Fred's Foot Infection

Fred, our 81 year-old friend, had a sore on his foot that became infected about 3 weeks ago. That's where this saga begins. His foot was slightly swollen, with what looked like an infected corn that had been aggravated by being rubbed against with his shoe. First step, change the shoe so the corn is no longer aggravated.

Second, clean the infected area really well. He used hydrogen peroxide. Then Fred spread moistened clay on the sore, hoping the clay would pull out the infected matter and then it would heal.

He called me a few days later. He was keeping the clay on his foot at all times. His foot was now swollen, toes swollen, hot, and very tender to the touch. Now, I'm not a doctor, or trained nurse, or trained anything but a wild food forager who has read a lot about herbal and alternative medicines. I didn't have any suggestions, really, but it seemed to me that the clay treatment wasn't doing much for him. I suggested letting the clay dry out a bit, see if that changed things.

Fred then decided to try using activated charcoal on the sore. Activated charcoal can be used as a compress on wounds, so it seemed a worthy idea to me. And the foot seemed a bit better, but not really healing. I brought over plantain tincture to see if that would help. So Fred used a few drops of the plantain tincture with the charcoal. The foot started looking worse.

Oh dear. In fact, the next day, his foot looked so bad I told him to call a doctor or that I'd take him to emergency or the walk-in clinic. I told him it was far out of my ken or abilities at this point. But Fred is very stubborn and dislikes the allopathic medical system as much as I do. Besides, the medicos charge an arm and a leg for those without insurance. We joked that at this point, Fred might well lose a foot to them. Hah. As much as I dislike the system, I argued with Fred that he needed some professional help at this point. I said I'd settle for him calling Anna, a nurse who lives in the valley. And I said that if a red line started up his leg from the sore on his foot he was in big trouble and then must go to a doctor.

I called Anna. She went over that night and also told him to get to a doctor or the clinic, but that she didn't think the infection was systemic or in the blood (yet). Fred still refused to go to a doctor. She told him to keep his foot elevated, so he did.

Next day I went and gathered plantain leaves. We soaked his foot in Epsom salts, then put on a plantain leaf poultice, and stopped with the charcoal, clay, and plantain tincture. Finally, his foot swelling went down, the foot became less red and hot and Fred became a bit more comfortable. But the sore still wouldn't heal. In the midst of all this, regular life went on of course. I had lots of home and garden chores, food preservation to accomplish, meals to cook, rooms to clean, work to do. Anna also came by a few times and said she thought Fred's foot was getting better.

But I kept fretting about it. I remembered reading somewhere that raw honey was effective on wounds of all kinds as an antibiotic dressing. I quickly did a bit of research, and then Fred and I put a small amount of pure raw honey on the sore. Fred said that at first it stings, then it feels better. He still would get shooting pains from the foot occasionally, but the honey was helping the sore to heal.

And that's where we were yesterday when we went to the Amish as we normally do on Saturdays for our "pet food," and other produce. While there, we asked Lydia if she could think of anything else we could try. Lydia's niece and nephew were visiting and helping out because Joaz had been ill. Lydia's niece (also named Lydia) said to try the tonic bitters that her parents make. She said it can heal sores and is very useful in any number of ways. This tonic bitters is made by the recipe for Swedish Bitters. So Lydia gave us about an ounce of what she had and we made arrangements to purchase some from the niece next week. I've also found the recipe at the link above, but it would take time to gather the herbs and other ingredients.

So we get Fred home and soaked a gauze pad with some of the bitters and put that on the sore. By this time, with the plantain leaves and the raw honey, Fred's foot was looking almost better, but still a bit swollen and warm to the touch. Fred agreed that he'd alternate using the raw honey and the bitters and see what that does. He had the bitters as a dressing last night and reported that his foot hurt all night. I suggested he use the honey at night instead, as the honey helps with the pain.

So, what's with this long, drawn-out story, HM? I've told you all these details to show a picture of what many of us might have to deal with IF there is no medical system for us to rely on (and complain about or avoid). There will be many people dealing with situations outside of their limited medical experience in a time of chaos or disruption of normal life. This somewhat confusing story presents some ideas you might find useful in the future. This saga of Fred's foot isn't over yet, but I think we're past the danger point. It'll heal, if slowly. There are no miracle herbs or tonics--although at times some herbs and tonics can seem a miracle.

So far, the raw honey has worked the best. In this case, I don't think the clay or activated charcoal helped much, although both are excellent treatments for other situations. Here you have two people basically stumbling around trying to figure out what to do, what might work. And both Fred and I have read extensively about alternative health treatments and medicine. We have ideas of what might work, not what WILL work. And that's not bad, at least since this situation wasn't life-threatening. We came up with other ideas, a garlic foot bath, for instance. (Before I googled it, I didn't know that bit about a garlic foot bath helping the lungs clear from mucus!)

I'm sure this post doesn't show me in the best light--but that's good. It is TOO easy to think that someone is an "expert" because they are a bit knowledgable about a subject. I've always said in this blog that I'm a beginner, an amateur, more a forager than an herbalist. In the future, however, I expect that many of us will be called upon to stretch our skills and learning, and by stretching, to become more skilled. The doctors I have respected most are those who still consider themselves students, that is, they are still learning.

Who was it who said that the more you learn, the more you learn that there is ALWAYS more to learn?

I'd love to hear from any of you who have dealt with stubborn infections, especially in the elderly. Thanks for tuning in...

HM