Category: Skin, Wounds & First Aid

Herbal Healing, Infection, Colds & Flu, Skin, Wounds & First Aid

Infection: Skin & Wounds

Dara Dietz

Cuts, Boils & Abscesses, Bites & Stings, Cellulitis, Ulcers, Feet and Fungus

Part of the Infection series. This sheet adds what is special to the skin. The core program (the two infection formulas, Echinacea, liver flushing and the five levels) is on the General Infection sheet. Start there, and use this sheet alongside it.

Understanding the Condition

The Skin: The Body’s Largest Outlet

The skin is a wall that keeps germs out, and also one of the body’s great outlets for waste. When the liver becomes overloaded, the body will begin to detox through the skin, which is why itching, rashes, boils and slow-healing sores so often point back to the liver and bowel. A break in the skin (a cut, a bite, a scratch) opens the door; whether infection takes hold depends on how clean the blood and tissue are behind it.

What Goes Wrong

  • A cut or scrape lets germs in. Cleaned and closed quickly, it heals without trouble.
  • A boil or abscess is a pocket of pus where the body is pushing waste out through the skin. Dr. Christopher called an abscess “nature’s way of purifying the body.”
  • Cellulitis is an infection spreading through the deeper layers of the skin, most often on the lower legs: red, hot, swollen and tender, with the redness growing. It can spread to the lymph and blood. Don’t mess with this one.
  • Bites and stings bring venom or germs in under the skin. Most settle in a day; some, like the brown recluse, can kill the tissue around the bite.
  • Ulcers and bedsores form where circulation is poor or pressure has cut off the blood supply. An infected or bacteria-laden wound will not heal until it is clean.
  • Fungus (athlete’s foot, nail fungus, ringworm) lives on the skin and nails, and hides in shoes and socks to reinfect you.
Diagram: the order of wound care: purify it, draw it out, fill it in.
The order of wound care. Diagram drawn for H.E.A.L.

Get to the ER

Bright red blood that spurts means an artery. Apply firm pressure, and a tourniquet above the wound if needed. Always write the time the tourniquet went on, on the bandage itself; it matters. Cayenne can control the bleeding on the way, but herbs can’t repair an artery.

  • A cut that is deep, gaping, or into a joint or tendon, or that won’t stop bleeding
  • A red streak climbing from a wound, or a hot, painful lump in the armpit or groin
  • Redness spreading fast, with fever, chills or confusion
  • Skin turning dark, blue-black or numb around a bite or wound
  • After a sting: swelling of the face or throat, trouble breathing, or hives all over
  • Any bite from a venomous snake

See also the When Minutes Matter box on the General Infection sheet.

The Emotional Side: the Energy Work

Healing the whole person. We are body, mind and spirit, and all three must heal together.

Louise Hay, in her book Heal Your Body, describes these patterns:

  • Skin problems: anxiety, fear; old, buried guck; feeling threatened. Turn it around: I lovingly protect myself with thoughts of joy and peace. The past is forgiven and forgotten. I am free in this moment.
  • Cuts: punishment for not following your own rules. Turn it around: I create a life filled with rewards.
  • Injuries: anger at the self; feeling guilty. Turn it around: I now release anger in positive ways. I love and appreciate myself.
  • Scratches: feeling that life tears at you. Turn it around: I am grateful for life’s generosity to me. I am blessed.
  • Sores: unexpressed anger that settles in. Turn it around: I express my emotions in joyous, positive ways.
  • Boils: anger boiling over; seething. Turn it around: I express love and joy, and I am at peace.
  • Itching: desires that go against the grain; unsatisfied; itching to get out or get away. Turn it around: I am at peace just where I am.
  • Ingrown toenail: worry and guilt about your right to move forward. Turn it around: It is my Divine right to take my own direction in life. I am safe. I am free.

Emotional patterns paraphrased from Louise Hay, Heal Your Body (Hay House). These are not faults to blame anyone for; they are places to look and let go.

Areas Affected & Opening the Way to Healing

Start the core program from the General Infection sheet at the level that fits, and keep the bowels moving and the liver flushed: what is drawn out through the skin must also have a way out of the body. Then work on the area.

Fresh Cuts: Purify and Close

  • Cayenne first. I prefer the cayenne extract, as it is not so messy; for serious bleeding, some prefer the powder, which also helps plug the wound. Irrigate the whole wound with the extract (a turkey baster works well). The bleeding stops in seconds, and the cayenne purifies the wound so no infection tries to form.
  • Close it. Cinch the edges together as tightly as you can with a bandage. If it starts to bleed again, add more cayenne and redress it tight.

Cayenne Needs to Breathe

Any time you use cayenne on an open wound, cover it with a breathable cloth bandage. If it cannot breathe, the cayenne will heat up on the outside of the body. With a cloth bandage there is no worry.

  • Paper cuts. They can hurt for days while they think about healing. A drop of cayenne on a paper cut not only disinfects it but numbs it, so it stops stinging and hurting, and it speeds the healing. Often you never think of the cut again.
  • Deep wounds and gouges that can’t be pulled together: once clean, pack with the Healing Poultice (below).

Drawing It Out: Salve and Poultice

  • Infection Salve: the Herbal Aid 2 herbs triple-infused in olive oil. Apply it to any hot, red or inflamed sore and cover with cotton flannel. A handy trick: lay flannel on a sheet of Press’n Seal wrap, spread the salve on the flannel, and press it over the area. Members have reported doctor-diagnosed MRSA clearing with Infection Salve, on a baby’s bottom and on an adult’s shoulder.
  • Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice: activated charcoal and fresh-ground flaxseed cooked into a paste and laid on warm, the heat opening the pores so the infection can be drawn out. Leave on 4 to 6 hours or overnight. For a stubborn infection, alternate it with Infection Salve packs, each on 4 hours or more. Never reuse a poultice.
  • Hot Epsom salt bath: helps a stubborn bite or boil come to a head, drain and release, followed by a salve pack.

Boils and Abscesses

  • Draw it: the Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice over the boil. Normally the boil will open and drain overnight.
  • Clean the blood: burdock root tea daily, 1 rounded teaspoon of dried root in 8 to 12 oz of boiling water, steeped 15 minutes (add ½ teaspoon of burdock extract for a stronger tea). Continue 3 to 4 weeks after the boils clear.
  • Run the program: the Basic or Moderate level for about 10 days. Keep the bowels open, cut processed food and sugar, drink carrot juice and plenty of fluids. Repeated boils say the blood and liver need cleaning.

Bites and Stings

  • As soon as you notice the bite, apply a generous amount of Infection Salve over it, spread out in all directions for several inches if possible, and cover with cotton flannel. A common spider bite usually clears in about 24 hours with the salve alone; ant bites often in minutes.
  • A bad bite (like the brown recluse): the full program. Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice overnight, alternating with Infection Salve packs by day; the infection formulas every 2 hours with Echinacea; a hot Epsom salt bath to draw it out; and an ELF. A brown recluse bite will usually need lancing at some point. A recluse bite is often painless at first; symptoms come 2 to 8 hours later. The spot turns pale with a red ring around it (a bull’s-eye), may blister, and over 12 to 48 hours the center can sink and turn bluish, then black, as the tissue dies.

Cellulitis

Infection Salve and ELF-ing: the full infection program. Don’t mess with this one. Run the Moderate or Intense level with its liver flushing, keep Infection Salve packs over the area, and use the Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice over it overnight. And clean up your diet: in my opinion, this is a junk food thing. Watch the edge of the redness; if it keeps spreading, or fever and chills come, get medical care now.

Ulcers and Bedsores

  • Clean it first. An infected wound will not heal. Use the Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice until all signs of infection are gone, with Infection Salve around the edges.
  • Fill it in. Pack the wound with the Healing Poultice (slippery elm, plantain, goldenseal, comfrey and a pinch of cayenne, mixed with distilled water or aloe to a stiff paste). It forms a protective herbal scab while new flesh grows in from the bottom.
  • Bring the blood. Before each dressing, soak the area in hot cayenne water (½ teaspoon cayenne tincture per gallon of hot water), or alternate 7 hot and 7 cold. See the Healing Poultice sheet for the full routine.

A Note on Comfrey

Comfrey knits flesh quickly, which is why the Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice always goes first, so the wound is clean before it starts to close. Some herbalists advise caution with comfrey during pregnancy, while nursing, or with liver disease; if that’s you, check in before using it.

The Feet

  • Hot and cold foot soaks: 1 teaspoon cayenne per gallon of hot water in one bucket, ice water in the other; 7 changes, at least 60 seconds in the cold. The ice plunge is where the power to break up the blockage happens.
  • Then M&L Salve massaged over the foot to open the lymph, and an Infection Salve pack over any infected area. Do at least one ELF any time the body is having a hard time healing.

Fungus: Athlete’s Foot, Nail Fungus and Ringworm

Black Walnut is the most powerful antifungal; there is nothing better.

  • Freeze everything that touches your feet. Put all your shoes and everything that touches your feet into the freezer for at least 24 to 48 hours, to kill the fungus so you don’t reinfect yourself. The washer will not kill it all. Freeze them again at the end of the healing.
  • Athlete’s foot: do the hot cayenne and ice-water soaks to speed the circulation, then cover the area with Black Walnut Salve and pull on clean socks.
  • Nail fungus, mild: Black Walnut Salve. Easy, and no staining.
  • Nail fungus, serious: Black Walnut extract on a cotton ball taped over the nail, for several weeks to a couple of months. The nail will stain completely black. When the fungus is gone, the nail has to grow out, which can take most of a year.
  • Ringworm: Black Walnut extract or salve as a pack over the patch, bandaged 4 to 6 hours at a time. The extract is stronger but stains the skin; the body sloughs off the stain in a few days. How long it takes depends on the size and how long it has been there.

Itching, Hives and Rashes

When the liver becomes overloaded, it will begin to detox through the skin. Healing Salve (Dr. Christopher’s Healing Ointment) calms the itch on the outside; an ELF, or a week of liver flushing, clears it from the inside. If nausea comes during the ELF, the L/P and Digestive Tonic drink on the General Infection sheet settles it.

Use distilled water for all teas, and when taking your extracts in hot water.

Level of Commitment

  • Gentle support. A cut, a sting, a single boil, athlete’s foot: the area work above, with the Basic level for a few days if needed.
  • Focused cleansing. Repeated boils, a bad bite, a stubborn ulcer, itching that won’t quit: the Moderate level with its ELFs, the poultice nightly, burdock for the blood, and the bowels kept moving. Fungus takes patience: weeks for the skin, months for a nail.
  • The full program. Cellulitis, a brown recluse bite, spreading infection, or a wound threatening a limb: the Intense or Intensive level from the General sheet, alongside medical care when the ER signs appear.

A Loose Healing Plan

  • Right away: cayenne for a bleeding cut; Infection Salve, spread wide and covered, for a bite, sting or hot sore.
  • That night: the Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice over anything infected, boiling or swelling.
  • Start the core program at the level that fits; add burdock for boils; keep the bowels moving.
  • Alternate poultice and salve packs; use the hot Epsom bath or hot and cold soaks to draw and circulate.
  • Fill in deep wounds and ulcers with the Healing Poultice once they are clean.
  • Watch for the ER signs every day, and continue 3 to 5 days after the skin is clear.

Stories from the Work

Dara’s Story: Michael’s Thumb

In 2008 my husband was laying tile in our upstairs bathroom. Cutting the backer board on a Friday night, the knife slipped; it split his thumbnail in half and laid his thumb muscle open the long way down. I took him to the office, got a bottle of cayenne extract and a turkey baster, and irrigated the whole wound. The bleeding stopped in seconds. I cinched it together as tight as I could with a bandage. The next morning it tried to bleed a little, so I did more cayenne and redressed it. By Monday it was sealed over and he was using the hand. Because the cayenne purified the wound, no infection ever tried to form; it healed with only the smallest scar. About six months later he let out a holler at his desk: a jolt like an electric shock through his thumb. That was the nerve rejoining. He has never had a problem with it since. The body knows how to heal if we give it the tools and get out of the way.

Dara’s Story: The Toe She Almost Lost

Visiting a friend in California, I met a woman who was scheduled to have her big toe amputated the next day. An infection had set in after an ingrown toenail was removed, no antibiotic had touched it, and blue veins were running up her leg. I cooked up a Charcoal & Flaxseed poultice in my friend’s kitchen and packed it over her whole foot to leave on overnight. By morning the redness and the blue veins were gone. She canceled the operation, and she still has her toe.

A Member’s Story: Three Days for a Brown Recluse

Years ago, one of our employees was bitten by a brown recluse; his bite was lanced at the doctor’s, and it was weeks before he was clear of the mess. So I was thrilled in 2021 when a member did the full program on his bite. Infection Salve under flannel right away; the bite was lanced; the Charcoal & Flaxseed poultice that night; poultice and salve packs alternating the next day, with the infection formulas every two hours and Echinacea. A hot Epsom salt bath drew out a discharge like cottage cheese; then a salve pack, an ELF, and a poultice overnight. The second day needed less, and the bite was clear in three days.

The member’s brown recluse bite. Member’s photo, shared with permission.
The member’s brown recluse bite. Member’s photo, shared with permission.
The bite after the hot Epsom salt bath drew out the discharge. Member’s photo, shared with permission.
The bite after the hot Epsom salt bath drew out the discharge. Member’s photo, shared with permission.

A Member’s Story: Flesh That Grew Back

A member with dark skin fell from a stool past a large nail sticking out the side, and it gouged out her flesh, too deep and open to be sewn. She packed it with the Healing Poultice. Week by week the hole grew shallower as the muscle and flesh regrew, until it came off like an old scab. The new skin matched her color perfectly, with no scar.

Dara’s Story: Weeds, Ants and a Spider

Pulling weeds from our raised bed without a glove, I upset a spider and a whole mound of ants, and was bitten by all of them. I react strongly to ant bites. I spread a thick layer of Infection Salve over my burning, swelling hand and sat at my desk while it worked. The ant bites cleared in about 15 minutes; the spider bite stopped throbbing in a couple of hours and was clear by morning.

A Member’s Story: Teenage Feet Again

A woman in New York called asking how to clear her toenail fungus, and then I didn’t hear from her for nearly a year. When she called back, it was to celebrate. She had used the Black Walnut extract, and her toenails had turned completely black; she wore socks and shoes until they grew out, which took nearly a year. When they came in, they were perfect. She said she felt like she had teenage feet again.

Watch

Using an Herbal Salve on the Skin.

A Simple Drawing Infection Poultice.

Wound Care: Bed Sores.

Handouts

More on Skin & Wounds

This information is for education only. It is not meant to diagnose, treat or replace care from a qualified health professional.

Herbal Healing, Skin, Wounds & First Aid

Tumors & Lumps

Dara Dietz

What a Tumor Really Is, Benign and Malignant, and the Lumps That Are Not Tumors at All

Understanding the Condition

Finding a Lump

There are few things that bring us to attention quicker than finding a lump or bump under the skin. The first thought for most people is cancer, and fear takes over. But most lumps are not cancer, and many are not even tumors. Understanding what a lump is, and why the body made it, takes away much of the fear and shows the way to clearing it.

What a Tumor Is

A tumor is a mass of cells growing out of order. Healthy cells grow, do their work, wear out and are replaced in an orderly way. In a tumor, a group of cells keeps building past what the body needs, and the extra tissue forms a lump. Tumors can be slow-growing or fast, small or large, and they can form almost anywhere: in the glands and lymph nodes, the breast, the uterus and other reproductive organs, the urinary tract, the abdomen, or just under the skin.

Dr. Christopher described a tumor as “a swelling, an abnormal formation” of tissue “arising from the cells of the host,” and named its cause as “the inability to eliminate unhealthy material.” His aim was to “rebuild tissue so the body can slough off the tumor accumulation.”

Benign or Malignant?

Tumors fall into two very different groups, and knowing the difference removes a great deal of fear:

  • Benign tumors are not cancer. They grow slowly, are usually wrapped in a smooth wall (a capsule), and stay where they are. They push neighboring tissue aside rather than growing into it, and they do not spread to other parts of the body. Most tumors people find are benign. They can still cause trouble by their size or by pressing on an organ or nerve, so they deserve attention, but they are not a death sentence.
  • Malignant tumors are cancer. They have no smooth wall. They reach into the tissue around them like roots, and cells can break away into the blood or lymph and start new growths elsewhere. This is why a malignant tumor calls for serious, full-time work.
Diagram comparing a benign tumor, a malignant tumor and a cyst.
Three kinds of lumps: a benign tumor, a malignant tumor and a cyst. Simplified diagram drawn for H.E.A.L.

Have Every New Lump Checked

A doctor needs to look at any new or changing lump. Ultrasound, mammogram, CT or MRI can show where a tumor is and how big it is without opening it. Only a biopsy can tell for certain whether it is cancer.

My caution about biopsy: A tumor is a bag of waste the body has wisely stashed away in a dark corner. A biopsy pokes a hole in that bag, and allowing the waste to spill into the bloodstream is not the wisest choice. Each person must decide for themselves. Talk it over with your doctor and weigh what you will gain from knowing.

Why the Body Builds a Tumor

The body is designed to carry waste out every day through the bowel, liver, kidneys, lungs, skin and lymph. When these channels are blocked or worn down, waste builds up faster than it can be cleared. The body then does the wise thing: it locks the toxic material away in a sack, out of the main stream of the blood, where it can do less harm. That sack is the lump.

In the 1950s, Dr. Ernest Wynder of the Sloan-Kettering Institute painted rabbits’ ears with tar from cigarette smoke. The cancers came only after years of steady exposure. What I take from this study is that before a tumor or cancer can form, the eliminative organs (the liver, kidneys and bowel) have already been worn down until they can no longer clear the waste. The tumor is not the real issue. It is a symptom of a degraded internal system. That is why we cleanse and feed: clear out the waste while rebuilding the organs that should have been carrying it away.

Study: E. L. Wynder, E. A. Graham and A. B. Croninger, Sloan-Kettering Institute; rabbits painted with cigarette-smoke tar over their life spans (news photo, December 1957).

This is also why cutting a lump out, by itself, so often fails. Dr. Christopher warned that you can cut cysts out and tumors off, “but unless you go to the cause, they will grow back again.” The body still lacks the ability to eliminate the unhealthy material it was storing. The liver is the vacuum cleaner of the body; when it is free, it can draw the waste out of the lump and send it out through the bowel.

Potassium and the Lumps of the Body

Dr. Christopher taught that many cysts, tumors, warts and moles grow where the body lacks potassium. Potassium chloride keeps fibrin, the material the body uses to build muscle and connective tissue, dissolved and moving. Without enough of it, fibrin is “thrown out as a stringy, insoluble mess” that can form fibroid tumors, cysts and adhesions. He likened cysts and tumors to leeches that “stay in places where there is a body deficiency. As soon as the body is balanced and well, the cysts and tumors have to go.” Potassium-rich whole foods, not pills, are his answer: fresh vegetables and their juices, and the Potassium Broth below.

The Lumps That Are Not Tumors

Many lumps people fear are something else entirely. Most of these are harmless, but any new or changing lump should still be checked.

  • Cysts. A cyst is a closed sac filled with fluid or soft material, with its own thin wall. It is not a tumor. Cysts form in the skin, breast, ovaries, kidneys and elsewhere, and are a sign the body has walled off what it could not process. Dr. Christopher tied them to potassium deficiency; the castor oil pack and the potassium foods on this sheet support clearing them.
  • Fibroids. Firm, benign growths of muscle tissue in the wall of the uterus. Very common, and almost never cancer. See the Uterus sheet for the female program.
  • Lipomas. Soft, rubbery lumps of fat just under the skin that move when pushed. They grow slowly, are almost always harmless, and are usually painless.
  • Swollen glands (lymph nodes). The lymph nodes are the body’s filters. When they are fighting an infection or backed up with waste, they swell into tender lumps, often in the neck, under the arms or in the groin. They usually go down when the infection clears and the lymph is moving again. Dr. Christopher told of his seven-year-old granddaughter whose glands swelled until she could hardly swallow; he pinned a mullein and lobelia fomentation around her throat, and the next morning she came downstairs “all smiles and no pain.” A swollen gland that is hard, does not move, is not tender, or stays for more than a few weeks should be checked.
  • Moles. A mole is a small cluster of pigment cells. Almost all are harmless. In my practice, the BBB Mole Salve with Cellfood has been an excellent support for dissolving moles (see below). Any mole that changes shape, color or size, bleeds or itches should be checked by a doctor first.
  • Nodules. Small, firm lumps, often near joints (rheumatic nodules) or in glands like the thyroid. Most are harmless. Lobelia has long been used on the skin over rheumatic nodules (Pedersen, Nutritional Herbology, p. 122). Have any new nodule checked, especially in the neck.
  • Polyps. Small growths on a stalk that form on a moist lining, most often in the nose, sinuses or colon. Most are harmless, but colon polyps should be checked during a colonoscopy, since some can turn cancerous over time. In my experience, snuff works really well on sinus polyps. See the Head Infections sheet for how to use it.
  • Boils. A boil is an infected hair root or oil gland filled with pus, red, hot and painful. It is an infection, not a tumor. A few years ago I had a breakout of boils on the back of my leg (I’m very sensitive to pork, and a hint of pork grease will do it). For weeks I played around with blood-purifying options without success. Then I read in Dr. Christopher’s writing that burdock root will “quickly” clear boils. I took one teaspoon of the dried root in a cup of boiling water each day. I began on Tuesday, and by Friday the boils were gone, completely gone.

The Emotional Side: the Energy Work

Healing the whole person. We are body, mind and spirit, and all three must heal together. When one part is neglected, the other two cannot find complete healing. A person can follow a perfect herbal program, but if she stays in a life that keeps wearing her down, or never makes time to care for herself, the body will keep losing ground. Healing the body often means facing what is happening in the heart and spirit as well.

A tumor is the body holding on to what it could not release. Very often the heart is doing the same: holding old hurts, old shocks and regrets that were never let go.

Louise Hay, in her book Heal Your Body, describes these patterns:

  • Tumors: nursing old hurts and shocks; building remorse. Turn it around: I lovingly release the past and turn my attention to this new day. All is well.
  • Cysts: running the old painful movie over and over; nursing hurts. Turn it around: The movies of my mind are beautiful because I choose to make them so. I love me.
  • Breast lumps and cysts: refusing to nourish the self; always putting everyone else first. Turn it around: I am important. I count. I now care for and nourish myself with love and joy.
  • Boils: anger boiling over; seething. Turn it around: I express love and joy, and I am at peace.

Emotional patterns paraphrased from Louise Hay, Heal Your Body (Hay House). These are not faults to blame anyone for; they are a reminder of how much the heart is carrying.

Areas Affected & Opening the Way to Healing

A tumor sits in one place, but it was built by the whole body. The work starts with the bowel that must carry the waste out, the liver that draws it from the blood and lymph, the kidneys, and the lymph system that drains the area around the lump. Open those channels first. Then work directly on the lump to loosen it and draw the waste out, and feed the body so it can rebuild the tissue.

Opening the Way to Healing

1. Clear the blockage.

2. Get the healing nutrients into the area.

3. Let sunshine and fresh air cycle over and through the affected part.

4. Bathe regularly.

5. Move the area as much as you can.

6. Know which area is truly affected. Not where the symptoms show up, but the part causing the issue. That is the area that needs to be cleared. With a tumor the lump is where you see it, but the bowel and liver are where it comes from. Clear them, and the lump has nothing left to feed on.

Castor Oil Packs: Two Uses

  • Over the liver and bowel. Soak a flannel in castor oil, lay it over the whole front of the body (neck to groin), and put a hot water bottle over the liver (right side, just above the waist) for about 1½ hours. This is the opening step for anyone on the Incurables Program, to get the bowels open and working well. Usually there are years of backup to clear. The castor oil pack works to turn cement into soft mud that can be easily evacuated from the body. It also softens the waste in the liver, so when you flush it the ELF (Emergency Liver Flush) is more effective.
  • Over the tumor itself. First spread a layer of M&L Salve over the lump. The salve opens the area so the waste can move out better through the lymph. Then lay a castor-oil-soaked flannel over it, cover, and leave it on all night, every night.

Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice

The hot charcoal and flaxseed poultice draws waste out and keeps the lymph from backing up. Use it over a lump, over swollen lymph nodes, and over the liver during the day. Apply it as hot as can be comfortably tolerated, cover with plastic and a cloth, and leave it on overnight or at least 2 to 4 hours. Never reuse a poultice; it holds what it has drawn out. See the Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice sheet for how to make it.

Blood Purifying Formula (Chaparral)

Dr. Christopher wrote that chaparral is “especially known for specific action in cancer,” calling it “a potent healer… to lymphatics” that “tones up the system and rebuilds the tissue” (The School of Natural Healing, p. 70). It is the backbone of the Blood Purifying Formula, along with red clover, burdock and poke root. Early laboratory studies found that chaparral’s main compound, NDGA, slowed some tumor cells in rats. Human studies have not yet confirmed this, and researchers call for more study (Pedersen, Nutritional Herbology, p. 70). In my practice, many members have used the Blood Purifying Formula over the years to clear tumors. Take it as directed on its formula sheet, traditionally two dropperfuls 4 to 6 times a day during a cleanse week, in a few ounces of grape juice.

Watch the lump. As the herbs loosen a tumor, it becomes less tightly packed so the waste can move out, and it can look bigger for a time before it shrinks. Don’t guess. If a lump keeps growing, have your doctor measure it so you know what is really happening.

Using Chaparral and Comfrey With Care

Chaparral is one of the herbs in the Blood Purifying Formula. It has long been regarded as one of the strongest blood purifiers in herbal use and has had years of bad press, but used wisely it supports the body in clearing what has built up. Stay at the dose on the formula sheet. Avoid it with existing liver disease. If the skin or the whites of the eyes turn yellow, the urine turns dark, or there is pain under the right ribs, stop and have the liver checked.

Comfrey root is one of the nine herbs in BF&C, where it feeds and rebuilds tissue as part of a traditional blend. Take the extract at 1 teaspoon three times a day. Use the salve as an overnight pack, and leave the area open and clear of salves for at least 6 hours each day. More is not faster.

Working Directly on the Lump: The Poultices

For a tumor that needs more than packs, two strong poultices draw the waste out through the skin. Both are powerful tools and belong with the Incurables Program, never on their own. Read the directions carefully and follow them exactly.

The Black Cancer Poultice. A dry mix of red clover blossoms, powdered poke root, slippery elm, bentonite clay, goldenseal and activated charcoal, blended into a paste with a liquid of apple cider vinegar, bloodroot, tea tree oil and garlic. It is an excellent support for skin cancer and has been a huge aid with breast tumors.

  • Make the 50/50 solution: 4 oz raw apple cider vinegar and 4 oz distilled water. Add 1 oz bloodroot extract for every 8 oz of 50/50 solution.
  • Blend: In a Magic Bullet, pour in 2 oz of the solution first, so the liquid is on the bottom. Add ¼ tsp tea tree oil for every 8 oz of liquid used. Add 1 to 2 Tbsp of the herbal powder mix on top (more for a larger poultice; start small), then more solution on top of the powder. Add 3 large garlic cloves for every 16 oz of liquid. Garlic is the big killer in this poultice and one to respect; adjust it to your preference. Blend until smooth, adding solution until it is a paste.
  • Store in a lidded glass jar in the refrigerator for up to one week.
  • For skin cancer: apply a thick layer over the spot twice a day and hold it in place with a bandage. It often dries to a hard crust, which can be soaked off in the shower or bath.
  • For a tumor: smear a generous amount onto flannel, lay it over the tumor and bandage it in place. Leave it on overnight or 6 to 8 hours. It is best to alternate it with the castor oil pack.

In My Experience: The Black Cancer Poultice

This poultice cleared spots on my own arm that I recognized as skin cancer in about two weeks. It also cleared the smaller, VA-diagnosed spots on my father in 2008, without harming the healthy skin around them. It has also been a great aid with breast tumors. Bloodroot is a strong herb, so stop if the skin becomes raw, blistered or very painful. If a breast tumor bleeds, packing it with cayenne will usually stop it quickly, but call your doctor that same day.

The Poke Root Poultice. Used for tumors of the breast, during the second liver flush week of the Incurables Program. Grind fresh poke root fine, enough for one use, and roll it ¼ to ½ inch deep onto a piece of muslin or cheesecloth cut to cover the breast, with a hole for the nipple. Moisten once a day with poke root extract diluted to 1/16 strength (only if the root is dry), cover with plastic to hold the moisture, and change it every 2 to 3 days. Within about two weeks the skin breaks out in pustular sores as the waste comes out; continue one to two weeks after the breakout begins. When the drainage stops, wash with diluted apple cider vinegar and dust with bayberry powder; the skin heals in 7 to 10 days. The full procedure, with a member’s pictures of each stage, is on the Poke Root Poultice direction sheet.

  • Support the lymph while you use it. Increase Echinacea to two ounces a day, six days a week. Keep M&L Salve over the tumor and any swollen lymph nodes, rebound 10 to 15 minutes a couple of times a day, and use the hot charcoal and flaxseed poultice over swollen nodes and the liver. Do an ELF each night for up to five nights. If the lymph nodes become painful and swollen, take a break and let the body catch up.

Use With Care: Poke Root

Poke root is a powerful lymph detoxifier. Used too freely, it will cause uncontrolled vomiting. Wear gloves when handling the fresh root, and never use the extract full strength. Dilute it as directed. Poke root is too detoxifying to be taken by itself. Internally, it is best used in a mix with other herbs, never alone.

For Moles: BBB Mole Salve and Cellfood

A member in Florida introduced me to Cellfood and taught me how to use it. The BBB Mole Salve needs the Cellfood to do the good work:

  • Twice a day, dab full-strength Cellfood on the mole with a Q-tip. Let it dry a few minutes, then cover it with the BBB Mole Salve to hold the moisture in. Cellfood alone dries the skin and slows healing, so use the two together. Expect several months.
  • Drink Cellfood in water as well, following the directions on the bottle.

Scullcap, one of the five herbs in the BBB Salve, is very high in potassium, 2,180 mg per 100 grams (Pedersen, Nutritional Herbology, p. 155), and lobelia, blue cohosh and blue vervain all add more. That fits Dr. Christopher’s teaching that moles, like cysts and warts, form where the body lacks potassium. Blue vervain is also a powerful liver herb, and black cohosh stirs the liver, kidneys and lymph to carry the waste away (Dr. Christopher, The School of Natural Healing, pp. 291, 398).

BF&C: Rebuilding the Tissue

As the waste leaves, the tissue left behind needs rebuilding. BF&C (Bone, Flesh & Cartilage) feeds and knits tissue back together. Take the extract at 1 teaspoon three times a day, and use the BF&C Salve as an overnight pack over the area once the lump has softened, leaving the skin open and clear of salves for at least 6 hours each day.

Feeding the Body: Potassium Broth

Cleanse and feed: clear the waste out while flooding the body with the nutrients it needs to rebuild. Fresh vegetable juices (at least 32 ounces of carrot juice a day on the full program), Superfood, and this broth give the body the potassium it is missing.

Potassium Broth

Fill a large pot with organic vegetables, roughly equal parts:

• Thick potato peelings (at least ½ inch) or whole chopped potatoes

• Carrots and beets, chopped, with their tops

• Onions, chopped, and up to 50 cloves of garlic

• Celery stalks and leaves, plus dark greens (spinach, beet greens, chickweed)

• A few black peppercorns, or hot pepper to taste

Cover with distilled water. Then choose:

Quick (my way): simmer on very low heat 1 to 2 hours.

Stronger (Dr. Christopher’s way): keep it around 130°F for 6 to 10 hours. Never let it boil. A slow cooker on its lowest setting works well.

Strain and drink only the broth, 1 to 3 cups a day between meals. Make enough for two days and refrigerate the rest.

Use distilled water for all teas, and when taking your extracts in hot water. If you use a hot water dispenser for your teas, using only distilled water greatly adds to the life of the unit.

Sun, Air, Movement and Bathing

  • Move the lymph. The lymph has no pump of its own; it moves when you move. Rebound or walk every day.
  • Hots and colds in the shower open the pores and drain the area. Finish with cold.
  • Sun and air bath for 10 to 15 minutes a day.
  • Bathe regularly to keep the skin open, so waste can leave through it.

When to Get Medical Care

Herbs are support alongside medical care, not a replacement for it. Have a doctor check any new lump, and any lump that grows quickly, is hard and does not move, is attached to the skin or deeper tissue, or comes with unexplained weight loss, night sweats or fever. A mole that changes shape, color or size, bleeds or itches; a breast lump or nipple discharge; a swollen gland that stays more than a few weeks; blood in the stool; or a lump that keeps growing while on the program all need to be seen. If a tumor bleeds and the bleeding does not stop quickly, get help right away. Don’t stop a prescribed medication without the doctor.

Level of Commitment

How much is needed depends on what the lump is and how long the body has been building it:

  • Gentle support. For moles, boils, small cysts and swollen glands. Clear the bowel, add potassium foods and broth, and work on the spot itself: the charcoal and flaxseed poultice, burdock tea, or the BBB Mole Salve with Cellfood.
  • Focused cleansing. For benign tumors, fibroids, lipomas and stubborn cysts. Bowel cleansing, a week of liver flushing followed by a week of kidney flushing, castor oil packs over the lump with M&L Salve, the Blood Purifying Formula, and BF&C to rebuild.
  • Incurables Program. For malignant tumors and large or long-standing growths. The full program, full time: bowel cleansing, Echinacea, juicing and Superfood, liver and kidney flushing, castor oil packs, and the poultices. The poultices are only one part; without the liver free to carry the waste away, they cannot finish the job.

More Is Not Faster

These doses are set to what the body can clear. Taking more stirs up more than the bowels, liver and kidneys can carry out, and that is when cleansing starts to feel like poisoning. Healing the body requires steady, consistent nutrition and action, not a bigger dose.

People are different, and now and then someone reacts poorly to a particular herb. If that happens, stop it. What I offer here is a guideline. You are the one living in your body, so work with the Holy Spirit and the wisdom the Lord has given you to apply these supports in the best way for your life.

A Loose Healing Plan

  • First: have it checked. Know what you are working with: its location and size.
  • Week 1: open the bowel. LBF, building up until the bowels move two or three times a day. Castor oil packs over the liver and bowel. Juices, Superfood and Potassium Broth every day.
  • Week 1 onward: work on the lump. M&L Salve and a castor oil pack over it every night; the charcoal and flaxseed poultice over it and any swollen nodes during the day.
  • Weeks 2 and 3: clear the liver and kidneys. A week of liver flushing, then a week of kidney flushing. Add the Blood Purifying Formula during the cleanse week. Repeat the flushing cycle as the program calls for.
  • When the program is established: the poultices, if the lump calls for them, alongside the full Incurables Program.
  • All along: rebuild. BF&C, potassium foods, movement, sun, air, bathing, and the heart work. Let go of what you have been holding.
  • Every few weeks: take stock. Small lumps and boils can clear in days or weeks; tumors take months. If a lump keeps growing, have it measured.

Stories from the Work

Dara’s Story: A Lump Under My Arm

Back in 2000 a lump came up under my arm about the size of a golf ball. I used the charcoal and flaxseed poultice to get rid of it. It went away and never came back. I have no idea what that was all about. But as soon as it came up, I got rid of it, so nothing had a real chance to back up behind it.

Dara’s Story: My Father’s Skin Cancer

My father came to live with us in 2008 with three spots of skin cancer, diagnosed at the VA, where he had already had others cut out. The Black Cancer Poultice cleared the smaller spots in short order, with no harm to the skin around them, even though he wasn’t careful to keep it only on the spots. But he would not do a liver flush. The largest spot, right beside his nose, would not clear. His liver was full and could no longer draw the cancer out, so he went in for surgery to have the rest removed. The poultice draws the waste out, but the liver has to be free to carry it away.

A Member’s Story: Learning the Poke Root Poultice

A member in Michigan sent in her pictures and her story so other women would know how to do this poultice. Her first attempt went badly because she misread the directions: she added undiluted extract to fresh root that was already moist, and it burned and blistered her skin and left her weak and dizzy. She healed within about a week. “Let me urge you to read and re-read these instructions carefully before doing this.”

Her second attempt, with no extract added, “produced amazing results.” Within a day the breast was covered in pustular sores: “It was amazing to see how much garbage was being pulled right out through my skin!” When her lymph nodes became painful and swollen, she took a break, did lymph cleansing, rebounding and liver flushing, and used warm charcoal and flaxseed poultices, and the pain quickly went away. Her advice: “Know that it isn’t pleasant, it isn’t comfortable, but it is powerful! Don’t be afraid of the sores and swelling.”

Her pictures of each stage, from the first breakout to the used poultice, are on the Poke Root Poultice direction sheet, along with the full step-by-step procedure.

A Member’s Story: A Mole Above His Ear

A member in Florida cleared a sizable mole above his ear in about six months with the BBB Mole Salve and Cellfood, painless and without surgery. All that remained was barely some scar tissue.

More on Tumors & Lumps

This information is for education only. It is not meant to diagnose, treat or replace care from a qualified health professional.

Herbal Healing, Infection, Colds & Flu, Skin, Wounds & First Aid

A Simple Drawing Poultice: Charcoal and Flaxseed

Dara Dietz

Some of the best tools for infection are the simplest. Two ingredients from your kitchen shelf, activated charcoal and flaxseed, cooked into a thick black paste and laid on warm, will pull infection, boils and toxins right out of the body. I have used this poultice for boils, earaches, tooth and gum infections, vertigo, swollen glands, and stings and bites.

You can watch me make it here:

And for more ways to work on an infection from the outside, here is my video on topical applications:

What You Need

  • 1 cup of water, distilled if you have it.
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons activated charcoal powder.
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons flaxseed, freshly ground.
  • A piece of old cotton sheet, about 12 inches square.

Making It

Grind the flaxseed, then whisk it with the charcoal into the water in a small pot. Bring it to a boil and stir until it thickens to a paste about like toothpaste. If it isn’t getting thick enough, add more flax, or more of both. Spread the hot paste in the middle of the cloth and fold it up like a burrito so the filling is completely contained. Let it cool just enough to be comfortable, then lay it on while it is still quite warm. The heat opens the pores so the infection can be drawn out. Plastic wrap and a washcloth over the top keep it warm longer.

Leave it on overnight, or at least 2 to 4 hours during the day. Then throw it away. Never reuse or reheat a poultice; it holds what it has pulled out.

Where It Goes

For earaches and vertigo, always put a poultice over both ears, even when only one is affected. I recently discovered that two wide sweatbands, angled low around the head and over the ears, hold them in place beautifully. A pair of pantyhose works too: wear the seat like a shower cap and tie the legs over the poultices. Nylon stretches rather than tightens, and children take well to it. For children, always use the pantyhose rather than sweatbands; the bands are too large for them and could slip down around the neck. And any small child wearing a pantyhose cap overnight should sleep with a parent, or be watched through the night in shifts.

For a tooth, gum or mouth infection, lay it on the cheek over the sore spot and hold it the same way, 4 to 6 hours or all night. For boils, sores, stings and bites, place it right over the area; you can make it as small as a Band-Aid or as big as a sheet. It is good over swollen lymph nodes in the neck or armpits, and over the liver, changed daily until the bad odor is gone for two days running.

Before you work on healing an ulcer or a deep wound, always use this poultice first to clear any infection; then move on to the healing poultice in Filling In Deep Wounds and Ulcers.

Why It Works

Activated charcoal adsorbs. Toxins cling to its surface by an electrical attraction, which is much stronger than simply soaking something up. The flaxseed holds the heat and moisture against the skin while the charcoal does its work.

A Tip from My Own Kitchen

When I needed this poultice recently for an infection in my mouth and the vertigo that came with it, I learned to grind a supply of flaxseed ahead of time. It saves a step when you need the poultice in a hurry, but keep the ground flax in the freezer. It loses its value quickly sitting out in a warm room.

The Key for My Own Gums

Dara wearing charcoal and flaxseed poultices over both ears, held with wide sweatbands

After a broken tooth was pulled, a pocket of infection in my gum would not clear with all my regular infection work, and I was fighting vertigo at the same time. When my left ear began to ache, I put a poultice over both ears, held with two wide sweatbands, and changed them every 4 hours over two days. The first few made my ears sore, as if the tissue itself was full of toxins; a little healing salve took care of that. The pocket on my gum began clearing with the very first poultice, and by the fourth it was completely gone, and my dentist’s x-rays later showed me infection-free. I was surprised that a poultice over the ears would pull infection from the gums, but it was the key. The whole story is in Herbal Aids for Clearing an Infection in the Teeth and Gums, and the vertigo side of it in Natural Support for Vertigo.

A Toe That Was Saved

Years ago I met a woman whose big toe was scheduled to be amputated the next morning. An infection had set in after an ingrown toenail was removed, and nothing the doctors gave her had touched it. I made her one of these poultices for her whole foot, and she wore it all night. The next morning she came by to show me: the redness and tenderness were gone, and so were the blue streaks that had been running up her leg.

Work from the Inside, Too

A poultice draws from the outside. Support the body from the inside at the same time; see Our Two Infection Fighters, Echinacea: Telling the Immune System to Gear Up and Getting the Herbs to Where the Infection Lives.

This is shared for educational purposes, from my own study and experience. It is not medical advice.

Herbal Healing, Skin, Wounds & First Aid

Filling In Deep Wounds and Ulcers

Dara Dietz

Some wounds need more than closing. A deep gouge, an ulcer that has eaten into the flesh, a bedsore, or any serious injury where tissue has been lost has to fill back in from the bottom up. For these, I reach for a healing poultice: a blend of powdered herbs packed right into the wound, where it forms a protective herbal scab and feeds the body the raw materials it needs to grow new flesh. The wound grows shallower as the tissue fills in, healing from the inside out, often with little or no scarring.

First, Clear Any Infection

Before you begin, the wound has to be clean. Infection left in a wound will keep it from healing no matter what you put in it. So any time you are working to heal an ulcer or a deep wound, use the charcoal and flaxseed drawing poultice first, to be sure the area is clear of bacteria and infection. Once it is clean and clear, start the healing poultice.

What a Good Healing Poultice Contains

A good healing poultice might contain these five herbs, all powdered:

  • Slippery Elm Bark, 4 parts. The heart of the blend. Its soothing mucilage binds the paste together, protects tender tissue and nourishes it.
  • Plantain, 2 parts. A classic wound herb, used for generations to draw out infection and support healing.
  • Goldenseal Root, 1 part. Long used to keep tissue clean and support it against infection.
  • Comfrey Root, 1 part. Known as “knitbone,” used to support the growth of new cells and tissue.
  • Cayenne, a pinch. Brings circulation into the area and helps stop bleeding.

“Parts” can be any measure you like, as long as you use the same one for every herb.

Making and Applying the Paste

Mix a small amount of the powder with distilled water, aloe vera juice or aloe vera gel into a stiff, mud-like paste. Once any bleeding is under control and the wound is clean, fill the open wound with the paste and cover it with gauze or another natural-fiber bandage. Natural fiber lets the skin breathe; under plastic, the cayenne can feel hot.

As it dries, the poultice often hardens into a protective herbal scab. Each day, take off the bandage and soak or rinse the area during the daily bath. If the poultice washes out, pack the wound again and cover it. If the scab holds, just add more paste on top as needed. Don’t worry if some of the material stays in the wound; the body takes it in and uses those nutrients to grow new flesh.

Ulcers and Bedsores

Ulcers and bedsores need circulation brought back into the area. Before each application, soak the area in hot cayenne water, made with ½ teaspoon of cayenne tincture to each gallon of hot water. Feet can soak right in it. For sores on the back or bottom, soak a towel in the hot cayenne water and lay it over the area, changing it as it cools, for half an hour. Alternating hot and cold, 7 of each, during the daily bath helps too.

Infection salve around the top edges of the ulcer speeds the healing. Keep it to the edges, though; the oily salve makes it hard for the poultice to stay in the wound.

Here is my video on caring for wounds and bedsores:

This is shared for educational purposes, from my own study and experience. It is not medical advice.

Digestion & Gut, Herbal Healing, Skin, Wounds & First Aid

A 911 for Vomiting and Diarrhea

Dara Dietz

This fiber blend does two very important jobs. In a bowel cleansing program it is the bowel vacuum, pulling inflammation from the bowel walls and carrying out the waste the body releases as it heals. And every home should have a jar of it on the shelf for the middle of the night, when a stomach bug or a bad bit of food has the body purging from one end or the other. Then it soaks up the acid, bacteria and poisons that are causing the trouble, and it soothes the raw tissue while it works.

What a Good Absorbing Fiber Blend Contains

A good absorbing fiber blend might contain these nine ingredients, all powdered:

  • Psyllium Husk Powder, 8 parts. The bulk of the blend. It swells into a gel that firms up loose stool and carries waste out.
  • Flax Seed, 2 parts. Soothing, lubricating fiber.
  • Apple Pectin, 2 parts. A gentle, binding fiber long used to settle diarrhea.
  • Bentonite Clay, 2 parts. Draws toxins and bacteria to itself and carries them out of the body.
  • Activated Charcoal, 2 parts. One of the great absorbers. It soaks up poisons and gas in the gut.
  • Slippery Elm Bark, 2 parts. Coats and soothes raw, irritated tissue all the way down.
  • Marshmallow Root, 2 parts. Another soothing, coating herb that calms inflamed membranes.
  • Peppermint, 1 part. Settles the stomach and eases cramping.
  • Plantain, 1 part. A healing, drawing herb for irritated tissue.

“Parts” can be any measure you like, as long as you use the same one for every ingredient. By weight, that’s 8 ounces of Psyllium, 2 ounces each of the next six, and 1 ounce each of Peppermint and Plantain. Mix the powders well and keep them in a tightly closed jar.

The Bowel Vacuum

This is the blend’s most important work. As part of a bowel cleansing program it acts as a bowel vacuum. It pulls inflammation from the bowel walls, and it helps carry out the toxic waste the liver dumps when the body is going through a healing program.

Because it is so absorbing, it needs a lower bowel formula working alongside it, or it can stop you up with a brick in your bowels. So the lower bowel formula of your choice comes first (see Helping Sluggish Bowels Move Again). Spend about a week finding your number of capsules, and if your bowels still aren’t regulated, give it another week before moving on.

When your bowels are moving well, increase your capsules by 1 or 2 the night before you begin the vacuum the next morning. Someone already taking 10 or more capsules may need 2 or more extra to pass the vacuum well. It all depends on the person, their size, and the state of disease in the body. Then take 1 rounded teaspoon about every 3 hours through the day, which comes to five doses a day, for a two-week bowel cleanse. A rounded teaspoon is right for almost everyone. For someone very large, or with serious bowel disease, a bit more may prove helpful. If your bowels seem too tight at the end of the day, add another capsule. If they’re a bit too loose, drop one. You are in charge. The lower bowel formula keeps the bowels moving well while the vacuum does the heavy cleansing and healing work.

Drink plenty of liquid during the cleanse: an extra glass of water after each dose, and lots of pure water, herb teas and diluted juices through the day. It makes the whole program work better.

And what are we aiming for? A healthy bowel moves once for every meal you eat. If you eat three meals, you should have three bowel movements.

For someone with Crohn’s disease, colitis or irritable bowel syndrome, where loose, irritated bowels are the problem, it may be necessary to back into the healing program by starting with this blend first. Sometimes the lower bowel formula isn’t used at all, because the bowels are so sick and loose that they just need this blend. Taken daily, it soothes the bowel and firms up the stool. Some find one teaspoon a day does the job, others need three, and it can be used for as long as it’s needed.

I know this one firsthand. In the late ’90s I was working in social service, and my own bowels were a real mess: horrid cramps one day and constipation the next. That’s when I first discovered this blend. I took it for nine months. I wasn’t perfect with the dosing, but at the end of those nine months the cramping and constipation stopped. My bowels have never worked quite right, but they are healthy now, and I don’t suffer, as long as I take my poop pills.

In an Emergency

The blend thickens fast. Put it in water or juice in a jar with a lid and shake it. Don’t expect to stir it, because it won’t stir. Then drink it all at once, before it sets up. Water or juice is fine either way. If blood sugar is a concern, water the juice down.

Cramping bowels. If the bowels are crampy, even if you’re not passing anything (the old folks called it griping), shake one rounded teaspoon in about 6 ounces of water and drink it down. In about ten minutes your bowels will be right as rain.

Wet, crampy stool. If you’re passing wet, solid stool with cramping, take the same rounded teaspoon each time the bowels produce the crampy stool. Usually one dose clears it, but if you need more it is not a problem.

Watery diarrhea. If you’re passing water from the bowels, shake a full tablespoon in 12 ounces of water and drink it all at once. Repeat each time you pass water. This can be repeated as long as needed to tighten the bowels back up. Drink extra water along the way to replace what you’re losing.

Don’t get ahead of the problem. Don’t anticipate and take more than you need, because it can over-tighten the bowels. Take another dose only when the bowels produce the problem.

For Vomiting

Shake a full tablespoon in 12 ounces of water and drink it all at once. It absorbs the acid or bacteria in the stomach that is making your insides want to purge. Either it settles the stomach, or it comes back up. Most people throw it up rather quickly, but it comes up like applesauce and is not harsh on the tissue in the throat.

Once it has come back up, the stomach-settling herbs will now work very well. Peppermint tea, an ounce of ginger root juice, or a teaspoon of a good digestive tonic in a cup of hot water all help. The digestive tonic can also be mixed in equal parts with a liver and gallbladder formula. See Fast Relief for an Upset Stomach and Cleansing the Liver and Gallbladder, and Clearing Parasites.

For Children

Dose children by weight. Put the child’s weight over 150 pounds, and give that share of the adult dose. I round their weight to make it easy: a 50-pound child gets a third of the adult dose, and a 75-pound child gets half.

My Own Night of Food Poisoning

I had a case of food poisoning myself over twenty years ago. I ended up using nearly an 8-ounce jar of this blend during the night, taking a dose each time my bowels let go, and drinking extra water since I was dumping so much from my bowels. Finally, around 5 a.m., I passed solid waste, and that was the end of the event. I was exhausted, but my bowels were fine all day. I was not constipated, and there were no leftover issues in my bowels at all.

For everyday bowel support, see Helping Sluggish Bowels Move Again and A Fiber Blend That Heals While It Works.

This is shared for educational purposes, from my own study and experience. It is not medical advice.

Herbal Healing, Skin, Wounds & First Aid

Two Herbal Helps for Healthy Teeth and Gums

Dara Dietz

Bleeding gums, loose teeth and gum infections don’t have to be the slow slide they so often are. Two simple herbal formulas, one a rinse and one a powder, work beautifully together to bring circulation back into the gums, tighten loose teeth and clear infection from the mouth.

The idea behind them is an old one. Native Americans would place thin strips of inner oak bark between the gums and lips and leave them there through the day or night, and it would heal sores of the gums and tighten loose teeth.

The Tooth and Gum Rinse

This formula increases the circulation to the teeth and gums. Used regularly, it helps tighten teeth and gums and stop the bleeding that comes with plaque buildup and gingivitis. It is antibacterial and antifungal, and goes after oral infection on contact.

A good tooth and gum rinse might contain:

  • Echinacea, 20 parts. The largest part, a strong immune herb that fights infection in the mouth on contact.
  • Bayberry Bark, 8 parts. A strong astringent that tightens and tones spongy, bleeding gums.
  • White Oak Bark, 4 parts. One of the great astringents, long used to firm the gums and tighten loose teeth.
  • Cayenne (Habanero), 2 parts. Drives fresh circulation into the gums and the roots of the teeth.

Tea Tree, Peppermint and Clove essential oils are stirred in after the herbs are extracted. Tea Tree is antibacterial and antifungal, Clove soothes and numbs, and Peppermint freshens.

Put the dry herbs in a glass jar and pour in 80-proof vodka. Once the herbs have settled, you want about 60% herb sediment on the bottom and 40% liquid on top. Shake the jar every day. The traditional timing follows the moon, from the new moon to the full moon, about two weeks. I prefer to let my extracts sit a full three months, which makes them good and strong. Then strain and bottle the liquid.

How to use it: for best results, use a water pik. Put 4 to 6 droppersful in the reservoir with warm water and use the strongest setting you can tolerate; used daily, gum bleeding often stops within about a week. Or add 2 droppersful to 2 ounces of water and rinse thoroughly, swishing and straining the water through all the teeth. It can also be massaged directly into the gums with a cotton swab.

The Tooth Powder

This powder helps strengthen the gums against bleeding and pyorrhea-type infections, helps tighten loose teeth, and brightens the teeth’s luster. A good tooth powder might contain these seven powdered herbs:

  • Comfrey Root, 6 parts. The largest part, valued for soothing and knitting tissue back together.
  • White Oak Bark, 3 parts. Firms the gums and tightens loose teeth.
  • Horsetail Grass, 3 parts. Rich in silica, which the body uses to build strong bones and teeth.
  • Peppermint, 3 parts. Freshens the mouth and gives the powder a clean taste.
  • Oatstraw, 1 part. A gentle, mineral-rich food for bones and teeth.
  • Cloves, 1 part. Soothes sore gums and helps fight infection.
  • Lobelia, ½ part. A small amount to relax and carry the other herbs into the tissue.

Mix the powders well and keep them in a tightly closed jar.

How to use it: to brush, wet your toothbrush, dip the damp bristles in the powder and brush as usual. For problem gums, mix about a tablespoon of powder with a little distilled water into a firm, fairly dry paste, pack it under the gums and around the teeth on the upper and lower jaws, and leave it on all night. If it won’t stay in place, wrap the paste in gauze. For severe cases, pack it six nights a week, while brushing regularly, until there is clear improvement, then go on brushing with the powder.

“Parts” can be any measure you like, as long as you use the same one for every ingredient.

A Word About Black Walnut and the Teeth

A member once asked about a “Dr. Christopher dental formula” made mostly of black walnut hulls. I searched Dr. Christopher’s material and could not find it; the tooth powder above is the only one he wrote of. I would also have great reservations about putting black walnut directly on the teeth. Black walnut is an excellent dye and could likely dye the teeth black. It is the strongest herb in nature for clearing fungus, and it is high in calcium, so if it is found of value for the teeth, take it as an extract in a cup of tea rather than applying it to the teeth.

For more, see Infection: Teeth, Gums & Mouth and Herbal Aids for Clearing an Infection in the Teeth and Gums.

This is shared for educational purposes, from my own study and experience. It is not medical advice.

Herbal Healing, Pain, Joints & Injuries, Skin, Wounds & First Aid

A Homemade Lotion for Deep Tissue, Muscle and Bone

Dara Dietz

This is a make-it-yourself lotion for repairing damaged tissue, muscle and bone. It promotes the growth of new cells and bone, correcting and healing problem areas, and it has helped many people, and horses, dogs and cats, with back pain, torn ligaments, arthritis, cuts, pulled muscles, knee injuries and more. It also doubles as a poultice base when an area needs deeper work.

What Goes Into It

For the herb-infused oil:

  • 32 ounces extra virgin olive oil
  • ⅛ cup each of these dried, powdered herbs (1 cup in all): Arnica, Comfrey, St. John’s Wort, Plantain, Mullein, White Oak Bark, Skullcap and Lobelia
  • 4 ounces Fire Cayenne powder (300,000 heat units)

For the aloe blend:

  • 1 quart organic aloe vera gel
  • 1½ cups castor oil
  • 1 ounce peppermint oil
  • 1 ounce wintergreen oil (or replace both the peppermint and wintergreen with tea tree oil)

Putting It Together

  • Warm the oil base. Put the olive oil in a glass pan and stir in the powdered herbs and the cayenne. Warm it on low heat on the stove, or on the lowest setting in the oven or a slow cooker, for 1 to 2 hours, stirring now and then. Don’t let it boil. Take it off the heat.
  • Blend the aloe base. While the oil warms, blend the aloe gel, castor oil, peppermint oil and wintergreen oil in a blender until white and creamy.
  • Combine. Once the herb oil has cooled, strain out the herbs through a cotton cloth. Add the strained oil to the aloe blend and blend again.
  • Store. Bottle it and keep it in the refrigerator. It makes about 2 quarts.

To powder your own herbs, a small electric grinder works well; shake it while it grinds. Don’t worry about exact measurements. Use a little more or less of any ingredient, or leave one out if you don’t have it on hand.

How to Use It

Rub the lotion into the injured area as needed.

To make a poultice, mix the lotion with slippery elm bark powder until it’s the consistency you want. This is a powerful formula that breaks up and releases toxins, so use the lotion alone for at least 3 days before putting a poultice on top of it, to give the bloodstream and immune system time to build up their defenses. When you wrap, put the poultice on first, then a layer of cotton muslin, then the wrap. Leave it on for 2 hours at first, and only lengthen the time if the person or animal doesn’t feel ill. Wash a wrap before using it again, since it draws toxins out too.

For more, see Back, Knee and Sciatic Pain: My Stories and Knitting Bone, Flesh and Cartilage Back Together.

This is shared for educational purposes, from my own study and experience. It is not medical advice.

Herbal Healing, Infection, Colds & Flu, Skin, Wounds & First Aid

A Salve for Stings, Bites and Hot, Inflamed Sores

Dara Dietz

This salve is gentle enough for a baby’s bottom, yet strong enough for any hot or inflamed sore on the body. It works on bee stings, wasp stings and ant bites, it’s a great aid for any skin infection, and some members also use it for sores in and around the mouth.

One afternoon, while I was waiting for my husband to head into town, I saw a few weeds sitting happy as could be in our raised flower bed. I leaned in and absentmindedly began pulling them, which seriously upset a garden-variety spider and a whole mound of ants. I react very strongly to ant bites, so this was a foolish move to make without a glove on my hand. Teach me to skip the glove! I was bitten by all of them before I got my hand out of there. After dousing my swelling fingers and palm with cold water, I spread a thick layer of this salve over the burning, swelling areas. We skipped our trip into town while I sat at my desk playing Solitaire to distract myself while the salve went to work. In about 15 minutes the ant bites had cleared, though the spider bite took a couple of hours to stop throbbing and wasn’t fully clear of redness until the next morning.

How It Clears a Skin Infection

A skin infection usually moves in stages. A break in the skin lets bacteria in, then the area turns red, warm and swollen as the body’s defenses rush to the site, and if it isn’t brought under control it can deepen, spread, or turn painful and slow to heal. The herbs in this salve work at each stage. Goldenseal, Black Walnut and Oregano oil go after the infection itself. Plantain, Marshmallow and Frankincense calm the redness, heat and swelling. Lobelia eases the tension and discomfort around the site.

What a Good Infection Salve Contains

A good infection salve might contain these six herbs:

  • Plantain, 4 parts. A common roadside plant with a long history as a wound herb. It draws out toxins and soothes irritated, inflamed skin.
  • Black Walnut, 4 parts. A strong antiseptic and antifungal herb, used to clear infection from the skin and keep it from spreading. See Black Walnut: Nature’s Strongest Antifungal.
  • Goldenseal Root, 4 parts. One of the most trusted infection-fighting herbs, prized for clearing infection and supporting healing wherever it’s applied.
  • Bugle Weed, 2 parts. Brings a soothing, cooling action, calming inflamed and irritated tissue.
  • Marshmallow Root, 1 part. Deeply soothing to inflamed skin, calming the burning and swelling of a sting, bite or infection.
  • Lobelia, 1 part. A relaxing, antispasmodic herb that eases the tension and discomfort around a painful area.

“Parts” can be any measure you like, as long as you use the same one for every herb. By weight, that’s 4 ounces each of Plantain, Black Walnut and Goldenseal, 2 of Bugle Weed, and 1 each of Marshmallow and Lobelia. These are the same herbs as the extract in Getting the Herbs to Where the Infection Lives.

Frankincense and Oregano essential oils finish it. Frankincense is anti-inflammatory and antiseptic and speeds healing; Oregano is a strong natural antiseptic that adds to the salve’s infection-fighting power.

Putting It Together

This salve gets its strength from a triple infusion. Fully extract the herbs in extra virgin olive oil in a 150-degree oven for three hours, swap the spent herbs for fresh, and do it three times through, all in the same oil. Strain, thicken with beeswax, and stir in the Frankincense and Oregano oils at the end. Olive oil feeds and softens the skin as it carries the herbs, and beeswax brings its own mild soothing, protective qualities and helps the salve stay put.

How to Use It

Spread it directly on the sore, sting or bite and cover it with a flannel pack. Or try this trick: lay a piece of flannel on a sheet of Press’n Seal wrap, sticky side up, spread the salve on the flannel, then pick it up and press it right over the area.

For more, see Infection: Skin & Wounds and Healing with Salves.

For an overview of how I use herbal salves as topical applications, here is my video:

This is shared for educational purposes, from my own study and experience. It is not medical advice.

Herbal Healing, Herbs & How to Use Them, Skin, Wounds & First Aid

Black Walnut: Nature’s Strongest Antifungal

Dara Dietz

Fungal conditions like toenail fungus, athlete’s foot and stubborn skin fungus are hard to clear. They take hold in warm, damp places and often shrug off store-bought creams, only to flare back up months later.

Black Walnut has long been one of the strongest plant antifungals there is, and the green hull, the outer covering of the walnut, is its most potent part. Its inner bark and leaves are astringent, firming and toning irritated skin, and the whole herb has long been used as a mild laxative and to rid the bowel of parasites.

Ringworm is an easy one for me now. Wet a piece of gauze with Black Walnut extract and lay it directly over the ringworm, and it will kill it off. The salve works too, and is my choice for a very small ringworm, but for a larger one I prefer the extract, since it’s a bit stronger.

What Goes Into It

A good Black Walnut extract uses the green hull, leaves and inner bark together. The hull brings the antifungal strength; the leaves and bark bring their astringent, skin-toning action.

Putting It Together

Put the dry herbs in a glass jar and pour in 80-proof vodka. Once the herbs have settled, you want about 60% herb sediment on the bottom and 40% liquid on top. Shake the jar every day. The traditional timing follows the moon, from the new moon to the full moon, about two weeks. I prefer to let my extracts sit a full three months, which makes them good and strong. Then strain and bottle the liquid.

For a salve, fully extract the herbs in extra virgin olive oil in a 150-degree oven for three hours, swap the spent herbs for fresh, and do it three times through. Strain and thicken with beeswax.

How Much and How Often

  • The extract, inside: ½ to 1 teaspoon in warm water, three to five times a day as needed.
  • On the skin: the extract on a wet gauze pad, or the salve, as often as needed.

A fungus took time to take hold, and it takes time to clear. Stay with it even after it looks better, since a fungus that looks gone can still be working its way out. On the skin, the extract will darken lighter skin for a while; it fades on its own within a week or two.

This is shared for educational purposes, from my own study and experience. It is not medical advice.

Comfrey in bloom beside a marshmallow flower
Herbal Healing, Herbs & How to Use Them, Skin, Wounds & First Aid

A Healing Salve to Keep on Hand

Dara Dietz

Every home should have a good healing salve within reach. This one is built on Dr. Christopher’s healing ointment: three soothing herbs and four essential oils that are calming and healing to inflamed skin. It’s the salve I reach for after a joint has been overused or injured, for dry, itchy skin, for lesions and eczema, for poison ivy, and for hemorrhoids.

What a Good Healing Salve Contains

The herbs, in equal parts:

  • Comfrey Root, 1 part. Known for its ability to knit flesh together, which makes it part of nearly any formula that supports the skin. One of its main constituents is allantoin, a cell proliferant that encourages healthy new cells to multiply.
  • Marshmallow Root, 1 part. Very soothing and healing to inflamed tissue. Its high mucilage content helps draw out irritation and impurities.
  • Marigold (Calendula), 1 part. One of the herbalist’s most reliable dressings for sores, burns and wounds, gentle and non-irritating. As a salve it’s excellent for chapped skin, and it has long been used to take the sting out of a bee or wasp sting.

“Parts” can be any measure you like, as long as you use the same one for every herb. By weight, that’s simply equal ounces of all three.

The essential oils, added at the end:

  • Rosemary, valued for helping heal breaks in the skin and for calming inflammation.
  • Lavender, one of the most widely used essential oils, traditionally regarded as soothing to pain and inflammation and as an antiseptic, with a calming scent that rounds out the blend.
  • Frankincense, traditionally used for calming inflammation and for supporting skin regeneration and healing.
  • Helichrysum, with a long history of use for skin irritation and for supporting the skin’s healing process.

Making the Salve

The herbs are fully extracted in extra virgin olive oil. They go into a 150-degree oven for three hours, then the spent herbs are swapped out for fresh ones, three times through in all. The finished oil is thickened with beeswax, and the essential oils are stirred in at the end.

How It Works

This combination supports faster healing of the skin and flesh. It works as an antiseptic, helping to prevent or clear minor infections, and it calms inflammation, which eases the pain in the affected area. Remember, pain comes from blockage; clear the blockage, and the pain comes down.

How to Use It

Apply it directly to the area, or make a salve pack: spread on a good layer, cover it with flannel, and secure it over the area.

  • An overused or injured joint: Once any ice pack has done its job, or right away if there was no impact and no concern for internal bleeding (as with overuse), pack the joint with the salve for a couple of hours. It knocks down the inflammation around the damaged area so healing can happen more quickly, and it keeps the discomfort from building.
  • Itching: After hot and cold hydrotherapy on the itchy area, I like to finish with this salve to support the body in clearing whatever is behind the itch. When the itch is persistent or severe, the liver may need support too, since skin troubles like eczema and hives so often trace back to an overloaded liver.
  • Hemorrhoids: Apply as needed to soothe the swollen, irritated tissue, alongside changes to the food program. Junk foods that leach calcium from the body are a root cause.

For an overview of how I use herbal salves as topical applications, here is my video:

This is shared for educational purposes, from my own study and experience. It is not medical advice.