★★★★★
Borax
★★★★★
For at least the past 20 years I've struggled with an itchy scalp, initially localized to one area on the side of my head. Over time I developed a swollen lymph node in my neck underneath the itchy area. An ENT doctor ruled out lymphoma and other issues then treated it as a bacterial infection with repeated rounds of different antibiotics over the course of many months. Antibiotics helped with the inflammation and itching, but the problem would return stronger than ever each time I stopped. I was referred to a dermatologist, who again repeated various rounds of antibiotics, but they also didn't resolve anything permanently. She never made any formal diagnosis but prescribed a steroid cream to help with the itching, but told me to limit its use because it would thin the skin, and so I eventually quit using it.
I've tried every sort of dandruff shampoo out there; internal treatments like Lugol's iodine, oregano oil and eating lots of garlic; even many topical treatments including colorless iodine, coconut oil, all types of essential oils including tea tree, oregano and thyme, ACV rinses, etc. About a year back I even tried using borax as a shampoo, which helped some. However nothing provided any lasting relief from the itching or allowed my scalp to heal. The itchy area grew larger and the affected areas became covered with scaly patches (scales as big around as a pencil, not small dandruff flakes). I could wash the scales off with aggressive scrubbing during a shampoo but they would return within 6-8 hours. The area continued to worsen, becoming red and inflamed until I started losing hair.
Not wanting to take any prescription antifungals due to their liver toxicity, I finally decided to give internal borax a try about 6 weeks ago. I initially wet the very tip of my finger, dipped my finger in the borax and then swallowed that (I understand this gives you about 3 mg of boron per finger dip). Within a few days, I noticed a dramatic reduction of the swelling in my lymph node. Itchiness did not reduce--I think it actually got more intense. But it seemed that I was seeing some progress in the appearance of my scalp, although it was very slow.
After 3 weeks of just dipping my finger in the borax I switched to dissolving 1/8 tsp in a quart of water and sipping the quart of water through the day. I saw immediate changes, starting with the skin between my toes cracking open as if I was getting athlete's foot again. Unlike past athlete's foot infections, the skin didn't crack deep enough to bleed, and over the past few weeks the skin simply peeled off and the area is healing without any topical treatments. Thick callouses on the bottom of my feet are also peeling off, revealing healthy skin underneath. The large scales have stopped forming on my scalp, and the skin is slowly changing to a more natural pink color instead of red. Even the circular spot on my face has started to lose its polished appearance and normal beard is starting to grow again. Additionally, the swelling in my lymph node has continued to go down, with it approaching normal size for the first time in probably 15 years.
It is too soon for me to know whether this will also kill the toenail fungus. My scalp still itches more than normal but certainly less than it used to, and all signs point to the borax finally killing this stuff. I'm optimistic that given more time I will finally eliminate these fungi which have plagued me for so many years. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am that this is working!!
For my body weight, the recommended Earthclinic protocol calls for me to use 1/4 tsp borax. I found that with the larger dose I experienced headaches and other die off symptoms. When I backed off to the lower 1/8 tsp dose the die off symptoms abated. So I'm taking 1/8 tsp in a quart of water for 5 days followed by two days off. When I'm taking the borax I drink two additional quarts of water to help flush out my system.
About a year ago, after learning how repeated antibiotics can worsen fungal infections, I started drinking about 1/2 cup of homemade milk kefir each day to help replenish the good bacteria/probiotics in my system, which I am continuing as well.
