“Sarah was about eight when she was unfortunate enough to receive two bee stings at the same time. We were traveling, and I didn’t happen to have my charcoal with me, so we didn’t do anything at the time. In a couple of hours we were home, and she was no longer complaining. However, by bedtime she said she didn’t feel very good and her bones ached. I took her temperature. It was somewhat elevated but I don’t remember how much. It took a few minutes to figure out that she was having a reaction to the stings, but when I realized what it was, I put charcoal paste (just charcoal powder and a bit of water) and a band-aid on each of the sting sites. I also gave her one heaping teaspoon of powder in a glass of water to drink. She said her prayers and went to bed. When I checked on her later, her temperature was down, and she was feeling normal again.”

Living in the country does expose one to more of nature’s insect traffic. Living in the country also tends to make people a little more independent. Because of time and distance to city services people often learn to wait and innovate. Natural remedies like charcoal fit very well with country living. But, come a long weekend, and countless thousands of city dwellers leave the city limits behind to visit their country cousins and enjoy the wide open spaces for themselves. Natural remedies like charcoal fit very well with city campers too.

Pauline and Leo are a case in point. Pauline’s familiarity of charcoal as a medicinal comes from her work as head nurse in her hospital emergency room setting. However, many emergencies are better dealt with right where they happen. Not long ago, Leo and Pauline purchased a property, at some distance from the city, and began clearing it for their new home. Pauline writes:

“This past Monday Joshua, our six -year old, got stung on his ear by a honeybee. He screamed and screamed. We knew that he has been very sensitive to bug bites, and were concerned that he might have an anaphylactic reaction. While I tried to calm him, Leo went over to the fire pit where we had had a recent fire, and he got a piece of charcoal. He quickly ground it up and made it pasty with some water. We plastered that on Joshua’s ear. He was still screaming up to that point, but soon after the charcoal was applied, he calmed down. The swelling stopped and he had no other bad affects after that.”

It is understandable that working in an ER, where medicinal charcoal is always available, would make it easy for Pauline to forget to take some with her camping. However, in an emergency, the primitive form of charcoal is still a very good first aid.

As an ounce of prevention for the unforeseen, those who know they are always at risk from severe reactions to insect bites should always have charcoal with them. It’s too late to go buy a fire extinguisher when your house is burning. Those who know also tell us that most people who die in fires had no emergency plans. Charcoal will be a part of any well-thought out emergency preparedness, whether one lives in the country or the city or ..... desert island.

    

Your Stories

We want to thank the many who have shared their personal testimonies with us and apologize that we are unable to post all of them. Each are a witness to the efficacy of activated charcoal as a simple natural remedy for a wide number of conditions - for people and for pets. We would invite you to the Your Stories pages to read some of the many touching stories we receive regularly. We have included a number of stories from April, May, and June.

Abscessed Tooth
"Greetings ! Thought I would tell you about something that I deal with off and on. I have a tooth that has had a root canal and needs the crown put on. Due to my procrastination and the considerable cost of a crown I have put this off. Now and then this tooth will begin bothering me. Intending to make an appointment for a crown, I go ahead and temporarily deal the ache by emptying a tea bag of it's tea, filling it with charcoal, wetting it, and then putting it beside my gum near the aching tooth. It works ....quickly. I know, I do need to go and have this taken care of, and I will, but the ready fix is very welcome. Secondly, last week I travelled out of state. I try to always carry charcoal with me. My friend and I bought ice cream from a well known ice cream shop. In about an hour we were both nearly doubled over in stomach/intestinal pain. We both took a charcoal caplet [capsule] and were very quickly fine again."
Linda
April, 2008

Pedro learned about charcoal not long ago and quickly began experimenting with its many benefits. He writes from France how charcoal has helped with two of his mother's afflictions (she is a nurse). English is a third language for Pedro:

Eye Pad
"I would like first to present some testimonies about charcoal: 1) Your Eye Pad is worth it. I was worried when my mother was loosing sight and thought to a inter tumor somewhere against one of her eyes (she has diabetes). But from the day she received and use the Eye Pad up to now, the pain surrounding her eyes is leaving and little by little she again can read Bible letters.

Tooth Abscess 
"My mother suffered also from abscess. She had infection and constant pain. The dentist had set an appointment already between weeks to take off 6 of her teeth. That urgent was it. Then I read in your site the recommendation of Dr. Dana on tooth abscess with the tea bag [put charcoal from a capsule into an emprty tea bag] . And after trying that, my mother tried each time one whole capsule on both sides by the offending teeth, even without tea bag. That worked even quicker as the capsule where placed. The pain was relieving so rapidly with al that doings. Arriving by the dentist for him do his job -taking off teeth-, he was astonished, because there was no infection, no abscess and even no probability for these problems to occur again. And that's how my mother preserved 6 of her teeth that are now healty, thanks to the amazing charcoal our God have provided." 
Pedro 
France 
April, 2008

"Thanks for getting this (Colic Calm) shipped so fast!! It is really helping my sister with her new twins. You made me a hero by getting this to her so quickly. Have a great weekend!"

"Yes, it (FREE-dHEM) did work, thank you. The relief is not 100 percent with one treatment, but neither is it so with his prescription medicines. I plan on ordering more and will confer with you as to the recommended frequency of use in order to improve the level of relief. Thank you!"

Wound Dressings
"I am an RN, CWCN (certified wound care nurse) and have used charcoal to clean up necrotic wounds. I have mixed charcoal and ground up flax seed with great success, and read how someone had used ground psyllium seed also with success, and will try that too. Of course, I can’t use charcoal when I am treating someone in the hospital even though dressings are made with charcoal in them.
Linda
April, 2008

Licken Simplex Chronicus - Severe Itching
"I was very hot all the time much more so than anyone that I worked with in my office job for years. It was quite unbearable because everyone else was cold. So I had multi acupuncture treatments to supposedly help this situations but where 2 different needles had been placed on my left ankle on the inside I became so itchy, it was driving me crazy. I was finally diagnosed by my medical doctor with Licken Simplex Chronicus which is usually caused by insect bites. All the medical doctors want to do is to get a person to use cortisone cream. I chose to try charcoal poultices instead and am very thankful that I have done so. I have had relief for a few months and have just started to use these charcoal poultices again. I am so thankful for charcoal."
Jean in Red Deer,
Alberta, Canada
Apr 2008

Editor's note: The relief from itchiness with activated charcoal experienced by Jean has been well documented in the relief of another itchy condition called "Pruritis" associated with liver and kidney disease. Read abstract: Institute of Clinical Medicine I, University of Pisa, Italy Conclusion: "It is concluded that activated charcoal per os [by mouth] is a safe, effective, and low-cost therapy for patients with uremic pruritus, but its mechanism of action is unknown."

Lyme Disease
"I have Lyme Disease. LD treatment is worse than the disease itself. It requires high dose antibiotics and that creates a die-off of lyme toxins. My Lyme Md recommended activated charcoal to adsorb the "die off" (which turns to ammonia and creates pain) I have NEVER in my life seen anything like this substance, what a miracle! I am recommending Activated Charcoal at forums to Lyme patients who suffer and need detoxing that is safe. I was soooooo skeptical, but I have been made a believer. My son also with LD, was so sick from "die off" I was going to take him to the hospital, I gave him AC and within hours started to return to "normal" within 4 days he was completely himself again. My husband had a drug interaction, I gave him AC within 30 minutes he was fine. It eliminates nausea, creates clearer thinking ...I can't name it all. I have my own Lyme website www.truthaboutlymedisease.com and have done thousands of hours of study regarding lyme and detoxing and never heard of AC until my Lyme Md told us about it. All I can say is AMAZING!!"
Dana
May, 2008

Ovarian Cyst
"I wanted to let you know that I used charcoal capsules for my ovarian "golfball" size cist. I took the capsules for 3 days, 3 times a day, 2 pills, and at the end of the 3rd day, my ovarian pain was gone. I have just had an ultrasound to confirm the size and was told to go back in 2 months to see how the cists was doing. I have had cists for the past 15 years and Dr.s say there is no answer except if they open up, you need to go to the emergency room for pain meds. A friend told me to try this and he was correct. It actually worked!!! I now don't have to say no to golf or all my other activities. I use to have to stop running or whatever spots I was doing, so as to make sure the cists did not burst. Now, thank God, I can live a normal active healthy life... I can actually plan an event,,, and attend. What a relief to have your life back again!!!!! It's an answer to alot of prayers.”
Martiele
May, 2008

Severely Infected Wound
Fred called looking for a granular charcoal for the homemade water filter he wants to make. But he also familiar with using charcoal medicinally. Here is another amazing story of healing using charcoal in conjunction with other well known healing herbs.

"My wife tripped and fell on the tines of a rototiller giving herself a severe gash to the bone. She is a severe diabetic. After treating the wound for 3 days she called from work to tell me something was wrong and her leg was very painful. The leg had swelled up very quickly, became red and inflamed and oozed gobs of pus. I brought her home and  packed the wound with golden seal and slippery elm, and wrapped the entire area with a charcoal poultice made from crushed charcoal and water. By the next day the wound was on the way to healing."

Fred
Virginia
May, 2008

Varicose Ulcer
After reading our article on Varicose ulcers in our February Issue of CharcoalTimes, Deb decided to try Activated Charcoal for her husband's varicose ulcer.

"Hi, Just wanted to thank you for the quick mailing of the charcoal. I needed it quickly and was very pleasantly surprised to receive it yesterday. I made a poultice last night, for my husband’s varicose ulcer that has been very slow to heal and he kept it on all night. This morning the healing was already evident and we are very thrilled. Thanks for being there. Will be recommending your company to everyone I know."

Deb  
Alabama
June, 2008

Lida, "I got a box of powdered charcoal. How do I use it to cure gum disease, or even just for cleansing my mouth at night?"

Lida wrote back, "I thank you so much for helping with this. It really works! I feel more comfortable with my mouth now! I used a teaspoon of a activated charcoal powder. Put it into a big cup of water. Brushed my teeth with it. And yes, dipped my toothbrush in it too. Did it 3x daily.

"I have been having a bad taste and a burning mouth or tongue feelings for some years now. Have been to the dentist, used strong mouth washer, it helped a little. But only for some hours. Brushed my teeth nearly every time I eat. Used toothpicks and zinc tablets, it helped too, but only for a short time. But after using activated powder i really felt a big difference in my mouth. I have been feeling better for a week now, ever since I started using it. Feel more comfortable with my mouth now. I'm really glad about it, coz it's terrible to suffer from bad breath when one works and talks to people everyday.
I really thank you so much."
Sincerely Lida