Traditional Knowledge - Antibiotics

[mnjrutherford]

I need to know what has the strongest antibiotic properties, and the best way to ingest to make the most of those properties.

I have a badly infected tooth and it's to the point where it is painful to eat and getting worse daily. A course of antibiotics should really do the trick.

[ceara]

If you start developing a fever, you should see a doctor right away. Please be careful, especially now that you may have a chicken with an infected foot.

In the mean time, swish salt water throughout the day. Mix salt into water until it won't dissolve any more. It really helped when I had my wisdom teeth surgically extracted which left painful incisions in the gums that took a long time to heal. It was recommended by the dentist for home care after the surgery.

Clove oil may help also. It will taste nasty but may relieve tooth pain. Other people have used sliced raw garlic held against the tooth. Garlic has been used recently in Europe to help with swine flu.

But I should state a disclaimer that I'm not a doctor, for legal purposes.

Do some reading on the plant Prunella vulgaris. Common names include Heal-All, Self-Heal, etc.

[mnjrutherford]

Apr 22, 2010 11:34:50 GMT -5 ceara said:

If you start developing a fever, you should see a doctor right away. Please be careful, especially now that you may have a chicken with an infected foot.

In the mean time, swish salt water throughout the day. Mix salt into water until it won't dissolve any more. It really helped when I had my wisdom teeth surgically extracted which left painful incisions in the gums that took a long time to heal. It was recommended by the dentist for home care after the surgery.

Clove oil may help also. It will taste nasty but may relieve tooth pain. Other people have used sliced raw garlic held against the tooth. Garlic has been used recently in Europe to help with swine flu.

But I should state a disclaimer that I'm not a doctor, for legal purposes.

Do some reading on the plant Prunella vulgaris. Common names include Heal-All, Self-Heal, etc.

Thanks for the input Ceara! No fever, I have an appointment with the dentist on Monday. However, from experience I'm fairly certain he'll give me a prescription for antibiotics and say that he can't extract until there is no infection.

I don't fully trust processed antibiotics, so I want to start a course now. That way, when I arrive, I'm in the best condition I can be to proceed with the procedure. Can't stand dentists....

[ceara]

The Heal-All has a reputation of working and supposedly it grows almost everywhere. Personally I think it's a pretty flower. It grows wild all over the place here, even in the lawn, and survives constant mowing. Unfortunately I did not find this out until the end of the season last year, and did not get a chance to try it. But definitely will be trying it in a salve this year.

Salt water is a really good mouth rinse for dental problems and supposed to "draw out" infections but it will make you pucker up with a sour face like a Puritan.

Hope you feel better soon! And if you get stuck taking antibiotics, a cheap one is amoxicillin. I had chronic tonsillitis as a kid and that stuff worked great. Then you can get some pro-biotic yogurt to help rebuild good gut flora.

[mnjrutherford]

It's now 6 days since I wrote the original entry. I ate an herb omelet with a heaping helping of thyme, chives, spinach, and onions. A bit of cheese as well. I let the hot omelet touch the bad tooth by accident and nearly jumped out of my skin. However, the next day I noticed that my tooth was not nearly so sensitive. That as never happened before! Friday was strawberry picking day, Saturday chores all around, Sunday is worship and rest. Each day the tooth is noticeably improved. Sunday on our walk-about, I picked some bee balm and some more thyme. I wanted to root some of the thyme but I also wanted to make a tea with a hefty amount of it as well as some of the bee balm.

I boiled enough water to have a couple mugs worth of tea and put about half an ounce of each of the herbs in after removing the water from the heat. I allowed it to steep, covered, for 10 minutes. After steeping, I added a good bit of honey and drank it down. It was a very nice tea with the most delicate of mint flavor and the wonderful heady aroma and flavor of the thyme dominating.

I went to the dentist on Monday, there is no infection. I've got plenty of cavities and I could afford to get one fixed and he did that. But there was no infection at all. My mouth feels great. I always believed... but this is the first time I have experienced hard core evidence first time. It's an awesome revelation. I've been using herbs for various things in the past, but this is the most in your face healing I've experienced.

I've made a deal for the Prunella Vulgaris "Self-Heal" seed come fall. Thanks for the input!

[bluelacedredhead]

Apr 22, 2010 11:34:50 GMT -5 ceara said:

If you start developing a fever, you should see a doctor right away. Please be careful, especially now that you may have a chicken with an infected foot.

Yeah, don't use that bumblefoot to brush your teeth with

[trixtrax]

I find it strange that dental care is normally separate from "health care" since health often begins from end-to-end in the digestive system. When I had a bad tooth that was eventually removed, I tried myrrh dropped directly into the infection (on my naturopaths direction), and that worked well at lessening pain and slowing infection. It supposedly can sometimes arrest tooth decay, too. Not all myrrh is the same, some are different species, some more palatable than other, you probably want the least palatable one. Yuck, they are all terrible to taste! After the tooth came out, I dropped clove tincture into the wound, which after the sting really calmed things down. Though clove dropped into a tooth infection would probably work well.

Also, I was recently given a tincture of mostly lomatium dissectum, devil's club (Oplopanax horridum), and Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) for maintenance of my digestive health and was told by the woman who made the tincture that another person used the tincture to successfully stop an infection of the gums and that it would be good for mouth infections.

Prunella works for general immune system strength and is good to add to teas as a base flavor. I have used Self-Heal for a nice mouth wash before. It makes me feel so nurtured.

Dicentra formosa (Western Bleeding Heart) is/was used by Native Americans out here in the Pacific NW for toothaches and I am sure other things. From my herbalist friend, it is a very effective toothache stopper. (that's the official term too hahahah) I do not know about the other species. Bleeding Hearts are toxic, but it has been used in traditional medicine for a very long time.

I'm gunning for you. Having tooth aches is the most terrible pain I have ever experienced in my life! May you heal with speed.

I am not a doc either, so I could totally full of horseppoop. Check out what I say with a ND MD, etc etc.

[mnjrutherford]

Apr 28, 2010 19:10:28 GMT -5 trixtrax said:

I find it strange that dental care is normally separate from "health care" since health often begins from end-to-end in the digestive system.

I am not a doc either, so I could totally full of horseppoop. Check out what I say with a ND MD, etc etc.

I so totally concur with your statement regarding dental care as being SEPARATE from medical care. This issue drives many all night sessions of brain chatter.

If you ARE full of horsepoop, you are far more useful than the whole insurance industry. Horse poop is valuable to make things grow. If you were to crush the insurance industry, steep in pure alcohol, and measure the chemistry, I'm sure you would discover it to be one of the most destructive things in the universe.

[trixtrax]

Ah hahaha!

The tincture of insurance industry... would surely make plants wilt and die. Haha

[mnjrutherford]

I sorta picture the insurance industry as one of the aliens from "Dr. Who". The ones that wear zip up the front "human" suits and took over power in Britain. When no one was looking they would zip off the suits and they would bounce out, enormously fat and making HUGE bubbly flatulence. Can't remember the name of the alien species, but that is the insurance industry all over. ;o)

[castanea]

Apr 22, 2010 9:50:45 GMT -5 mnjrutherford said:

I need to know what has the strongest antibiotic properties, and the best way to ingest to make the most of those properties.

I have a badly infected tooth and it's to the point where it is painful to eat and getting worse daily. A course of antibiotics should really do the trick.

Cayenne and vitamin C.

The trick with both is not necessarily to ingest massive quantities at one time, but to have consistent high levels in the bloodstream for extended peiods of time. For example, instead of taking 1 to 4 grams of vitamin C once or twice a day, take 100 mg every hour or every other hour for a few days. Vitamin C has been used in really high doses to cure even polio.

[mnjrutherford]

Apr 30, 2010 8:52:08 GMT -5 castanea said:

Cayenne and vitamin C.

The trick with both is not necessarily to ingest massive quantities at one time, but to have consistent high levels in the bloodstream for extended peiods of time. For example, instead of taking 1 to 4 grams of vitamin C once or twice a day, take 100 mg every hour or every other hour for a few days. Vitamin C has been used in really high doses to cure even polio.

Now that is interesting Castanea! I knew about taking vit C regularly... but more in terms of a single daily dose (which we do). This is a far different notion you have put forth here and I will certainly be giving it a shot.

However, it occurs to me that if one were to dose with the Elderberry wine or jelly, couldn't that provide the source as well as a tablet?

My thinking here is that it would be more earth (and purse) friendly to consume the C in a regular type food rather than a manufactured pill.

As for the cayenne... I think I would rather have a cold! ;D

[mjc]

Cayenne, since most people get it already powdered, is very easy to take...just get some empty gelatin capsules (most health food stores carry them) and fill them with the powdered cayenne.

Vitamin C is water soluble...which basically means it passes through your system rather rapidly. So to have maximum benefit, you need to maintain a certain level within your system. Since it passes so quickly, a large dose at one time won't be around when you are 'ready for more'...it will have already passed to the bladder. A dose every few hours, on the other hand, is about right to keep it at a level where it is being used.

I've noticed that some of the studies that say Vitamin C doesn't do anything are conducted using a large once or twice a day dose.

[castanea]

Apr 30, 2010 10:17:04 GMT -5 mnjrutherford said:

Apr 30, 2010 8:52:08 GMT -5 castanea said:

Cayenne and vitamin C.

The trick with both is not necessarily to ingest massive quantities at one time, but to have consistent high levels in the bloodstream for extended peiods of time. For example, instead of taking 1 to 4 grams of vitamin C once or twice a day, take 100 mg every hour or every other hour for a few days. Vitamin C has been used in really high doses to cure even polio.

Now that is interesting Castanea! I knew about taking vit C regularly... but more in terms of a single daily dose (which we do). This is a far different notion you have put forth here and I will certainly be giving it a shot.

However, it occurs to me that if one were to dose with the Elderberry wine or jelly, couldn't that provide the source as well as a tablet?

My thinking here is that it would be more earth (and purse) friendly to consume the C in a regular type food rather than a manufactured pill.

As for the cayenne... I think I would rather have a cold! ;D

Vitamin C from food sources usually doesn't reach a high enough level in the bloodstream for this purpose. You would have to eat a lot of food continuously. It would be far cheaper to buy supplements. Vit C is usually quite cheap anyway. You have to keep a constant level in your bloodstream which is compicated by the fact that your body continuously excretes it. When animals are sick their bodies manufacture constant levels of vitamin C to combat illness. It is theorized that humans could once do this but lost the ability.

[mnjrutherford]

Thank you gentlemen! This is excellent information. I'll keep it in mind and get some 100 mg C to keep on hand for just this purpose.