The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Cortisone Shots
Posted by Lyn (Vancouver, BC Canada) on 02/06/2009
★★★★★
i admit i will now try turmeric etc, but years ago when i would get boils on my face for a QUICK fix...
when i NEEEEDED IT GONE like TOMORROW FOR SURE as a self conscious teenager.... i went to my dermatologist and got it injected with cortizone ...have repeated that more than 30 times over the years also through a general practicioner as well. If you call and say you have a boil needs cortizone injection so it wont scar they will squeeeeze you in asap. The moment you get the injection you can feel it start to go away, the next day its TOTALLY GONE.
course now i would try the turmeric etc if i could wait a couple days to get rid of it the healthy way ;)
also, i have used table salt on staph, im allergic to bactroban, and im prone to staph even if i think im very hygenic in giving myself a facial, occasionally i notice the next day every place that i removed a blackhead or anything is swollen from staph... salty paste kills germs period they cant live in it. i will get some sea salt to see if its better but table salt is wonderful for infections.
Seabuckthorn helps with acne boils rosesea and other skin conditions.
vitamin e oil on open weeping sores will seal them and heal them quickly.
Cream of Tartar
Posted by Thomas (Chehalis, WA) on 06/08/2008
★★★★★
Here's a folk remedy for boils. I get boils all the time, always around my belt buckle. They seemed to last a week or two, and even after they burst, the area remained tender for a few days. My Grandmother gave me a teaspoon of Cream of Tarter mixed with about 6 oz. of water when I had a boil the size of a golf ball. Within about 4 hours it had burst, and the next day, it was gone. Now I use it all the time, with great results. She says "It cleans your blood", but I'm sure there is a scientific reason for it. You may want to use warm water, as it doesn't dissolve well in cold water. Also, it tastes very acidic, so I usually dissolve it in an ounce of warm water and mix it with cold orange juice, and you can't taste it at all.
Cream of Tartar
Posted by Mortie (Las Vegas, NV) on 04/25/2008
★★★★★
A cure for boils that I have used since the 1960's: one teaspoon of cream of tarter, 3 doses, eight hours apart for the first day; then one teaspoon per day for 5 days. Other people have tried it and it seems to work universally. My father called it Canadian Folk Medicine. It works by correcting a potassium deficiency.
Replied by Healingmama
(San Diego, Ca)
06/10/2012
★★★★★
Replied by Gavin
(Manganui, Northland, New Zealand)
06/12/2012
Crushed Egg Shells
Posted by Danielle (IL) on 12/18/2020
★★★★★
I had a boil once as a child and was told to crush eggs shells with a little water to form almost a paste and apply topically. It worked like a charm! Hope this helps someone!
Deodorant
Posted by Chris (Paris, TX) on 08/11/2007
i used to get horrible boils (golf ball to baseball size) under my arm pits. i had a doctor suggest that i may have a condition known as (
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hidradenitis-suppurativa/DS00818) Hidradenitis Suppurativa, he said this was incurable. i do not believe in incurable conditions. After lots of research and a trip to a local allergy specialist i found that was actually allergic to aluminum zirconium, a very common ingredient in antiperspirants (see
http://health.howstuffworks.com/question627.htm for more information) i switched to an antiperspirant withouts actually allergic to aluminum zirconium and the boils stopped.
My allergy Dr. told me that alot of people actually get misdiagnosed with Hidradenitis Suppurativa because of boils in the armpit when all that is wrong with them is their choice of antiperspirant. i also want to point out that i have seen this ingredient listed on several feminine hygiene products for moisture control.
Replied by Alib
(Swansea, Wales, Uk)
12/04/2010
★★★★★
Detox
Posted by Jacob (Upper Marlboro, Md) on 01/24/2013
★★★★★
I have experienced boils for years and I realized for me... The reason I get boils is because of the toxicity levels in my blood, due to smoking and/or drinking. Tumeric is the best solution for boils but it doesn't cure it, if your immune system is unique, reducing those levels can reduce outbreaks significantly. I haven't had a boil or any signs of one since I started reducing toxins within myself.
Dietary Recommendations
Posted by Keisha (Atlanta, GA) on 06/26/2008
★★★★★
I cured my boils by avoiding all foods with high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup! That was practically my whole condiment section of my refrigerator, and my cereals (read all labels it's practically in everything!) but you can replace them with organic products=) Also I stopped eating peanuts and chocolate together as one reader suggested! So that's practically all the good candy! However these food changes should keep you boil free! In the meantime Tumeric capsules work great to heal existing boils I bought them in Walmart and took 2 a day and applied tea tree oil on them all day before I discovered the cause of the boils . However since changing my eating I have been boil free! Good luck!
Dietary Recommendations
Posted by Joan (Gloucester, United States) on 04/12/2008
★★★★★
I have a problem with recurring boils also. Believe it or not, white vinegar, applied topically, helps them to go away. I read about it and tried it. I have noticed that my diet may affect getting boils. When I eat a clean diet, adding fruits and vegetables, not too much fat, a little olive oil OK. a LITTLE ... cut out the junk foods, high sugar treats, eat whole grains in moderation, flesh foods in a diminished capacity, and I am also drinking alkaline water, the ph issue is correct. It makes a world of difference. Since I have been trying to eat more high alkaline foods my boils, have disappeared without any topical treatment. Drink lots of water with ph drops to heal your body from the inside out. All fruits and veggies, some fish, especially fatty fish is good for you. Find online information about ph drops and you will open a world of information that will help you find out how to improve your alkaline levels. Most of the foods we enjoy cause us to overdo acids in our bodies causing acidosis, which causes disease. Fish need a proper ph to survive, we won't go into a pool before it is a proper ph because we know we could get sick. Our bodies also need to stay in a healthy ph range in order to stay health. Check it out. Be very blessed. Oh, and of course what you think and how you live causes health or disease. Exercise, of course, stimulates the blood, which is also necessary for health... and I also believe prayer helps everything! Joan
Replied by Kelly
(Louisiana)
01/18/2015
★★★★★
Dietary Recommendations
Posted by Mark (Nashville, Tennessee) on 04/07/2008
★★★★★
I have had a staph infection on my face for two years (folliculitis). I first went to an internist doctor who gave me two weeks of dioxcycline (100mg once a day). It did not work. Then I went to a dermatologist who told me that I had roseaca. However, it was on my forehead - not a common site for roseacea. I was given 100 mg of minocycline once a day, which caused the infected follicles to produce pus which spread the infection all over my face and onto my chest. From searching the internet, I discovered that puting 1/2 bottle of Lysol Concentrate (which kills staph) into my washing machine when washing the items (pillow cases) that touched my infection drascically cut down on the constant spread of the infection. I returned to the Dr to try to get her to start treating me for what I actually had, staph, but she would not back down from her roseacea diagnosis. Realizing that she was misdiagnosing me, I went to a second dermatologist. He said I indeed had staph, and that I needed 100mg of antibiotics twice a day, a sulfur wash twice a day to kill the staph on my skin, and to take the antibiotics for a month after the spreading stopped. He tried three different antibiotics in succession for one month each, but none worked to his satisfaction. Not having insurance to pay for more intensive efforts, I gave up. When I got a job a year later with insurance, I returned to the last Dr. I had figured out that one of the antibiotics he had tried the year before - minocycline - had been working. I told him and so he tried it again. It only got the infection down to a certain point and then stopped working. I figured out that my diet coke addiction was keeping me so dehydrated that the minocycline wasn't wroking. I stopped drinking caffeine beverages and my staph infection was almost cured. But it still would not totally heal. Then I discovered to wait three hours instead of two after taking the medicine to eat. Eating two hours after taking the medicine wasn't letting the full dose absorb into my body. Then the infection began to totally heal. In the mean time, the Dr told me that I had been on the antibiotic too long and started trying to reduce my doseage and take me of of the minocycline. I had to beg to be allowed to continue taking it till I was cured. It finally cured. I wish I had known about tumeric because of all the emotional turmoil I had to go though over two years. The first two traditional medicine doctors weren't competent in treating staph, and the third was so uncommunicative that I had to struggle for months to figure out how to make the prescribed antibiotic work. The papers that came with the antibiotic just said not to drink alcohol and to wait 2 to 3 hours before and after taking the medicine to eat. I had to endure eight months of having to wait hours to eat because of all this. I hope this saves someone from going through two years of treatment when they should have been cured in two or three months.
Replied by Casey
(Gainesville, Fl)
09/27/2012
Replied by Cathy
(Georgia, US)
08/17/2014
★★★★★
Replied by Kelli
(Louisiana)
02/11/2017
Dietary Recommendations
Posted by Eileen (Northwest US) on 04/08/2007
★★★★★
I've experienced extremely painful boils/ acne-like, very hard but with no pus starting about 2 yrs ago. I am of average weight and have a healthy diet. I spent many, many months trying to pinpoint the source, doing lots of research. I did finally go to an allopathic nurse pracitioner who said it was impetigo (because they use yes/no answers on a computerized diagnosis program. WRONG! I believe that it's dermatitis herpetiformus, but I didn't want to go through a biopsy to confirm it. It only occurs when gluten is consumed (which is in just about everything packaged). It is exacerbated by hormonal cycles and low thyroid. I think that perimenopause has thrown off my hormone balance and has led to gluten intolerance. Here's what helps: stop consuming all grains and follow a diet for candida/yeast. This takes a long time, and it was really hard to do, but it is the only real solution I've found. (After finally healing and staying off flour for a year and a half, I had one slice of pizza, and it's deja-vu all over again). Topically, use niacinamide gel (Metazine from Life Link) very frequently (really helps reduce inflammation), salicylic acid gel, and yes, I use cortisone too. I think the niacinamide works best. Vit E is ok if not sourced from wheat. Taking massive supplements hasn't helped (like high doses of A, D, E, selenium, zinc, even up to 400mg CoQ10 -no response. I do use curcumin, wobenzym, niacinimide, colloidal silver. Thyroid supplementation has been a significant help. I have used real low doses of doxycycline for a very limited time and it did seem to help a bit but I stopped due to a reaction beginning. I used activated charcoal and it's possible that considering the link between wheat sensitivity, leaky gut or IgA deficiency, and the breakout a few days later, that it's the charcoal's work not the doxycycline that really helped at that time. Of course, maybe it's really from chemtrail fallout. Who knows? Whatever it is, it is HELL and the Metazine works wonders. Good luck.
Dietary Recommendations
Posted by Lisa Marie (Morrisville, PA) on 02/15/2006
★★★★★
I tried a lot of 70% alcohol, neosporin, and hot water packs. I occasionally take a one a day. Out of all of this I usually resort to going to the doctors and getting the prescription drug SPECTRACEF cefditoren pivoxil 200mg tablets, and take them twice a day. After about a week it kinda clears it up. The only thing that really cleared up the boils were the SPECTRACEF. All the other items were just methods of keeping the infection down and helping with the pain. Without the prescription I usually just resort to popping them with my hands, alcohol, and alot of band aids. But one thing that I notice is that when I squeeze and the blood comes out, there's somewhat of an oily substance in my blood. Kind of like when you cook a pot of soup and you can see little oil drops floating on the surface. This made me think that maybe I was consuming too much oil in my diet, so I cut out a considerable amount of oil and fried products out of my daily meals. I did notice that the number of boils went down after trying that. Now at this point I'm leaning towards trying aloe vera juice daily along with the reduced oil/fat diet. I've heard that aloe vera juice is good for cleansing the blood. I'll be sure to keep you posted on the results.
Distilled Vinegar and Colloidal Silver
Posted by Augustine (MA) on 09/02/2006
★★★★★
I tried the turmeric for four days, hoping for a miracle, and my boil began to rapidly enlarge. Since one of your readers had mentioned that, like anything in life, sometimes it will get worse before better I did stick with it as long as I could. Finally I was in a desperate situation. The boil was huge and very painful. On another site I read about soaking approx. 5 layers of paper bag, cut to the correct size for your boil, in distilled vinegar and covering the boil overnight. Long strips of medical tape should be used so the wet paper will stick. The next morning there was a small scab at the top so I took a shower to moisten it, lifted the top of the scalp and the whole boil drained. It did feel better, but of course the lump was still close to the same size and very tender. From there I made sure to keep the area very clean and I bought colloidal silver and Curad silver bandages. (For those who don't know of the healing powers of silver, you should do some research.) I put 1 drop of silver under my tongue 3x p/day and one on the boil 5x the first day and kept it covered at all times with the silver bandage. By that evening the boil was 1/4 of its size, and the next morning it was gone. The skin is still slightly damaged, but the silver is supposed to prevent scarring as well. (It has prevented scarring on patients with 3rd degree burns.) The best part is that all of the pain disappeared with the first silver drop.
Draining a Boil
Posted by Ebby (Toronto, Ontario) on 07/01/2010
★★★★★
Just a quick note. This may sound strange but after not having much success draining a boil with wet heated cloth I decided to try a heavy duty paper towel and presto, the boil began to drain for over an hour. Change towel regularly and rest. hope this helps. Also, i too have found the turmeric cure helpful and use oregano oil as an antibactial.
Draining a Boil
Posted by Lewis (Thomasville, NC) on 02/09/2008
★★★★★
My wife had a large boil in her armpit. I really don't think you should do this unless you try some other treatments first. We tried some other treatments, but they didn't work. The boil had increased in size and become more painfull. I took alcohol and rubbed the area. I took a very, very sharp pointed knife and cut into the boil (had gloves on) and drained it. It was about the size of a quarter. There was lots of drainage. But in about a week it healed a lot. Another week and it was gone.
Drawing Salve
Posted by Eaglez (Waldwick, Nj) on 09/09/2012
★★★★★
Here is a home-made remedy that I have used for many years to draw out foreign objects from a body including the spores from poison ivy, metal and glass shards, splinters of all kinds and even infectionous erruptions on the skin. It works. Its simple to make and easy to apply without a mess.
Get yourself a bar of 'brown soap' from Walmart, Walgreens or your supermarket. I have two brands that I have stocked up on: Octagen and Felsnappa. Either will work just fine. Now, place a small plastic bag flat and un-opened on a table. Place the bar of soap on the plastic. Take a butter knife and begin to shave off thin slices of the soap onto the plastic. If the bar of soap you are using has been around for awhile it may be a little dry and will slice off harder than a freshly unwrapped bar of soap. Either will work just fine. Okay, when you have an amount that will cover the intended area of concern remove the bar of soap and then, using your fingers, mush the scrapped pieces of soap together making something that resembles an upside cone or pyramid. Now get some household white sugar and, using a spoon, make a pile of sugar next to the shaved soap. Add enough white sugar so that it is about the same size as the soap. When done simply mush together the soap and the sugar with your fingers. Now you need to add water, a drop or two at a time to make a paste that is not runny or too think and lumpy. Be careful not to add too much water as it will render the paste to a watery mass and become difficult to work with when applying it. When the paste is tacky to the touch, or close to it, apply it to the area(s) of your concern. I use the plastic bag that I mixed the soap and sugar on as a cover to which I also apply some thin padding such as a piece of inexpensize gauze. If you are out in the woods or away from civilization use your best guess as to what to use that would cover the mixture and hold it in place for about twelve hours. About twelve hours after applying this mixture you can take it off and make another application if needed. I've used this to draw out pieces of rust from a terribly corroded nail, pieces of glass, snips of wire and gravel (sliding on a road surface after a fall from a bike). It works well. Someimes a second or even a third application will be needed to do the job - it definitely works. Hope this helps someone.
Replied by Lisainphilly
(Philadelphia)
02/17/2015
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