Children on Repeated Antibiotics are more Prone to Fungal Infections

When on antibiotics my son would very often have skin rashes (fungal yeast infections) around his rear end. In addition, he was always getting athletes foot and plantar warts, which are also fungal infections. Thrush is also a common fungal infection found in children continually on antibiotics and I thank God that he never had a problem with thrush (a fungal a yeast infection in the mouth).

When I started learning about natural cures, I noticed that his stomach upset and fungal rashes disappeared when giving Lactobacillus Acidophilus along with his antibiotics. Acidophilus is a naturally occurring friendly flora that replenishes the good intestinal flora that the antibiotics have destroyed. It is important to supplement with a brand that contains at least 1.5 billion live cells and make sure you take it with milk or yogurt otherwise it is killed by stomach acid and never makes it to the intestines where it is needed to suppress fungal infections and candida yeast overgrowth.

When educating myself about natural cures, I also learned that fungal infections (yeast infections) thrive on sugar, so removing and cutting back on sugar and white bread (simple carbs = sugar in the body) helped relieve his symptoms and helped to prevent fungal infections.

Today he is free from earaches, allergies, and sinus infections and he is no longer on repeated antibiotics, but he still has had some trouble with plantar’s warts. Warts are very stubborn fungal infections and I tried all different kinds of treatments, wasted a lot of money and finally found a combination of two natural remedies that work rather well.

Before discussing the remedies, I want to talk about the diet. In addition to eliminating sugar, adding natural sea salt to the diet will help kill the warts. They hate salt and the salt reduces body acidity making the body more alkaline. Warts can't survive in an alkaline environment. Another supplement Lysine taken orally is an amino acid that helps the immune system fend off warts and fungal infections. I also found a couple of topical products that have lysine in them, but they were too pricey.

First, I tried topical fresh garlic and it does kill warts effectively that is if you can sit still for hours on end without walking around. The problem is, “What kid can sit still?”

The garlic kept slipping off the wart area and killing the good skin around the wart. Plus it stinks to high heaven. If you don’t mind the smell and you can sit still all day long than this is the treatment for you! It was too much of a hassle for me, though.

I bought a very expensive wart treatment with a money back guarantee that did not work. I was very disappointed when I got the bottle and it was tea tree oil, because I had already tried tea tree oil and it did not work because I could never soak it & apply oil 4 times a day-I just could not DO IT! Although it did make the wart smaller it was too slow, because I had trouble following it due to time constraints.

Next, I tried Salicylic Acid Band-Aids, which seemed to work very slowly. This was costing me big bucks! The Band-Aids by Dr. Scholl’s are expensive and the cheaper off brand are not strong enough and did not work.

I never tried the burn or freeze off method because his friend when to the doctor and was left with gaping holes and the warts spread 12 to 1.

Since the tea tree seemed to work somewhat and the salicylic acid worked slowly, I combined them both and found that it works rather well.

Here is what I did:

First, I put the Salicylic Acid (aspirin) Band-Aids and taped them on with medical tape to keep air away from wart and to keep them from slipping off the wart, because my son is very active.

After waiting 2 days initially (once daily after that), I removed the Band-Aid and pealed off as much dead skin as possible, a pumice stone works well for this. Careful it may bleed a little when scraping off the skin because some of the wart will come off with it, so have some sterile gauze ready.

Put 4 to 5 drops of tea tree oil directly on wart, wait 5 minutes and Soak in hot water (with epsoms salts) 15-20 minutes or for large warts you can use 2-3 crushed aspirin in the water instead (water needs to be as hot as you can tolerate).

Dry the foot and scrape off dead skin again, apply 3-4 drops of tea tree oil wait 5 minutes then place another Salicylic Acid Band-Aid on the wart and tape it on good wrapping it with medical tape. Make sure to go around a few times so its air tight and to prevent the bandaid from slipping off of the wart.

I do this at night only, however, if you do this am and pm it will speed the healing time by half.

HINT: You may want to scrape it a few times and reapply tea tree oil, soak, and repeat 3-4 times the first few treatments because there is usually a lot of skin and callous around and over the wart, which prevents the tea tree oil from penetrating the wart. When the wart is big and after tea tree oil treatment you will see the wart start to separate a little from surrounding tissue and even protrude above the skin trying to escape the devastating effects of the tea tree oil. It looks a little weird , but it made a believer out of me!

CAUTION: TEA TREE OIL full strength can and will burn the skin so apply it directly to the Wart ONLY!

Helpful TIPS: Use an eye dropper and apply 3-4 drops. I use a sticky bandaid for Corns the kind with a hole in the center to keep the oil from getting on the surrounding skin. I also apply vitamin E oil to the skin around the bandaid in case the bandaid leaks, which has been my experience. Vitamin E oil or vaseline dilutes the tea tree oil so it does not burn the skin.

My sons warts were gone in one month with this method and he had 3 warts total, one large and two medium sized warts. So far he has not had any other fungal infections in over five years using all-natural cures contained on this website, please visit my home page for more natural cures information!

For large warts it could take 1-2 months to be totally wart free. Tea tree oil and Salicylic Acid combination is the only way I know to remove warts without having scars afterwards! I am told that warts only have a 2 year life cycle and will die eventually, if you don't mind having plantars warts then you could wait it out. However, they can spread and when the get big they are often painful.

It is worth trying natural wart removal before going to a doctor to have them burned or frozen off. My niece has some awful looking scars.

Visit http://www.teatreewonders.com for more information on the many benefits of tea tree oil. A friend of mine was able to get rid of canker sores by gargling with water and a couple drops of tea tree oil. Tea tree oil can be used for a variety of different fungal infections and teatreewonders.com does a very good job explaining various applications for tea tree oil.

Fungal Infections & Antibiotic Overuse

Warning! When you see the wart separating from the skin, it is very tempting to just pull it out. I did this to one of my sons warts. It is a very quick method, however, plantars warts are very painful and they bleed profusely when pulled. If you do this you must keep reapplying the tea tree oil for 7-14 days after pulling it (give it 2 days to heal a little first), because if any speck remains it will probably grow back unawares such was the case with my son.

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A Sweet Way to Soothe Skin Infections | Bastyr Center for Natural ...

http://www.bastyrcenter.org/content/view/443/

A Sweet Way to Soothe Skin Infections A mixture of honey, olive oil, and beeswax may help heal fungal infections of the skin, according to Complementary Therapies in Medicine (2004;12:45–7). The same mixture has also been used successfully to treat other skin conditions including eczema and psoriasis. Fungal infections of the skin can cause discomfort and unsightly rashes. The affected areas may be itchy, blotchy, blistered, or red. Some fungal infections are spread from animals to humans; they may also be transferred from person to person, or from one body part to another. Warm, moist areas (such as the groin region or between the toes) give infection-causing fungi a perfect environment in which to grow and thrive. Long-term use of corticosteroid-containing medications like prednisone also increase the risk of developing fungal infections. People with HIV disease and diabetes are particularly prone to certain fungal skin infections. Fungi are known to increase the production of inflammatory substances in the skin. Most of these infections can be treated with over-the-counter topical medicated creams and lotions such as miconazole (Micatin™). For more severe conditions, stronger drugs may be prescribed such as oral fluconazole (Diflucan™). Fluconazole is associated with some serious side effects including liver damage, seizures, and rashes. Honey has been shown to inhibit the growth of bacteria, yeast, and fungi. It also speeds wound healing and contains substances known to protect cells. Olive oil and beeswax both contain compounds that have anti-inflammatory actions in the body. The current study examined the effect of a topical application of a honey, olive oil, and beeswax mixture on fungal infections of the skin. Four different infections were studied, including tinea versicolor (an infection that causes blotchiness), tinea corporis (also known as ringworm), tinea cruris (jock itch), and tinea facialis (ringworm of the face). Thirty-seven people completed the four-week trial. Participants were instructed to apply a mixture of equal parts of pure honey, cold-pressed olive oil, and beeswax to the affected areas three times per day. The amounts of redness, scaling, pain or burning, and itching were assessed before the study, weekly during the study, and four weeks after its completion. Fungi presence was evaluated by examining skin scrapings under the microscope at the same intervals. The participants were considered cured when their symptoms became mild or disappeared and when no fungi were visible on microscopic examination. After treatment with the honey mixture, 79% of the people with tinea versicolor, 71% of those with tinea cruris, and 62% of those with tinea corporis were cured of their infections. The one participant with tinea facialis was also cured after four weeks of treatment. The results were maintained four weeks after use of the honey mixture was discontinued. The mixture used in this study is not yet commercially available; however, it may be made easily at home by combining equal parts of melted beeswax with pure olive oil and raw honey. Adding a few drops of vitamin E oil will increase the shelf-life of the product. Kimberly Beauchamp, ND, received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island and her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA. She is a co-founder and practicing physician at South County Naturopaths, Inc., in Wakefield, RI. Dr. Beauchamp teaches holistic medicine classes and provides consultations focusing on detoxification and whole-foods nutrition. Copyright © 2004 Healthnotes, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of the Healthnotes® content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Healthnotes, Inc. Healthnotes Newswire is for educational or informational purposes only, and is not intended to diagnose or provide treatment for any condition. If you have any concerns about your own health, you should always consult with a healthcare professional. Healthnotes, Inc. shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. HEALTHNOTES and the Healthnotes logo are registered trademarks of Healthnotes, Inc.