Home Remedies for Impetigo

I've never had impetigo before and I didn't know what it was. Initially I mistook it for a cold sore and treated it with cold sore treatments and antiviral pills, however, I did notice it was behaving differently to a cold sore and I was slightly puzzled.

Then one day, boom, the rash and blisters spread like wildfire across my whole chin, around my mouth, on my lips and cheeks. It was scary and incredibly painful, and the chills and fevers meant I couldn't sleep at night either, so I was exhausted too.

I was prescribed antibiotics by my doctor and on the 4th day of taking them my chin dried up BUT the rash continued to spread at a good pace up my face and on to my forehead. Most of my face was either covered in oozing blisters, heavy crust or burning like crazy. I couldn't open my mouth much either so it was very difficult to eat too. Straws and teaspoons became my best friends as I used them to eat and drink with.

Because the rash continued to spread I knew the antibiotics weren't fully working so basically I prayed for a miracle. That's when I stumbled on this webpage and the GSE comments really struck a chord with me. That day I went to a health food shop and luckily for me they sold the GSE pills (tub of 100 pills) and liquid so I bought both, along with a huge bottle of Aloe Vera Juice.

As soon as I started taking the GSE pills (2 pills, 3 times a day), that same evening really, I noticed the rash had stopped spreading. 2 or 3 times a day I gently patted my whole face with a mix of Aloe Vera Juice with drops of the GSE liquid, as I'd read on here that using the GSE liquid undiluted really burns, and I didn't want that. The Aloe Vera Juice really was great at cooling my face which was just so hot, burning and itchy. This is compared to say tea tree oil which I tried patting on my face at the beginning of my ordeal but it really did nothing for me.

During the next 5 days after I'd started taking the GSE pills and using the aloe and GSE liquid mix, the thick crusts dried and started falling off my face, and on the 6th day my face was completely clear of crusts! My face was really raw afterwards though, and I have some post inflammation hyperpigmentation (where the skin darkens from the inflammation) but this can be covered in makeup and will fade in good time.

I also used vitamin E oil after the crusts fell off to soften my skin again because it was really dry and flaky, despite drinking lots of water. I did finish my course of antibiotics too just in case. It also took a few days for the itchiness to completely disappear. During this time I made sure not to scratch anything and washed my hands if I touched my face.

Basically GSE worked wonders for me and I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who posted their stories here, as they really helped me and gave me hope. So I thought I'd post my story in the hope that it will also help someone else who is suffering.

If you can, please buy GSE pills and liquid as soon as possible. I will always have these pills with me now I know what impetigo is and how awful it can be. The infection is hugely challenging and my heart goes out to those reading this who have it, but thankfully it's a superficial infection and only effects the epidermis (outer skin layer) so it will heal fine. Good luck to all of you, and thanks again to the previous posters, I appreciate you sharing your stories! JJ

Do not try to use regular pasteurized, store-brand honey. It does not contain the antimicrobial properties that Manuka Honey does and will not work. To boot if you have used antibiotic creams they have a side effect of creating a fungal environment when used too long and regular honey not having the properties to kill this will only feed it and make it worse.

At night I use a carrier oil with essential oil blend in it specifically for Impetigo.

Olive Oil
Jojoba Oil (Close to skin sebum)
Buriti (Use 10% max in carrier mix, as it stains)
Rosehip Seed (Antiscarring)

Essential Oils (Add 4-8drops of each to 50ml of oil):

• Lemongrass (Antiviral, Antibacterial, Astringent)
• Tea Tree (Antibacterial, Antifungal)
• Eucalyptus (Antiviral and Antibacterial)
• Lavender (Antiviral and Antibacterial, Soothing)
• Ravensara (Heals Scarring)
• Helychrysum (Heals Scarring)

Carrier oils that are good to use are Organic Cold Pressed (Use one or all together)

I'm a 44 year old woman. My first encounter with Impetigo was 8 or 9 years ago - it appeared on my legs and it seemed the epicenter of each patch was a tiny wound or injury. I didn't know what it was so I did some research and concluded incorrectly that it was a variety of Psoriasis. For some reason, my online searches didn't come up with Impetigo. Like everyone else, I tried everything I could think of to relieve the horrible itching and eventually noticed that flushing the patches with hot water with a hand-held showerhead offered a numbing effect lasted from several hours to a whole day. Also, it was obvious that the more I scratched, the larger the patches became so I learned to leave the areas alone and to bandage them so my clothes wouldn't aggravate the situation. After a week or two, with regular hot water flushing and just not spreading the patches, the skin healed.

Now for my second encounter with Impetigo. It started a week ago, again in response to a tiny injury. I researched it again and Impetigo jumped right out. Knew I had the right diagnosis this time. The various sites containing information clarified the sequence of events from a few years ago. I learned that the blister fluid is infectious, for example. I also learned that Impetigo is caused by bacteria and that I wasn't dealing with contact dermatitis or anything like that. The hot water flushing offered relief just like before but this time, I added a twist. I reasoned that if hot water helped, perhaps hot air would too. So after I shower, I use a hair dryer on the patches, as hot as I can stand it. Then, I bandage the areas as before.

I'm thrilled to report that the hair dryer has worked wonders. The patches are healing much more quickly. My theory as to why it works is that the heat kills the bacteria. After all, your body elevates its temperature to fight infection so it makes sense to me that topical heat might kill bacteria on or in the skin. The heat from the hair dryer has the same numbing effect so that the patches don't itch for at least half a day.

Tip: be very careful with the hot water and the hot hair. Hold it on the patches only until you just begin to feel a tiny bit burned. Any longer than that, and you will actually be burned. I flick the shower head and the hair dryer back and forth over the patches for a few moments to make sure they are fully heated.

Tip: be very careful as you dry off after a shower. Don't let the towel touch the infected areas. I dab those with a bit of toilet paper which I then flush. It might be easier to dry your body with a small towel which is more controllable than a large floppy bath towel.

As other posters have noted, it seems lotions and ointments only aggravate the skin and don't actually relieve any of the itching and pain. I just cover the areas securely and employ the heat treatment as necessary.

After a few days they'd calm down, but then new ones popped up. Couldn't figure out why fleas would go after me and no one else in the family, so next conclusion was an allergy to sunscreen. Spots seemed to pop out shortly after being outside in the sun and sweating. Seemed to last longer than at first. Still just mainly on my truck of my body. No face, arms or lower legs.

Then I made the mistake of shaving and trimming up my bikini area. Appearently this spread the impetigo to a very unpleasant region! Again, I had figured it was a simple allergy, nothing spreadable. When it spread down there, it got BAD. Large, blistering, itchy oozing sores that spread VERY quickly. I began to wonder if my husband had cheated on me and somehow given me herpes! But he didn't have any lesions, and only got 3 after intercourse with me (just before the spots popped out everywhere in my lower regions. No doubt this caused it to spread). After running through an entire list of possible STD's, rashes and ailments, I finally found info on impetigo.

By this time it had spread so badly in my "under region" that I could not even pee. Everything was badly swollen and infected. It looked and felt like %%%%! I was in AGONY! Tried cranberry juice to help, drank an entire jug in one day with NO relief!

Before finding this site, here's what I tried on my "bad" spots: hydrocortisone cream -didn't work.

• over the counter menthol and spray anti-itch ointments -- burned VERY badly but numbed the area (didn't cure it)
• Iveyrest Poison Ivy Cream: worked on the not so bad spots, kept it under control and dried lesions, but didn't keep new spots from developing, and hard to keep it dry "down there".
• Triple Anti-Biotic Cream: didn't work.

****Remedies tried from this site and others I tried:

• Vinegar: works well. Saturated a paper towel and held it on my bad spot areas. Burned slightly but vinegar is a natural bacteria killer. Seemed to help keep them from spreading when done twice a day (change underwear too! )
• BATH: added epsom salt (about 1-2 cups) into warm bath with tea tree oil and crushed garlic cloves. Very soothing and a good way to wash gently.
• Hydrogen Peroxide: used as an antiseptic similar to vinegar. Burned less than vinegar, worked to dry spots out after shower/bath. May dry too much and cause scarring though...
• TUMERIC (PILLS): Tumeric added to food at the rate of 1 tsp is harsh to eat. Tumeric pills are MUCH better! Take 3 pills 3 times a day. TUMERIC DID HELP!!! After 24 hrs on it I could pee with NO pain, and the swelling had gone down a lot. However the spots were still spreading and VERY itcy after 4 days of pills (took me FOREVER to locate Grapefruit Seed Extract)
• GRAPEFRUIT SEED EXTRACT: BEST REMEDY! After just 12 hrs on the pills 3 times a day, I notced the spots fading away, and not so much itch. Spots stopped spreading and seem to be finally gone after 1 week of pills!
• OLIVE OIL/GARLIC: For my itchy spots I poured 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil into a small dish and mashed a garlic clove and added it to oil. Used fork to mash it into oil more and release juices. Let sit 1 hr then apply with q-tip or cotton ball to spots. STOPS ITCH, STOPS SPREAD. This was a VERY SOOTHING treatment on my under-regions and despite the oil you didn't notice fealing greasy. Only soothed. Olive oil has healing properties and garlic is a natural sulphuric antibiotic.

BOTTOM LINE: Keep the olive oil/garlic always ready in the bathroom. When a spot pops up apply the mix to it and it will calm down and not spread.

Thank you thank you thank you for this site and ALL the helpful remedies!

Go to your local drug store and get yourself some Campho-Phenique cold sore treatment with DRYING ACTION. It is important to get this exact one. Not the liquid one because we don't want to wet different areas. Its a thick gel type. What you do is get a q tip and dap only the effected area. The sooner the better. This dries quick and will crest kind of a scab over the blister. Let it sit and dap some more in a few hours. The first day of treating empetigo is very important. You do not want to break the skin of the sales because that's how it spreads, that why you do not use the liquid form, you will get horrible results. This gel neutralizes it and it is very important that you do not touch the soares for 24 hrs. You can gently dap more gel with a tooth tip as much as needed. One major mistake people make is that they take a shower, that is just feeding the problem. We want the sores to stay shut dry and never leak out. It is important for the sore to keeps its scab for as long as possible.

Day two you will see that soar looks to be tamed and is seems to be drying off, at the end of day 2 take a shower and the scam will easily fall off, the more time in the shower the scam slowly breaks down. It most like will bleed a little but this is the time to go for the kill. Get a fresh a tip and apply only on effected areas. It will most likely burn but its with the results. 1 hour later apply a little more and if their is no sting, you basically killed it..

Day 3 just leave a thin layer of medication one time and let the afternoon dry it out. You can follow that same procedure for day 4. That's it it will be dead and it will heal in time. If you're pro like me I catch them at a really early stage that you can't even tell. I catch them when they are still ingrown and by the time it surfaces 3 days later, it's already dead and healed itself in a short period. Things not to do, never lubricate these sores, never cover these sores and use a gel substance. When I was in high school I would cut the top of the sores with a razor blade, bleed it out and then apply rubbing alcohol on it, it stung but killed the damn things instantly. Campho Phenique is a more civilized major. Follow those rules and you'll be ok...

thanks you thank you thank you!!! X

I googled ' impetigo remedies ' and it brought me here. Went to Walgreens and bought a $10 GSE bottle that came with 100 pills.

AND AM I HAPPY!!!! The scars are fading, the swelling has gone down, and my skin looks like its clearing up. Its been day #2 of taking 3 pills, twice a day morning and night. Waking up on my 3rd day, and the impetigo is dry and feels like its healing really well.

thank you for this suggestion.

btw, the garlic and olive oil did not work for me. but GSE is amazing.

Because I don't have insurance, I have to treat non-serious health issues at home. The last outbreak was pretty scary as I developed large clear blisters on my cheek which never happened before.

I use a combination of things to treat an impetigo outbreak:

1. I wash the area with a medical grade sterile wash.

2. I then dab some rubbing alcohol, then dress the area with sterile bandages and Neosporin.

3. 2-4 times a day I will soak a paper towel in vinegar and hold it on the infected area up to 20 minutes.

4. 2-4 times a day, I will make a paste of garlic cloves and leave it on the affected area as long as I can stand it.

5. Generally, I keep the area bandaged until it scabs over.

6. If I even suspect I might get an outbreak, I start rubbing a cut garlic clove on the suspicious area and do the vinegar treatment. It saved me from getting an outbreak about 1 month ago.

I will have to try the grapefruit seed extract and colloidal silver sometime. Thanks for the tips.