Open Source Apothecary At Home / Skin and wounds
Skin and wounds
Wounds, burns, eczema, acne, bites
Wounds, burns, eczema, acne, bites and nail or foot infections. Topical is where plant antimicrobials genuinely earn a place, and it is also where the most common harm occurs: repeated neat essential-oil application causes permanent allergic contact dermatitis, and old oxidised oil is worse than fresh. Honey and plantain have real wound evidence with real limits, and infection under a dressing is the thing to watch for.
9 entries
Acne
Benzoyl peroxide and retinoids have decades of evidence. Tea tree has a trial and a slower onset.
remedyBurns
Twenty minutes of cool running water is the treatment. Everything applied afterwards is secondary.
remedyContact dermatitis and plant allergies
The plant that healed yesterday is the sensitisation that flares today. Repeated neat essential oil use is the commonest cause.
safetyEczema and atopic dermatitis
Emollients in quantity are the treatment. Oatmeal and a few herbs are adjuncts with real but modest evidence.
remedyInsect bites and stings
Most of this is itch control. The page that matters is the anaphylaxis one, and it is not about plants at all.
remedyPsoriasis
Sunlight and topical treatments help. Vitamin D analogues work because someone noticed the sunlight link.
remedySkin infections: impetigo, cellulitis, fungal and the tea tree question
Tea tree has real trials for acne and fungal infection. Cellulitis and impetigo need antibiotics.
remedySun exposure, sunburn and vitamin D
Sunburn is a burn, sunscreen is the evidence-backed skin-cancer prevention, and vitamin D is the reason people give for not using it.
guideWounds and grazes
Irrigation and a dressing do more than any salve. Honey has genuine trials and belongs in a specific place.
remedy