Iodine for Cysts: Natural Remedy and Benefits

Update on progress of treating sebaceous cyst with tincture of iodine. This is the quickest turn around time for the cyst to shrink, open, drain and the skin to return to normal color and texture. I added bacitracin ointment once a day covered with dressing. Used hot soaks 2-3 times per day. I added Mary Ruth's iodine drops 2 drops by mouth per day and 3 drops of chlorine dioxide in one liter of water daily for 3 days. This worked for me.

I had a sebaceous cyst that had never gone away from several years ago. It suddenly got red, painful and the size of a pecan. I put one application of bacitracin ointment til I could search earth clinic for recommendations. I used a heat sauna, then applied tincture of iodine to entire area at bedtime. The next morning, it was 60% smaller, less painful and red. Thank you Earth Clinic. I just knew I was going to be on antibiotics and need to have it lanced. Will see what happens and supplement with oral iodine.

I have had thyroid cysts for years. One had grown bigger and bigger. I did Lugol's one drop in cup of water once a week. Believe it or not it has shrunk half the size my endocrinologist says.

Another update: It has been a year and there is no visible sign of the 8mm sebaceous cyst on my neck. I do from time to time feel a small bump and I squeeze it and the white fluid sometimes comes out. It is largely gone but I get the feeling it is something I will have to deal with two or three times a year. And I will do it with kelp supplements for a week and some iodine put on the spot. All-in-all, I am very happy with this remedy as I avoided surgery and saved myself $500.

update - January 2022

The cyst is really all but completely gone. I forgot all about it and then noticed a small bump a week ago. I squeezed and have been taking kelp again almost daily. I am also putting iodine on it. Hopefully this is the last of it.

I take kelp every day in supplement form.

Recently did a detox per Dr. Hulda Clark protocol and developed a cyst on my back. I was surprised. Never had a cyst in my life until the detox. I used 10% Iodine solution 5-6 times per day on it. The cyst is now flat after 2 1/2 weeks and not inflamed with infection/bacteria/whatever was in it. I am still using the iodine on it. It takes a bit to get rid of it.

Dr. David Brownstein of Bloomfield Michigan said that ALL CYSTS are caused by low iodine. I had a ganglion cyst on my finger for several years that would get very sore and large. I had three on my knee cap and had breast cysts. Surgery was the only option I covered each cyst area with the iodine tincture from the drug store and in about three days they were gone! I then started supplementing with Lugols 5% iodine at 2 drops a day. No more cysts. Dr. Brownstein gives the iodine loading test to check iodine levels. He says 90% of patients are deficient! Dr. Brownstein says the prostate, being a gland, is affected by iodine too!

All of my sebaceous cysts (diagnosed via ultrasound as 8 mm in size) seems to be completely gone. I am cautiously optimistic that it is gone for good, but I will keep an eye on it for a few weeks. I am not doing the iodine on it since it is no longer there. It has taken about 6 weeks of nearly daily application to the cyst. At times, the cyst would burst but generally, it seemed to shrink.

I would clean it with antiseptic and cover it when it burst. I also found that the skin on the cyst seemed to be rougher at times, and then would peel off with time. The iodine would irritate my skin, mostly making it red and when it got to be too much I would stop for a day or two. Also applying the iodine would at times make it itchy or cause it to sting and then at other times, would have no effect at all. I am going to keep taking the Kelp tablets for another two weeks (one tablet every three days). I used Nature's Way 600 mg of Kelp for this.

I applied iodine tincture to my 8 mm complicated sebaceous cyst daily and that, with a kelp tablet every three days, shrunk it considerably. It is now barely there, and I will continue to put iodine on it nightly for two weeks after it is all gone. I used a q-tip and painted the bump with iodine. I found after about two weeks, part of it popped and I cleaned and applied iodine then. It has been about a month now and it seems to have shrunk more than anything, to a flattened barely there cyst. I will keep applying the iodine and taking the kelp tablets for a few more weeks.

If it is definitely a cyst, paint it with iodine…Drug store kind is fine. Do it for several days and it will be gone! Dr David Brownstein says that all cysts are caused by low iodine.

Norwegian Kelp will make almost all cysts disappear in a short period of time. I first heard it from a woman that had breast cysts being drained often. A nurse told her her mother cured them taking kelp. I had a cyst on my shoulder 5x7 cm. I had tried edible clay and then castor oil but it continued to grow. I started taking Now Brand Kelp and by the time I was finished the second bottle it was completely gone.

Take 2 caplets twice a day.

I had a large cyst come up on my shoulder in a year it had grown to 5 by 7 centimeters. I tried the Red Desert Clay and later the Castor Oil treatments with no success. Then a friend told me that his wife had a problem with breast cysts that the doctor kept draining. When she was in for a mammogram she discussed it with the nurse. The nurse said my mother used to drain them by taking Kelp. She now takes Norweign Kelp and has not had a cyst since. My friend had one on his leg and kelp took it away. I took it and my cyst is now gone completely in about 3 months.

I am so surprised that the section on CYSTS did not list Iodine as a remedy! Iodine tincture (commonly a 2% liquid in an alcohol/water solution, found at smaller pharmacies) has a emulsifying effect on the waxy, oily substance inside common dermal cysts. Much like a warm compress would, iodine emulsifies the substance inside the cyst, making it thinner and less viscous so that it can be reabsorbed by the body.

I've had several sebaceous cysts on my scalp and, although dousing them with rubbing alcohol helps a bit, I found that iodine painted on with a Q-Tip works very quickly to shrink the cyst without having to squeeze it and break the skin (which opens you up to infection).

Iodine tincture comes in a tiny dark-colored bottle ad it found at smaller pharmacies; the big box stores are more likely to have a larger bottle (3-4 oz) of povidone iodine solution, which is more dilute but should be effective as well. The added bonus is, these solutions are powerful antibacterials (even against the dreaded MRSA) and are used in hospitals.