# ReallyDeep Boils? Anyone with experience?



## Serena

Ok guys I dont talk much but I read lots and now come to y'all for input on my own issue finally. 

My DH gets boils from time to time... ouchy but managable. 
About 2 weeks ago he had one come up on his back that got HUGE. silver dollar sized, no head and horribly excrucuatingly painful. He went to the doc and they lanced it and discovered it is really deap(inch or so) you know the big medical q tip things? its deaper than the cotton end and a little bigger around depth wise. They packed it with gauze(6 inches or so yuck) and he has been going in every day to get repacked and has been on Doxycycline(sp?) last night it started hurting more like it originally had... when he went in today instead of getting better like it had it was back to about the original size and lots of yuck in it again. Today they switched him to Flagy 500mg 4 times a day. Has anyone else had this happen? They think it is Staph or Strep and are saying its not MRSA. I'm worried sick....... hes in a lot of pain and now it seems its not going AWAY...... 

Serena


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## Cheribelle

I do know something about this! My Dad had them for years. Just every now and then, but it went on for years. He had them lanced, he suffered, he had surgery to remove the "root" he tried prescriptions, everything he could. Well, my sister is into herbal medicine and stuff, got him to try Essiac tea. The boils finally stopped. He orders a capsule on line, and takes one every day. This is the ONLY time I have ever seen him stick to something! He says as long as he takes 1 Essiak (different company, same herbs) capsule a day, the boils have not returned in several years. 
Get some! I know how miserable he is!


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## Alice In TX/MO

Be VERY careful. Do not press on it or try any home remedies at this time. Take all the antibiotics.

My hubby got the germs into his bloodstream and his kidneys failed.


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## paulaswolfpack

I get them all the time asked the dr. and he told me to try a drawing salve you can buy at the drug store the one that I bought is called, SMILE'S PRID a all natural drawing salve I put it on 3 times a day and in a couple of days it has always done the trick even works on ingrown nails.
I comes in a small round orange tin canister and cost about $6.00 hope it helps,paula
and it is made in ST.Louis


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## Serena

Yeah.. I aint touchin that nasty thang..... Its mucho bandaged and covered to protect it....

Rose- hes been looked over quite a bit and nothing found, ruled out diabeetes, high blood pressure, vitamin deficiency...etc. Hes a healthy ox most of the time.. He gets them usually on his armpits and inner thighs.. theres a name for it but I cant remember... He is a Diesel mechanic on the Kodiaks and some days no matter how hard he tries he gets soaked head to toe in some nasty gunk... lately hes had to work on the ground a lot... probably why this is popping up on his back. They are telling him its pretty much a zit that didnt form a head and turned into a boil... expect its really bad. *gag*. the last time he had a health issue they ran every test under the sun and all came back clear. 

Alice....THATS why Im scared. Hes had a few boughts of chills though no fever that hes noticed, part of why they upped his antibitics today. So far its not getting worse... just not better. 

Paula.... I tried that stuff before it got really bad and it didnt do anything. I sure wish it had helped. 


Im just scared and worried.... I love that big ox...


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## naturelover

The Smiles Prid salve is only suitable for superficial boils. It won't draw the core out.

Now I'm not suggesting you do this, just passing the information along.

My mom used to treat loggers who got huge deep boils like that. It is called a *carbuncle* when it gets like that, which is a cluster of smaller boils all together in one place under the skin. Very nasty. She would make a poultice from slippery elm powder and put that over top of the dressing. The slippery elm draws the infection and the core of each boil in the cluster out and up into the dressing.

.


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## Cheribelle

That really sounds Exactly like what Dad USED to go through. It would put him in bed for 2 weeks, and he's normally healthy as a horse. I'm definitley not saying don't take the scripts, but really do try the Essiac. He went to many doctors and tried many things, seriously. He had like 2 a year, for 20 years.


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## Humburger

Sugar or honey will draw it out, too. My dad had a big hole that would not heal on his back and his friend, who is a retired doctor, told him about the sugar. He said doctors, if they even know about it, won't tell you, because it is too simple and free. So, my mom started filling the cavity with sugar and putting a bandage over it. What the doctors worked on, unsuccessfully, for many months, was fixed in two weeks with the sugar.

Of course, I would not stop taking the antibiotics.


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## Tiempo

Sugar draws very well, we use it on the horses.


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## Carolyn

I have a cousin that gets the horrible boils--cysts. It started on her face when she was about 19 or 20-way past puberty-they were big, big ugly things. It has happened on and off during her life, sometimes the doctors would lance them also and pack them. She is having a bad bout right now. She has doctored all her life-I think she will 60 or 61 in Feb. She is going to another specialist now, but she is having problems with her liver right now. Don't know if the 2 are connected, but I have seen them, they are horrible!! I will have to pass on the info from this forum to her, I am sure she will try anything. When she is stressed, lack of sleep seem to contribute to her condition. Good Luck.


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## farmwoman59

Have you tried Tea Tree Oil? My husband has boils in his armpit area and inner thighs. When there is the first sign of one I start rubbing tea tree oil on it several times a day and they usually go away. You can find TTO at Walmart.


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## debmal1

How do they know it's not MRSA? The only way to know for sure is to culture it. They then can test what antibiotics are non-resistant to it. I battled MRSA for 2 yrs. and finally Levaquin knocked it out. 14 pills $400.00 but it worked thank God.


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## Serena

UPDATE: they changed his antibitoics again... to Bactrim. Results so far of the culture are a form of Staph that is uncommon and they dont normally see and is ver slow growing. Stupid me forgot the name... dangit. I really wanted to research it before we go in tommorow for his repacking *gag*. Doc says its not major and the Bactrim shouldwork pretty quickly *HOPE*. Now the culture is showing two other bugs but they are even more slow growing and they arent for sure what they are yet.... at least thats what a gathered from a fast chat with the doc........


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## Alice In TX/MO

Bactrim is good stuff. They put hubby on that when he had peritonitis.


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## Serena

I found the name! Staphylococcus lugdunensis
Im not having much luck finding info in regular Engrish though.....


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## Alice In TX/MO

Good grief, I haven't heard of that strain.

Staphylococcus lugdunensis is a member of the genus Staphylococcus, consisting of Gram-positive bacteria with spherical cells that appear in clusters. It was first described in 1988 and was recorded as a cause of serious human infections such as endocarditis, osteomyelitis, and septicaemia. It occurs as a commensal on human skin. In the past it was frequently misidentified as S. hominis, S. aureus, or other species.

S. lugdunensis may produce a bound coagulase (that is, the enzyme is bound to the cells), a property which it shares with S. aureus, but unlike S. aureus it does not produce a free coagulase. In the laboratory it can give a positive slide-coagulase test but a negative tube-coagulase test.


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## Sumer

Be glad its not MRSA. Be very very glad.


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## Joshie

Did they culture it? I hope they did _before_ they started the antibiotics. I'm glad that he's going in regularly to have it packed. If it continues to worsen or not get better I'd ask for a referral to an infectious disease doc. These things can be quite serious.


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## glazed

Here is some information I found ... the PDF link may be the more detailed.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC153917/

http://jcm.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/29/3/419

http://www.sma.org.sg/smj/4104/articles/4104cr1.pdf

http://content.karger.com/produktedb/produkte.asp?typ=fulltext&file=pne35128


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## insocal

Humburger said:


> Sugar or honey will draw it out, too. My dad had a big hole that would not heal on his back and his friend, who is a retired doctor, told him about the sugar. He said doctors, if they even know about it, won't tell you, because it is too simple and free. So, my mom started filling the cavity with sugar and putting a bandage over it. What the doctors worked on, unsuccessfully, for many months, was fixed in two weeks with the sugar.
> 
> Of course, I would not stop taking the antibiotics.


This is true. There was a series of articles on wound treatment with honey and sugar in one of my veterinary journals (refereed and very legitimate source) several years ago. The sugars draw water out and away from the bacteria so they can't survive.


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## glazed

http://skin.emedtv.com/staph-infection/staph-infection-causes.html

I'm still looking for more information, but with a heavy heart I am realizing this is one of the more dangerous strains.

Where upon his back is the cyst? Is it near his spine?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I finally found a good one:

http://www.hardydiagnostics.com/articles/Staph-Lugdunensis.pdf


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## stormwalker

HOT compresses! As hot as he can stand without an actual burn.
Green tea or black tea -whichever you have- green is better.
Add some salt as well to the compress.
Didn't they tell you to put a hot compress on it?
Make sure he takes the antibiotics!


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## glazed

Also, you might want to start a decontamination protocol:

http://texasholistic.info/index.php?topic=144.0


I know it sounds extreme, but this is highly infectious and y'all really need to be careful.

You're in my prayers, too!

:grouphug:


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## Jennifer L.

insocal said:


> This is true. There was a series of articles on wound treatment with honey and sugar in one of my veterinary journals (refereed and very legitimate source) several years ago. The sugars draw water out and away from the bacteria so they can't survive.


My grandmother and great aunts used this for bedsores when they were taking care of their parents (both great grands were bed ridden at the same before they died).

Recently my 88 yo uncle had boils. Nothing like the size you are talking about here, but he kept getting them all fall, here and there on his arms and neck. He had a doctor's visit last week and the doctor immediately said it's coming from his nose, and gave him a prescription for antibiotic pills to take as well as an antibiotic cream made to put in each nostril for a week or so. It's a case of his nose may suddenly drip and he'll casually wipe with his hand because he doesn't have a tissue right there handy at the moment.

In any case, think about his nose as a source of the problem if you can't come up with other ideas.

Good luck, they sound just miserable.

Jennifer


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## Cheribelle

MamaCrow, is being near the spine significant?
That's where dad's were. always near the tailbone.


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## glazed

Your dad probably had an infected pilonidal cyst.

I ask Serena where it is located to get a better mental grasp of the situation.

I've read several medical reports earlier (while doing a little research for her) that serious complications can occur if this strain infects the vertebrae.

I am somewhat comforted by the fact that Serena's husband is not hospitalized with antibiotic IVs ... so it must have been caught early enough ... and Serena needs to be optimistic as well.



But, please, Serena. Please make sure your husband keeps it clean. Colloidal Silver (topically) may help. Add have him up his Vitamin C. And you be careful, too.


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## farmmom

I can't add anything here, as I have no experience. But I can and will be praying for both of you!


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## HermitJohn

I had heard of packing wounds with sugar, used by military doctors in past. Another effective treatment, again from historic military medicine, is to pack a wound with live maggots. Yea sounds gross but apparently very effective. They clean out the dead flesh continuously. Some modern doctor was aware of this treatment and experimented on some diabetic sores that wouldnt heal with any conventional treatment on some of his patients. It worked. Take a bit of a strong stomach, but guess I would try it if nothing else worked. Like the sugar, its not going to make anybody rich. And there is the "yuck"... factor.


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## GrannyG

For years, we mixed sugar with Betadine and packed wounds with it....it works....


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## AR Transplant

I don't have much to add either, except that I'll pray. However, I wanted to ask you, do you have confidence in your doctor? If you get a "funny" feeling don't be to scared or afraid to hurt his feelings to move on. Even the best doctors miss sometimes, and it's not the time to worry about the doctor's feelings.


I'll be praying.


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## Zipporah

Have him tested for TB just too be on the safe side.Sometimes it causes boils.


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## Hobbes

Coat the area with oregano oil diluted with olive oil. It is great for deep infections.


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## calliemoonbeam

As Mama Crow said, this can be a pretty serious issue. Normally, I'm all for homeopathic remedies, but since there's not more known about this particular strain I'd be leery of doing anything other than what the doctors say. However, even if you trust your doctor I would still ask them to bring in an ID (Infectious Disease) specialist for their input. This particular strain can also be related to endocarditis and renal or liver failure, among other things. If it's getting worse instead of better, I'd say it's time for the big guns. 

Also, sometimes a particularly bad or recurrent area can develop a sac-like covering sort of like a cyst and just packing and antibiotics won't clear it up until that membrane is surgically removed. As big as you said it is, this could be a possibility. A nasal swab could indicate if he's been colonized, which might very well require hospitalization and IV antibiotics. 

Please also use contagion precautions when dealing with this, as it spreads pretty easily. Don't touch it or any drainage from it with bare hands. Dispose of bandages and any gloves used in a separate plastic bag and seal tightly closed and dispose of immediately. If you burn your trash, do NOT burn this! Wash any clothing, bedding, etc., that has touched it in hot water, with bleach if possible. 

I don't mean to scare you, this can definitely be treated, but it isn't just a simple boil and appropriate precautions should be taken. Just trying to help you get through this with the best care and minimal problems possible.


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## unregistered29228

Have them check him again for MRSA - my stepfather had a bedsore after surgery that didn't heal for a YEAR. He had a visiting nurse, antibiotics, dressings, etc. and still it wouldn't heal. Finally they checked him the second time for MRSA and bingo. A course of antibiotics and he finally healed. But the pain and ick factor for a whole year made them angry (don't blame them).

My Nannie always swore by drawing salve called ICHTHAMMOL and I keep some in my medicine cabinet in her honor.


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## Becca65

Sometimes people are more prone to them then others, doesn't always mean theres something wrong with someone.. I've had them on and off for years.. But nothing like that.. more like cysts. Once i had a Cyst by my eye, i tried putting warm compresses on it but then the next morning my whole eye was swollen shut almost.. I had to start antibiotics then it started going away.. but the Doc lanced it, it looked bad and did until the middle came out or roots it was like a seed type thing, then it started healing.. Those are no fun.. Hope he gets better soon!!!


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## Serena

Good news from todays appointment.... there was amazing improvement from yesterday.... No puss and noticable healing! The Doctor was very happy with it and now thinks if it keeps up this way he will be done with the wound packing monday. I got to see the wound and watched the removal and repacking. You could SEE new pink puckering skin around the edges of the wound and the doctor said that wasnt as visibly noticable yesterday morning and she was VERY VERY happy and said it was a lot smaller. She was confident when I talked to her yesterday that the Bactrim would knock it out fast and it seems to. From talking with her this staph is one of the ones found on your skin and like other staph occasionally finds a way to get out of hand...but its very slow growing. In my DH's case... he seems to have larg pores... and hes a deisal mechanic on the larger medium duty trucks and gets really really really nasty dirty and greasy... the doctors also commented that his skin is very thick...(not joking haha as in actually thick, hard to cut and hard to give shots to) He gets blackheads very easily and this boil came up in an areas on his back (its kind of between his shoulder blades) that he once got a very large blackhead. It never quite went away pore size wise. It would get blackheaded up from time to time. I think that is what gave an entry to the bacteria. 
Wound wise they wipe down and sterilize his back when they clean it and then rebandage with a bandage that is the kind he can shower and it should stay sealed and dry.. I dont touch it at all. 

Watching was kind of icky... but Im glad to know exactly WHAT is wrong... it was strange seeing a would that deep and open that didnt bleed at all.... *shiver*....


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## Serena

oh and I forgot to mention.... even with his thick skin.... hes got really sensitive skin.. haha... he cant stand rough texture on his skin especially wet(big baby haha) ... and I think because of that he has a tendancy not to scrubb as deep clean as he should and I think that doesnt help...... Im going to start bugging him about that.....:soap::soap: he used a certain soap for a long time that had grit in it but wasnt gritty enough to bother him... we cant find it and since then he seems to have had more problems...


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## Becca65

THats great news!! Glad he's showing some progress!!


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## AR Transplant

glad to hear the good news as well. You might go to the soap thread and ask them about gritty soaps that they make. Some people do very well with homemade soaps. Again, glad to hear the good news.


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## oberhaslikid

Humburger said:


> Sugar or honey will draw it out, too. My dad had a big hole that would not heal on his back and his friend, who is a retired doctor, told him about the sugar. He said doctors, if they even know about it, won't tell you, because it is too simple and free. So, my mom started filling the cavity with sugar and putting a bandage over it. What the doctors worked on, unsuccessfully, for many months, was fixed in two weeks with the sugar.
> 
> Of course, I would not stop taking the antibiotics.


My Dh gets one on his back and the last DR.we went to wouldnt even look at it just gave a RX.I heard about sugar drawing out infection on the goat forum and decided to try it we had tried everything else.
I took a panty liner and cut it in half placed about a tsp.of sugar on the liner and added a few drops of water to make it stay in a paste.and placed on the boil and taped it there with medical tape all around the edges so it stayed.Changed it every day and by the third day it looked great.
This is what I would suggest. It works!


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## ronbre

great info


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## therunbunch

If it's still not getting well I would have them re-evaluate their ruling on MRSA. We almost lost our 2 year old to MRSA last March. It can be very serious if left untreated... and they told us that he DIDN'T have MRSA either.... until he was faced with emergency surgery.


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## Big Dave

Ok I did not read all the posts so far, but here is my first hand experience.I had one on my back as you described. Went to Dr. and had it lanced. Several years later it returned. I have very thick skin on my back as told to me by the Dr. doing the second procedure.He went in and carved the whole thing out. YIPPIEE. It took away the pain. Left a hole or rather a dip in my shoulder back. That is OK as I will not have that one coming back on me. I do not have them anywhere else. Been two years.


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## Serena

ok forgot to update yesterday. Still more inprovement yesterday. They did not repack him yesterday, they left it open and just bandaged it. I am supposed to change the bandage tonight and he goes back tommorow to get checked again. It itches like mad and its making him crazy (combo of hairy man and bandage and healing wound haha) the docs have been powowing and are quite happy with how its healing. We are confident this will soon be an unpleasant memory. He is dreaming of they day he is bandage free and healed enough to get lots of scritching.....


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## firegirl969

My dad had a boil, so we mixed lard and turpentine and put it on the boil twice a day and it did coe to a head and bust on its own. It was very large also. You can also use the drawing salve that Lehman's sells. Hope your DH get better real soon.


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## danielsumner

Serena said:


> ok forgot to update yesterday. Still more inprovement yesterday. They did not repack him yesterday, they left it open and just bandaged it. I am supposed to change the bandage tonight and he goes back tommorow to get checked again.  It itches like mad and its making him crazy (combo of hairy man and bandage and healing wound haha) the docs have been powowing and are quite happy with how its healing. We are confident this will soon be an unpleasant memory. He is dreaming of they day he is bandage free and healed enough to get lots of scritching.....


Itching is good, it shows there is good blood flow to the area, DR OZ said on one of his shows that the body itches, so that we scratch, this brings blood flow and healing chemicals to the area.

Daniel


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## sidepasser

I use this to draw out abscesses on hooves, boils on kids, boils on dogs, works a treat.

here is a link so you can read about it:

http://www.ehow.com/about_5038707_purpose-ichthammol-ointment.html

It really, really does work and it's cheap, about 6.00 for a pint and though it smells nasty (sulfur in it) it does work. You can buy it at Tractor Supply or practically any feed store. Works for drawing out thorns, slivers, etc. too..done it all to myself over the years.

I've used it on myself in the summertime when I ride for several days in a row and get a boil on the inside of my thigh from the riding pants rubbing the saddle..two days later, boil gone. Like I said, us horse folks pretty much know what will work and what won't, this stuff does.

I don't know that I would put it on an open wound, but hey, it's anitfungal, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. It doesn't burn ME, but you might ask the doc..of course a vet might be a better person to ask..lol..but many, many horse folks use this on themselves after riding days in the 95 degree heat with 80 percent humidity in english riding pants..we know how to deal with boils or as my granny used to call them - risings..

Hope this will help and hubby gets better soon.


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## sidepasser

oberhaslikid said:


> My Dh gets one on his back and the last DR.we went to wouldnt even look at it just gave a RX.I heard about sugar drawing out infection on the goat forum and decided to try it we had tried everything else.
> I took a panty liner and cut it in half placed about a tsp.of sugar on the liner and added a few drops of water to make it stay in a paste.and placed on the boil and taped it there with medical tape all around the edges so it stayed.Changed it every day and by the third day it looked great.
> This is what I would suggest. It works!



Add iodine and sugar and make sugardine..works a treat to draw out abscesses and boils as well. I just prefer the ease of Icthammol Ointment, smelly but works in half the time sugardine does.


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## GingerN

sidepasser said:


> Add iodine and sugar and make sugardine..works a treat to draw out abscesses and boils as well. I just prefer the ease of Icthammol Ointment, smelly but works in half the time sugardine does.


I know about icky-mol salve, but I wonder if it would work on a sliver of glass? I broke a glass, thought I got it all up, but I found out with my heel that I did not. We can't get it out with tweezers or anything. you reckon it is worth a shot?


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