 My topical garlic treatment
What gave me the most relief so far is application of garlic to the skin. I did this when I was in the "swarming" stage.
I've used garlic extensively over the years for skin infections and cuts and immediately thought it would work for skin infestation. Garlic is a natural anti-microbial and antibacterial among other things. My treatment may not be for everyone, so approach this with caution.
Grated raw garlic on the skin will eventually burn the skin, so the trick is to know when to get it off you. I did the treatment below for 3 consecutive days in a row. Each time I got bolder leaving the garlic on for longer periods of time. This won't kill them in the long-run but if you are tearing your skin apart or feel like you are losing your mind, it will definitely offer relief. Please make sure to read my warnings!
Recipe: Take 5 big, fat cloves of garlic and grate them fine. Add this to warm water (about half a cup to a full cup) with about a tsp. of sea salt and a few drops of eucalyptus oil (Note: I have tried it without the sea salt and it didn't seem as effective as with it. Also, I only added the eucalyptus for extra punch. I'm sure if you have tea tree oil, lavender, or other essential oil it would be fine and if you don't have any, don't sweat it. I don't think the oils are really the force behind this).
• Do this in an empty tub. CAREFULLY spread it all over the body starting at the feet. Do not rub vigorously this would be too intense. Be VERY conscious if you do this. No splashing the garlic and water around. You do not want to get this in your eyes. I'm not sure if you got it in the eyes what it could do to you.
• Work your way up the body wetting the hair down with it at the end and only then put* a light coating on the face and eyebrows (If you are comfortable with that). I found it burned the most on my face which feels very vulnerable; be ready at a moments notice to get it off any part of you that feels too intense.
• I left the mixture on the first time for only a few moments. You will feel it burning. If you can stay with the burn, you might actually find it pleasurable because in some way it feels like it is burning them off you. If it gets suddenly too hot for comfort, rinse with cool or lukewarm water. Hot water will feel bad.
My suggestion is to do a test-run with this before doing the whole body. You might even want to attempt to do your hair and face separate from the full body wash, so that you aren't overwhelmed.
You need to figure out how long to leave it on. If I were doing this again, I'd leave it for 2 minutes and rinse off. See how you feel. I did this treatment for 3 consecutive days in a row. The first time I only left it on a few moments. By the third treatment, emboldened, I left it on to dry before rinsing. This was a VERY big mistake. Do not do this. You will burn your skin. It took my skin 2 weeks to recover.
This is a pretty drastic treatment. I admit it. However, it did make me feel human again and from that point on, I could use gentler methods topically.
I have heard of people mixing garlic in olive oil and slathering it on. I have not tried this. My concern with this is if it starts to get too intense, you'll have a heck of a time getting the oil off and believe me, you'll want it off fast.
Also, I have heard of someone who did a similar thing with olive oil and garlic and then having difficulty breathing to the point of needing to go to the hospital. You do not want this to happen. She attributes this to whatever was on her moving deeper into her lungs. She smoked natural tobacco in the end for relief of breathing problems and was fine. I did not have a problem with breathing also, my pores weren't sealed with oil.
If anyone does this, let me know the results.  |