photo for the identification of a Tailor’s Bunion.
Whether it really was a bunion will never be confirmed by a doctor because it’s completely gone – no limp, no pain, no lump. But it sure is a strange place to get a pimple if that’s all it was.
The only treatment I used on it was a 1 minute morning massage with a tiny bit of Coconut Oil and then putting a sock on immediately after, for 3 days. That was it. On the 4th day all was well again so I stopped treating it and haven’t put a foot wrong since.
Cheers.
Sian (London) on 07/29/2013
I have been vigorously massaging my feet daily for 15 minutes for a few months and it has had an effect of reducing the inflammation in the toe joint. They are still red when I take my shoes off at the end of the day but they have definitely have improved and are not nearly quite as painful as before. I am going to stick with my foot massage and try adding Tagetes oil to my plain massage oil which is recommended for foot problems and there has been a lot of positive things said about this oil in recent years. I wear looser shoes now with a wider toe box - the tight, pointy shoes have all gone on Ebay. Also, one could try Pilates foot exercises to strengthen the feet.
I couldn't go as far to say massage can cure bunions as they are structural anomalies - extra bone has been formed on the toe joint, but it can bring great relief and stop the worsening of the condition.
Chuck (Cape Coral, Florida) on 03/01/2013
Idow (Naples, Fl) on 02/28/2013
I'm now able to wear my old high heel shoes, although I'm careful to take them off as soon as I get home.
The manipulation of the big toes have increased flexibility, reduced pain and decreased my bunions drastically. Sometimes I use coconut oil b/c it smells great, but most of the time I just massage while watching TV w/out oil. I also spread all my toes out a lot, now that I know the importance of stretching!
Casey (Grand Rapids, Michigan) on 08/29/2012
Wanda (Santa Cruz, Ca, Usa) on 04/20/2012
Sharon (New Orleans, La) on 11/30/2011
Ari (Atlanta, Georgia) on 06/10/2011
If you will add a little TURMERIC powder to the oil... Like say some Castor Oil you will be thrilled at how quick the pain will stop from the Bunion! I did it and couldn't stop testifying for a month!
Ais (Dublin, Ireland) on 06/02/2011
I have had a relatively small bunion for some years now and have also found, despite being told that it is impossible to reduce the size of a bunion without surgery, that massage does make a noticeable difference!
Lisa (Ny, Ny) on 08/02/2009
Dianne (Kansas City, Missouri) on 07/31/2009
I put a little drop of olive oil (just enough to massage easily)in my hand and gently rubbed all around the big toe, bunion and down that side of my foot. I did it 10 minutes or so, twice a day, while I read or watched TV. I drank a full glass of water first like Jencia suggested to help get the synovial fluid moving. After just two days, I could already tell that the bunion was smaller!! After one week, I am thrilled with the reduction I can see - I wish I had taken a before picture. I will keep doing it - maybe after a month or so I won't have to do it every day, perhaps once a week? I really massage well around the base of the big toe because it does seem to be turning upright (as in "normal")again,instead of laying on the next toe. Thank you so much, Jencia, I never would have known to try this if you had not taken the time to write. I visit this site daily and just love it!!
Maxine (London, England) on 10/12/2008
