permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

Treesa Jane Rogerson wrote:
> Dr Andrew Weil suggested what intuition did as a kid.
> HE says when it is bad, and itching crazy, after it has already become a rash:
> Expose the affected area to hot running water, as hot as can stand it.
> You'll experience a skin-gasm that will feel so satisfying yet itch like
> crazy for just a moment.   What you are doing is overloading the nerves
> sending the 'itch' message to the brain.  The relief will last many hours
> after the hot water, and scrathcing will not be a temptation at all.  When
> it starts up again, go back to the hot water.  With repeated and
> conscientous hot water application it was maybe 2 showers a day or 3 when
> worst), the nerves will exhaust themselves and the healing cycle will finish
> sooner.

Repeat this procedure several times each day, or as often as necessary.

1) Do the hot water thing as described above
2) Immediately afterward dry off with paper towel then
apply, if you have it, fresh juicy stalks of Jewelweed
(mash them up directly onto the rash - drip the juice,
try to contain it over the affected area and let it dry -
it will seem to glaze over and form a coating.
3) Lightly dust the rash-covered area with powdered goldenseal
4) Take some handflls of fresh comfrey and, using a wooden mallet
and a wooden board, mash/macerate the comfrey into a poultice and apply it as a 
compress over top the goldenseal. Wrap entire area with strips of cloth.

IF uncomfortable itching begins again, clean everything off the rash and start 
over following the entire procedure 1) through 4).

Jewelweed may be all that is necessary but more will probably be needed if the 
rash is bad and itching is bad (likely during the initial stages of the 
inflammation). Jewelweed and comfrey alone may do the trick also.

Optional medications that could be applied in addition to 2) through 4):

5) Vitamin E capsules (food grade oil-soluble as vitamin) opened and squeezed 
onto rash

6) Never heard of this or tried it but I wonder if red pepper (maybe the 99000
Scovile Unit kind or the milder 33000SU) might offer relief from itching.

I have tried Jewelweed and it works great, relieves a lot of the itching and 
promotes rapid healing; cuts several days off healing time.

7) Cortisone cream (prescription variety) - will knock it out and may be 
required in really severe cases - see a doctor first - overuse of cortisone
will make you feel sick as hell

LL
--
L.F.London
lfl@intrex.net
http://market-farming.com
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/pcwiki/index.php/london