Home Remedies for BOILS

BOILS

 

Boils are localized, tender, inflamed, pus-filled swellings in the skin surrounded by large red areas. They are infections of the hair follicles of the skin. They are quite painful, particularly in areas where the skin is closely attached to the underlying tissues, such as the nose, ears, or fingers. They usually occur in teenagers and young adults. The common sites for boils are the face, neck, buttocks, and thighs.

Boils are the result of bacteria that invade through a microscopic break in the skin and infect a blocked oil gland or hair follicle. An abscess results when white blood cells, sent to kill the invaders, produce pus. Sounds nasty, but even though boils are sometimes painful and ugly, they're rarely dangerous.

 

Symptoms of Skin Boils

Painful red nodule appears on the skin

At first, a painful red nodule appears on the skin. This grows bigger and then breaks down in the middle where the pus collects. The patient experiences a great deal of irritation and itching. There may be a single skin boil, or several boils in the same area or in different areas at or about the same time, or they may come in successive crops. The swelling may not be limited to one hair follicle but may extend to several follicles. When the skin boils ripen, they give out a discharge. Fever may sometimes accompany the boils.

Causes of Boils

Staphylococcus germs

Boils are caused mainly by staphylococcus germs which enter the sweat glands or hair follicles. The essential cause of this disorder is thus bacterial. However, several factors predispose the growth of bacteria in hair follicles.

Toxic condition in blood stream

Of these, the chief factor is a toxic condition in the blood stream, which is due to a faulty diet and a frenetic pace of living. Boils generally appear when a person is in a run-down and devitalised condition.

 

Home Remedies for Boils and Skin Boils

Boils treatment using Garlic and Onion

Garlic and onions have proved most effective among the several home remedies found beneficial in the treatment of boils. The juice of garlic or onion may be applied externally on boils to help ripen them, break them, and evacuate the pus. An equal quantity of the juices of these two vegetables can also be applied with beneficial results. Eating of two to three pods of garlic during meals will also bring good results.

Boils treatment using Bitter Gourd

Bitter gourd is another effective home remedy for blood-filled boils. A cupful of fresh juice of this vegetable, mixed with a teaspoon of lime juice, should be taken, sip by sip, on an empty stomach daily for a few months to treat this condition.

Boils treatment using Milk Cream

Milk cream is beneficial in the treatment of boils. One teaspoon of milk cream, mixed with half a tea spoon of vinegar, and a pinch of turmeric powder, makes an excellent poultice. It helps in ripening the blood boils and in their healing without allowing them to become septic.

Boils treatment using Betel Leaves

Betel leaves are a valuable remedy for boils. A leaf is gently warmed till it becomes soft. It is then coated with a layer of castor oil. The oiled leaf should be spread over the inflamed part. It should be replaced every few hours. After a few applications, the skin boil will rupture, draining out all the purulent matter.

Boils treatment using Cumin Seeds

Cumin seeds are beneficial in the treatment of boils. The seeds should be ground in water and made into a paste. This paste can be applied to boils with beneficial results.

Boils treatment using Margosa Leaves

The use of margosa leaves has proved effective in boils. They can be used as a poultice, decoction, or liniment with beneficial results. To make the decoction, 15 gm of margosa leaves should be boiled in 500 ml of water till it is reduced by one-third.

Boils treatment using Parsley

To treat boils, this vegetable should be steeped in boiled water till it is soft and juicy. When comfortably hot, it should be wrapped with clean muslin or linen cloth and applied to the boils as a poultice.

Boils treatment using Turmeric

Application of turmeric powder on boils speeds up the healing process. In the case of fresh boils, a few dry roots of turmeric are roasted, the ashes dissolved in a cupful of water, and then applied over the affected portion. This solution enables the boils to ripen and burst. 

• Apply warm moist compress three or four times a day over the tender area. This will help to bring the boil to a head and helps in easy drainage.
• Always keep some type of ointment on the boil site to prevent the skin from drying and causing a scaring. Keep the area clean and covered.
• Take an onion, cut it in half and place a half on a dry frying pan the cut side down. Warm it on a low heat till the "top" of it feels warm to the touch. Then dig out a piece of the core big enough to accommodate your boil. Place on the boil and try to stay still till the onion cools (=15-20 min.)
• 
  Take 1/2 teaspoon Colloidal Silver everyday and you will not have any new boils.
• Place 1/2 cup of chlorine bleach in a tub of warm to hot bath water. Stay in tub (with infected area under water) for at least 20 minutes. Do this twice a week for one month. Boils come to a head, drain and dry up faster. This is an effective home remedy for boil.
• Prepare a mixture by adding a little of baking soda and water together. Put it all over your boil for about 30 minutes and it should be gone or it should be down.
• Prepare a thick paste by adding a small amount of flour and vinegar. Place the paste on the boil over night and wrap it with gauze. Over night the paste will harden like a cast. Upon removing the bandage in the morning, the head of the boil should come out.
• Peel a banana (a ripe banana works best). Place banana peel on boil and leave it there for as long as you can.
• Cut bacon fat from bacon and place over boil. Place bandage and leave on overnight. Boil should come to a head and rupture upon removing bandage
• For boil treatment eat raisins as much as you can.
• Crack open and discard contents of egg, then take thin white layer of inside shell and place over boil opening (head) then put on bandage overnight. When you wake up take off bandage and the core of the boil come out then will ooze all contents.
• Cut a thick slice of a juicy tomato and place it on the area where the boil is and use a tape of some sort to hold the tomato in place and leave it on for about a day. The boil will come to a head and bursts.
• Soak a tea bag in very hot water.  When it's cool enough to tolerate, place the tea bag on the boil and leave it there until it cools.  Repeat this a few times a day until the boil comes to a head and then wash the boil very well with antibacterial soap, open the boil with a sterile needle and drain it.
• Open the Vitamin E capsule and put the liquid on the boil. Leave it on. Repeat as needed also take at least 1000mg of Vitamin C, it helps fight infection internally and helps the skin
• Take a piece of bread, white or wheat. Dip the piece of bread into a bowl of milk. So the bread is a little soaked with the milk. Take the bread with milk on it and place it over the boil for about 15-20 min. The yeast in the bread will draw out the stuff inside the boil. And the boil will not return again. This is an effective home remedy for boil.
• Sprinkle nutmeg on your food and this will dry up boils within a couple of days.
• Take internally, 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder in warm water a day. Continue for several days.
• Prepare a mixture by adding one tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar, one-tablespoon honey in a cup of hot water and drink at least twice a day.
• Mix a paste of oatmeal, add salt and apply directly onto the boilwrap it to keep the poultice in place.
• For boil treatment prepare a combination by adding garlic clove, fenugreek, and red clay. It is very effective.

Diet For Patients With Skin Boils

Fast on orange juice with water

A thorough cleansing of the system is essential for the treatment of boils. To begin with, the patient may fast on orange juice diluted with water on a 50:50 basis for three to four days, or adopt an exclusive diet of fresh juicy fruits from five to seven days.

Well-balanced diet

After the short juice fast or the all-fruit diet, as the case may be, the patient should adopt a well-balanced diet, with emphasis on wholegrain cereals, raw vegetables, and fresh fruits. Further periods of a juice fast or an all-fruit diet may be necessary, depending on the general health level and bodily condition of the patient.

Avoid tea/coffee, cakes, pastries, condiments and sauces

The patient should avoid tea and coffee, starchy and sugary foods, especially cakes, pastries, sweets, chocolates, white sugar, and white bread. He should also avoid all condiments, pickles, and sauces.

 

Other Boils treatments

Warm-water enema

A warm-water enema should be given daily during the initial juice fast or all-fruit diet. This will help to cleanse the bowels.

Warm moist compresses would be applied

Warm moist compresses should be applied three or four times a day over the tender area. This will help to bring the boil to a head and encourage easy drainage.

Hot Epsom salts bath

A hot Epsom salts bath is highly beneficial and should be taken by the patient two or three times in a week until the boils persist and once a week thereafter.

Dry massage followed by cold sponge

Other helpful measures in the treatment of boils are daily dry massage in the morning followed by a cold sponge.

Breathing and outdoor exercises

Fresh air, breathing exercises, and outdoor exercises are also essential for toning up the system.

Avoid constipation

In case constipation is habitual, all measures should be taken to overcome it.

 

 

Keep it wet and warm. "A warm compress is the best way to treat a boil, but you have to keep it very wet and very warm," says John F. Romano, M.D., a dermatologist and clinical assistant professor of medicine at The New York Hospital--Cornell Medical Center in New York City. "It's not enough to wring out a washcloth and place it on the boil. You should leave the compress on for 10 to 15 minutes, but keep wetting it every few minutes to make sure the boil stays wet and warm." He suggests this 15-minute compress four or five times daily to bring the boil to a head, which leads to its draining and then healing.

 

Lead staph to slaughter. If you're prone to boils, you may be able to lessen their frequency by cleaning your skin with an antiseptic soap such as Betadine, says dermatologist Adrian Connolly, M.D., clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark.

 

Don't monkey with cysts. When cysts become infected, they often have a nasty way of turning into boils. So leave cysts alone, or have them excised by a doctor.

 

Hit the showers. When a boil is draining, keep the skin around it clean by taking showers instead of baths. This reduces the chance of spreading the infection to other parts of the body. After treating a boil, wash your hands well before preparing food, because staph bacteria can cause food poisoning.

 

Head for the kitchen. Applying pieces of warm, milk-soaked bread directly on the boil is an old folk remedy--and some people find it works quite well, according to Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., professor of pharmacognosy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and author of The Honest Herbal.

 

Try vegetables ... or tea. Other home remedies for boils include "compresses" of heated slices of tomato--or raw onion, mashed garlic or the outer leaves of cabbage. You can press these cut vegetables directly on the boil and see for yourself how well they work. Another kitchen compress: Place a warm tea bag of black tea directly on the boil for 15 minutes several times a day.

When to See the Doctor

You can treat most small boils (less than 1/2 inch) at home, but boils that are larger than that or that don't respond to simple remedies require a doctor's attention. You should never squeeze a large boil or a boil of any size around certain "danger zones": face, armpits, groin and the breasts of a nursing woman.

 

Be sure to consult a doctor if you see red lines radiating from the boil or if you get fever, chills or swelling in other parts of your body. You may also need a doctor's care if the boil is extremely tender or is under a thick layer of skin, as with some boils on the back. And if you have diabetes, you should always consult with your doctor any time boils appear: You might need antibiotics that are available only by prescription.