Lesson Learned

     I have been suffering from a foot malady this summer and I had to share my "natural" healing experience with you.  I have what seems to be athlete's foot between two of my toes. I always get it in the summer time (when I always wear sandals). A few weeks ago it started getting very bad.  It was swollen, and felt like the infection had spread to my foot.  I had veins near my toes that were red and hot. So, I did a little research to find out what I could do to speed up the healing process.

     The first thing I read is that fresh air helps it heal. Strange that I only get it when I'm wearing sandals.  I wrote down the various ingredients that I had on hand to try and make it better.  I walked around an entire afternoon with a raw onion taped to my foot.  The only difference it made was that I walked in a way that injured my foot and it was sore and swollen the next day.  I have baptized the toe several times in tea tree oil, to no avail.  I walked another day for a few hours with a raw garlic clove stuck between the two toes.  I soaked it in Epsom salts, which only  made my dry cracked heels even drier and "crackier". I applied oregano oil, which only made me smell like a pizza and which also stung in the extreme for over an hour!  I drank lots of comfrey tea, ate tons of vitamin C, and even sprinkled natural pink salt in my shoes (which also burned very badly!!).  The apple cider vinegar really helped with the itching, but just made me feel like a pickle.  This infection was just not going away!
     All the while that I was "suffering", my husband kept telling me to try his favorite remedy: Vick's Vapor Rub.  Well, I would argue that petroleum jelly isn't "natural" and that the salve would keep the foot from getting the fresh air that it needed. I was also afraid that the Mentholatum in Vick's would make it burn like fire and I didn't want to put that on an open wound. Finally, two days ago, I broke down and very precariously put a tiny bit of Vick's on the toe and put a sock over it and went to bed.  I was surprised that it did not sting at all-- making me feel like it wasn't working. :)  However, the next morning, the swelling and redness were noticeably better.  I gingerly added even more the next night, and had even better results the next morning.  I am almost over this infection, that has lasted over a month, in just two nights.
    So, the conclusion?  Experience is the best doctor. I often go to a website called Well Tell Me that is a great resource of experience. People sharing their experience with a certain malady and telling how they dealt with it and what worked for them.  Now, every body is different, and will respond to different methods in different ways, but to know that someone else is out there going through the same thing and having ways to deal with it is very valuable information.  Yes, I did research foot infections through that site, and no, there were no mentions of Vick's vapor-rub!!  I may have to add that!