WARNING: This treatment is for mild to medium cases of staph. If you fear you have a bad case, go to a physician and get on antibiotics immediately. In my experience, this particular remedy, which was shown to me a long time ago, has worked every time. IT IS NOT FOR PEOPLE WITH COMPROMISED IMMUNE SYSTEMS (HIV, FINAL STAGE HEPATITIS, ETC)
Life on the road is hard, and this is especially true when you are sick or have an infection. What this means is you have to find alternative ways to heal common ailments. Listerine, a very common and relatively inexpensive product, can be used in even the harshest conditions to cure mild to moderate staph if done correctly.
Materials: (amounts depend on the size and severity of the infection, so use your best judgment)
Dr. Joseph Lawrence and Dr. Jordan Wheat Lambert first formulated Listerine as a surgical antiseptic in 1879 and named it for 1st Barron, Dr. Joseph Lister, who is considered the Father of Modern Antiseptic Surgery. Its use helped to reduce the risk of infection after major surgeries by irrigating the wound and cleaning surgical sites. During WWI it was used as a field antiseptic to clean wounds on the battlefield and civilian doctors also used it as an all-purpose antiseptic. Listerine was also being used in dental care because of its antiseptic properties and in 1914 it became the first over-the-counter mouthwash available to the public.
Treatment:
Life on the road is hard, and this is especially true when you are sick or have an infection. What this means is you have to find alternative ways to heal common ailments. Listerine, a very common and relatively inexpensive product, can be used in even the harshest conditions to cure mild to moderate staph if done correctly.
Materials: (amounts depend on the size and severity of the infection, so use your best judgment)
- Original, Yellow Listerine or generic equivalent
- Neosporin, A&D Ointment or generic equivalent (optional, but preferred)
- 4x4 or 2x2 Sterile Gauze for cleaning and dressing
- Paper tape (to adhere gauze)
- Latex Gloves
- Something that will hold at least a gallon of water (optional)
- Bleach (optional)
- Bandana or any other clean surface to work from
Dr. Joseph Lawrence and Dr. Jordan Wheat Lambert first formulated Listerine as a surgical antiseptic in 1879 and named it for 1st Barron, Dr. Joseph Lister, who is considered the Father of Modern Antiseptic Surgery. Its use helped to reduce the risk of infection after major surgeries by irrigating the wound and cleaning surgical sites. During WWI it was used as a field antiseptic to clean wounds on the battlefield and civilian doctors also used it as an all-purpose antiseptic. Listerine was also being used in dental care because of its antiseptic properties and in 1914 it became the first over-the-counter mouthwash available to the public.
Treatment:
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, bleach, hand sanitizer, or some of the Listerine if none of these other things are available. Also, most of us have a few wet-wipes from the last construction-site porto-sans we passed, and those work too.
- Put on a pair of gloves, even if you are doing this on yourself and especially if your nails and hands are caked with layers of train grease, dirt or mud. However, gloves have not always been available to me, and I have never contracted Staph and I have treated at least 20 cases this way over the years.
- Find a clean surface to open your gauze on. It is very important that this stays clean as you will be using it to clean open wounds. I know, hopping trains, sleeping in ditches and building cooking fires, nothing you have is really clean so here is a suggestion:
Take that bandana off your head or off your neck and unfold it. Use the side that was not exposed to the elements as your work bench. In many cases it's the cleanest thing available.
- If you wish, or if the resources are available, you may want to moisten the scabs first to make their removal easier.
To do this:- Find something clean that will hold water and add 3 to 4 cap fulls of bleach to it to make sure it is biologically neutral, meaning that all bacteria in the water, are dead. This is an especially important step if you're using pond or stream water.
- Soak or swab the scabs with the water and bleach mixture until they soften up.
- Find something clean that will hold water and add 3 to 4 cap fulls of bleach to it to make sure it is biologically neutral, meaning that all bacteria in the water, are dead. This is an especially important step if you're using pond or stream water.
- Strip the scabs off of the wound with clean gauze. Throw away each pad after every wipe in one direction.
NOTE: This is not pleasant so if you can obtain a pain killer of some sort (you know what works best for you), it may help.
- After all scabs are striped, scrub the open wound with Listerine. After fully cleaning all puss and debris out of the wound allow it to air dry. Do NOT blot.
- After wounds have been cleaned and dried, dress with Neosporin or equivalent. You don't want to use very much. A light coating will due.
- Lightly bandage the wound. You want air to be able to get to it, but you don't want dirt to get in it. You can't keep out everything, especially on the field, but do the best you can.
NOTE: If the infection is on a place like your back, and you are able, just cover it with a clean white, 100% cotton t-shirt, preferably new, but not necessary. You'll likely end up throwing these away, but a pile of thrift store t-shirts are a lot cheaper than a pile of gauze. If it is on your feet, be sure to get a bag full of clean or new white socks. If you can, keep your feet out of boots and expose your socked feet to the air as much as possible.
- The first time you clean the wound check for any discharge penetrating the gauze. You might have to change your bandage from every two to six hours for the first day until you see a clearly identifiable, blood discharge.
- At the point where the wound can go six to eight hours reasonably between cleanings and you see noticeable progress, you can revise the procedure by doing it more lightly and just dabbing some Listerine and Neosporin on the new scabs that are free of infection. Healing rate is anywhere between 3-10 days depending upon the severity of the wound.
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