Natural Remedies for a Skin Infection

| Modified on Jan 31, 2024
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.
Flaxseed Poultice
Posted by Betheljoy (Beacon NY USA) on 01/31/2024
★★★★★

Flaxseed for infection, boils, etc

Grind flaxseeds to a powder in a coffee grinder. Make a paste by adding warm water. Make a pouch out or linen or cotton cloth and put paste inside, the size of the pouch depending on the area you want to cover. Replace with new wet paste as the original starts to dry. It's important to keep flaxseed wet or it won't work. Place on infected area and watch how it will draw the pus. Usually you will know it has completed the job because there will be a hole where the infection was. Keep it clean and the body will heal the opening.


Bentonite Clay
Posted by mmsg (somewhere, europe ) on 11/22/2023

Sandy and MtM, I've suffered those nail infections and tried many things. As much as I am a fan of clay, it HURT. I finally stumbled on something that works each time: h2o2 (3%). A drop or two on the infected nailbed a few times a day cured it for me each time.


Bentonite Clay
Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 11/21/2023

Dear Sandy,

If you have the clay, I think it will work well. A charcoal poultice or a potato poultice would work too, I think.

For potato, you grate up a bit or raw white potato and attach it to the infected area overnight. It draws out infection.

If you can take turmeric and vitamin C internally it will help with swelling and infection, too.

During the day, try soaking in hot salt water or hot Epsom salt water - 1 Tablespoon in a cup of water.

I hope it feels much better soon!

~Mama to Many~


Bentonite Clay
Posted by Sandy (USA ) on 11/21/2023

Dear Mama to Many, I have infection in my finger nail. It's swelling and I can see the puss. Tried some Indian poultice, but not much effect. Maybe I am not able to apply it hot as it supposed to be. Please suggest any home remedies. I am going to try your remedies mentioned above


Charcoal Flaxseed Poultice
Posted by Holli (Roscoe, IL) on 09/16/2023
★★★★★

My husband has been battling weeping eczema in different areas (arm, calf, bottom of foot) over the course of a few years. Not constant, but I've recognized some triggers. Anyways, he is battling it on the arch of his foot this time. This past week it had gotten bad, very painful and weeping. He was developing chills from the infection. At first I though, I'll do a garlic poultice. Then I decided to jump on earth clinic and came across this post about the charcoal and ground flaxseed poultice. I said, okay, first we will soak his feet in warm water with coloidal silver(this night, after previous night's soaking in ACV and another with Epsom salt)and then try the poultice. The infection was almost gone after one night. It wept very little the next day. We did another poultice last night and he said it seems to be a lot better. It's still healing, but I think the infection is about gone. Thank you!


Raw Potato
Posted by Cassidy (Livingston MT) on 06/19/2023
★★★★★

Swollen & infected with a deep sliver or something, the tip of my great toe was hurting. Leaving town the next day I thought I should go to see my nurse daughter. Looked up remedies here, had a small potato in the house & I carved a place for my big toe & wrapped it in gauze.

Next morning, the swelling was gone, redness way better and by the second day--any sign of infection was GONE!


Apple Cider Vinegar, Cayenne Pepper and Turmeric
Posted by Outpouring (California) on 06/10/2023 2 posts

How often should I take this remedy?


Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Darlingrosepink (Canada) on 06/05/2023
★★★★☆

I have used h2O2 on my face many times with no problems. I use it for cold sores mostly. Try to put it only on the affected areas and maybe dilute it by half. Be careful around the eyes of course. I usually apply with a cotton ball to prevent any possible splashing.


Castor Oil, Baking Soda, Turmeric Paste
Posted by laurel (virginia beach, va) on 05/24/2023 6 posts
★★★★★

Castor Oil, baking soda, turmeric powder paste for skin infections

I make a paste (of the above) and apply to skin abrasion. Cover w band aid. I do this daily until the wound heals. Also works great for removing warts.


Castor Oil, Baking Soda, ACV Poultice
Posted by Laurel (Virginia Beach, VA) on 06/21/2021 6 posts
★★★★★

Castor Oil & ACV Apple Cider Vinegar for wounds, skin infections, bites

Make a paste of castor oil, apple cider vinegar and baking soda. Apply to wound and cover w band-aid. Clean & change band-aid 2X a day. Amazing healing results!


Epsom Salt and Baking Soda Soak
Posted by Chris (Western Australia) on 12/18/2020
★★★★★

In reply to Pam's post from 2010 on the Boron page:

Replied by Pam
Marlborough, Ct, Usa
10/22/2010

Last Nov. Just before Thanksgiving, I stepped on a screw and it went into my foot, just under my big toe. I went to the doctor, and they gave me antibiotics. Well to make a long story short my foot got infected and I was on antibiotics on and off until January, they couldn't get rid of the infection, said it was resistent bacteria. I finally didn't go back because my foot was somewhat better, My toe next to my big toe became infected, and I had to go back and was on more antibiotics until April. At that point they were making me feel sick. So when my toe was good enough I just stopped taking anything as I couldn't stomach it anymore. The reason I am bringing this up is my hands started giving me problems in January. I asked the doctor if this could be related to my foot, and they said probably not. Well thats why I thought I would bring this up and maybe you or someone out there would know if too many antibiotics or an infection could have caused this. Thanks for any help Pam

Best thing to deal with the bacteria is a foot soak of 1/2 cup of epsom salts and 1/2 cup of bicarb soda...hot hot water ...at least twice a day (don't re-use the water).

Let the water dry on the feet (might as well do both feet)! Then spray colloidal silver on sore/injury.


Bentonite Clay
Posted by Mama To Many (Tn) on 08/25/2020
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

My daughter had a finger infected along the side of the nail. I think it was an ingrown nail that got fooled with. The finger was red and swollen and angry and was beginning to get red streaks. I had her take turmeric internally morning and evening. I was keeping charcoal poultices on the finger. It was helping but not solving the problem. We switched to bentonite clay. The clay turned out to be easier, more comfortable and more effective.

I mixed the powder with water to reconstitute the clay. I applied it thickly to her finger and covered it with plastic wrap and a bandage. (The clay won't work if it dries out.) Overnight it was dramatically better. I am continuing to use clay poultices at night until it is completely healed.

~Mama to Many~

Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Geneaum (San Diego, Ca) on 06/20/2020
★★★★★

I'm surprised H2O2 doesn't get more attention on EC. Used in conjunction with DMSO (which gets the peroxide into the skin) will quickly nuke a skin infection.

I let the dmso/peroxide stay on the skin for a while. After the bubbling stops I mix colloidal silver gel with calendula gel (remarkable stuff! ) and apply. Cover with a large gauze to keep clothing from rubbing on the area. Has worked many times.


Diaper Rash Cream
Posted by Susie (Florida) on 08/24/2018
★★★★★

For years I suffered from skin fold infections which actually led to cellulitis and landed me in the hospital several times for weeks and on antibiotics, which lead yeast to infections and trying all kinds of medications and ointments with no relief from of any kind. It was a roller coaster. Then finally one day I was reading and came across an article on skin fold infections that recommend ed diaper rash ointment and I thought I tried everything else so might as well try this too.

So I did and wow it worked I finally found relief. I would just gently clean the area not to cause weeping to the area. I take a tiny amount of Destin and apply it gently rubbing it into the skin fold The ointment kept it from sweating and after a few days, it was looking good. I continue to rub some in the fold daily to keep it from starting again. I hope it helps someone. God bless.


Vodka and Epsom Salt Soak
Posted by Nan (New Jersey) on 08/06/2018
★★★★★

Thank you for this post. I also developed paronychia on my right thumb. It began with pain without any visible sign of injury. Very strange, though I was working with acrylic paints a day before the onset of the pain. The swelling gradually increased and became very ugly. Everyone thought I was crazy not to go to the doctor's. I found this post and decided to follow the protocol and my result was exactly the same.

I soaked my thumb in a shot glass of vodka as much as I could during the day and before bed soaked it in very warm Epsom salt solution. By the next day, the fluid build up in my thumb began to leak out which instantly helped relieve the pain. I imagine it will take a couple of weeks for the skin to heal but I can deal with that. I always hit this site before heading to the doctor for anything and haven't been to the doctor in years. Thank you again for the paronychia remedy!


Slippery Elm, Propolis for Mycobacterium Abscessus
Posted by C2k (Westminster, Ma) on 08/04/2018 1 posts
★★★★★

It was 2 years ago that I noticed some red bumps on my arms. I felt like crap, had no energy and they just popped up overnight. They looked like cysts, but I could not pop them, and it was very strange. I went to the GP and he gave me something for Eczema. Next AM I demanded to see a dermatologist. I got an appointment that day, and this Doctor recognized it as Mycobacterium Abscessus. Because it is contagious, a sample was sent to the CDC in my state.

I am very honest and mentioned that I used Bee Venom Therapy to treat my MS. So, I also sent him the bees that I had been using, so they could be tested as well. These also went to the CDC. They were negative.

Then I was sent to an infectious disease specialist who could not hear past Bee Venom Therapy. As far as he was concerned, the bees were the reason for this condition. There are 3 antibiotics that are used to cure this because this is a very hard thing to kill. I was only given 2 of the oral antibiotics. I was told by this doctor that the 3rd antibiotic was extremely expensive (I have insurance) but apparently it would cut into the group profit somehow. (only guessing)

After 6 months I was taken off the 2 antibiotics after a couple of weeks, they began to pop up again. I went back to the dermatologist and he was furious at how I was being treated. He called the infectious disease doctor, and we had a lot of fun on the merry go round.

Then I had an idea. I was wondering what would happen if I used slippery elm bark as a poultice, and added the Propolis (wet) to it. It could act as an astringent and pull out or kill this stuff. And that is exactly what I did.

The next day, where there had been red bumps, with white insides, there were only red bumps. On the inside of the bandages I used, were white lines. The organisms had been killed and were drawn out by slippery elm bark as it dried. My only regret is that I did not save the debris.

I still use Bee Venom Therapy, and I no longer have any issues with Mycobacterium Abscessus. By the time I went to another doctor, by the grace of God, I had already done my experiment and I did show them the pictures.

If you look at this organism under a microscope it looks like white sprinkles you might put on a cupcake. Blown up, my photo had the same structure.

Propolis and Slippery Elm Bark are my 2 new best friends. God is still #1, and I believe that all medicines come from nature. The earth is the Lords and everything in it. I respect doctors and their hard work etc. But sometimes you have to listen to what your body is telling you and since necessity is the mother of invention.......I had to invent...... God Bless


Turmeric
Posted by Robin (Portland, Oregon) on 06/08/2018
★★★★★

Skin infections:

Making a paste out of fresh turmeric root.. you can use a garlic press or a fine grater.. Apply to infection..if on leg keep elevated...leave on for as long as possible... if on the face, lie down and relax.

Tumeric paste works wonders.


Raw Potato
Posted by Lee Ann (Utah) on 03/29/2018

Thank you for this information. I had forgotten that my mom put raw potato on my skinned knees. Now I will try this behind my ear and see if it works. Thanks again.


Calcium
Posted by Xanadu1jw (Memphis) on 09/25/2017

It is more likely the magnesium cured the infection as it is a major infection fighter. It does many other things in the body also like stop migraines, regulate the heartbeat, normalize blood pressure, reduce pain and muscle tension, and on and on. Very research worthy.


Raw Potato
Posted by Beverly (Elkhart, In) on 03/10/2017
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

My grandson had a huge boil on his butt, I took a raw potato and grated it, put this into a big gauze and taped around the outside edges of the gauze with the potato to his skin, being sure I didn`t tape over the middle of the gauze because the gauze has to be able to breathe to let the air help pull the boil out, the raw potato was wrapped inside the gauze then taped to his skin, that nite he felt it hurt, then the next morning I took off the gauze with the raw potato off of his skin, the potato had turned black, which is what it was suppose to do, this meant it was working,

I cleaned the yucky mess from where the potato had pulled out the core with hydrogen peroxide, he healed up in one week completely, and if you feel you want to do another raw potato, this would be safe if only you feel it needs it again.I even did this to my husbands 4 toes on his one foot, he had infection on all 4 toes, he had something at work drop on his toes, I took a large gauze big enough to cover all 4 toes with the raw grated potatoes and lots of it, with tape and a sock to help hold it on, next morning his toes were pus looking and yucky from where the infection was pulled out, I cleaned his toes up with hydrogen peroxide every day and covered them in a plain gauze to keep them clean, no more potatoes though because the potatoes had pulled out the infection that one nite, he healed up within one week.

And then I myself had a splinter in the bottom of my foot from last summer for a whole year, it kept hurting and going deeper into my foot, I finally could not walk for the pain, I took a raw potato for 4 nites in a row, grated the potato and put this into a gauze just big enough of a little square to cover the tiny area, I split open my foot where I wanted the potato to pull out the splinter, just a very tiny slit to get the juice from the raw potato to get into under my skin, the potato turned black every nite after each time I did this and it would hurt but it would hurt less each time, finally I pulled off the potato gauze for the fourth day in the morning and found I tiny piece of dried up skin which had a very tiny piece of a wood splinter I had gotten from last summer, I took this off and I no longer hurt at all, I only had to do this at night, not during the day, I did this all because of a tiny piece of splinter you would think would not hurt anyone.

Vodka and Epsom Salt Soak
Posted by Latoya (Ky) on 02/14/2017
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Paronychia Finger Infection

Somehow my middle finger on my right hand became infected near my nail bed. It was very painful and swollen. It kept swelling to where I thought it could just explode. It was larger than my thumb and twice the size of my non-infected middle finger on my left hand. The pain also started to spread to my other fingers as well. To make matters worse I had cut 2 fingers on my left hand while cooking. 😥 So with 3 fingers out of commission and in pain I was miserable.

I researched the issue of my swollen middle finger due to this green line in the infection near my nail bed. Upon my research I discovered it was called Payronchia due to the same green line I found in images on the internet. I came across a remedy for using vodka to soak my finger in. I used enough vodka to submerge my finger in a small glass jar. I kept it that way for hours throughout the day as I couldn't do much else due to the pain anyway. Within 1-2 hours I noticed the puss moved to the outside of my finger instead of my nail bed even though the green line still remained on the skin outside my nail bed. So I soaked it some more then kept soaking it in warm water and epsom salts because the swelling was so bad. I applied all kinds of other remedies like colloidal silver and neosporin when I wasn't soaking it which I'm sure played a role as well. But the most important was the vodka and epsom salts and warm water. Throughout that night my finger hurt worse as I could barely sleep without elevating my finger by keeping my middle finger in the air. 😔😑. But that was the healing taking place.

The next day after my morning shower I noticed at the spot where the pus moved to there was an opening and pus was coming out on its own! I had my Fiancé squeeze the rest out as much as he could. I noticed after 30 minutes the pain started to subside. Since the pus was out I soaked it in vodka again throughout the day to be sure to kill whatever infection was there since there was now an opening which I did not have to make due to the vodka doing this for me.

After soaking with vodka I put colloidal silver in the opening and then neosporin then wrapped with a band-aid then went on with my day. Later that night I soaked in Vodka again for about 1 hr to kill the remaining infection and squeezed out more pus which this time I was able to do myself because my finger did not hurt as bad as before. After soaking I applied aloe vera gel straight from the leaf and after my night-time shower colloidal silver, aloe vera and neosporin and went to sleep. The next day I woke with 80% less pain and 1/3 less swelling. I would continue the remedies until I am 100% healed as infections are nothing to play with.

I refreshed with a new clean jar of vodka just in case. If you don't have all the remedies I had just be sure to have vodka, epsom salts and warm water, neosporin and band-aids to keep out infection.

There will be no need to cut your finger open which was a great help because I feared that if I went to the hospital that's what they would do and my finger was already in pain on a scale of 9-10 especially when I hit it against something. 😨

Do what I did and stay out of the hospital and avoid more pain by not having to get cut open.

Raw Potato
Posted by Lisa C (Louisiana) on 02/06/2017
★★★★★

Hey ya'll. Fastest cure for drawing out an infection? Potato.

I have been dealing with an infection on my hand for over a week and nothing was improving. In fact, it was swelling so much and spread so deep it was making my bones and joints hurt. I was trying everything since the swelling and pain was making me miserable, soaks with acv, tumeric, garlic, baking soda...basically just about every remedy that's listed here. Finally, I got sick of how painful it was and asked a family friend to help me lance the worst area. Well, we couldn't get deep enough even with the sharpest lancet. Ugh.

As I was wrapping my hand in gauze, thinking 'crap, now I will have to go see the doctor', friend said: Put a slice of potato on the spot and wrap it in place overnight.

Well, when I got home, took the smallest russet potato I could find, cut off a quarter size slice from the end, so that the skin part is still on there. Scored hatch marks on the pulp of the potato, placed over the worst of the infection and wrapped it all in place with self sticking gauze, and went to bed. By the way, I wrapped the remaining potato and stuck it in the fridge.

This morning, the potato slice was black and holy moley...the infection is just sitting at the top of this boil like 'Hey, I'm ready to leave'. A gentle squeezing push of this nasty stuff under lukewarm running water...and it's so much better already. I still have some more infection lower down (I can feel it), so I sliced off another quarter size off the other end of the potato and covered the area with the potato and a bandage and wrapped again. As soon as most of the swelling and pain is gone, I will continue treating the area with antibiotic ointment and other open wound remedies. Hopefully this helps someone else with boils/skin infections. Remember to disinfect and keep all deep wounds clean and covered until full dermal healing. Peace.


Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Rebecca (Cave Spring, Ga 30124) on 12/29/2016
★★★★★

Cure common skin infections with tea tree oil. The miraculous essential oil, tea tree oil is an effective remedy for dry skin. It has various moisturizing properties, keeping your skin healthy. It also has so many anti-viral and anti-fungal benefits for your skin and nails. It may be a better alternative to conventional skin treatments.


Banana Peel
Posted by Julia (Utah) on 11/09/2016
★★★★★

Ever tried taping the inside of banana peel to an infected wound? Even took gangrene out of one of my fingers once.



NEXT 
1 2 3 Next Page
Advertisement