Vinegar

All my life, I always had *heavy* dandruff and red itchy spots around/on my nose. When I was a teen I started the search for a product that could help. All specialized products i tried made it worse. But every summer it disappeared. Could it be the sun? Could it be bathing in sea water (which I did a lot)?

After I found mASF I decided I had to solve it. Googled and found that the condition is an allergic reaction to a micro fungus (p. ovale) that lives on all human skin. But only some have allergy to it. I also read that this type of allergy has become increasingly common during 20th century but didnt dwell on this at the time.

What i did (previously posted) was to massage coconut fat into my skin prior to washing it with strong soap. My idea was to massage the micro-fungi into the fat and then *remove* all the fat from my skin. This worked brilliantly and I was really happy :D As long as I remembered to do this 2-3 times a week my skin was beautifully pale and baby soft. But if I forgot doing it for 4 days, it sometimes came back strongly....

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When I was a student 10 years ago, I got athlete's foot. I tried all the drugstore products but it always returned. My feet smelled like old french cheese at all times, even shortly after showering. Whenever I removed my shoes, the smell would fill the room.

This summer I decided I had had it with this illness. The cracks it caused hurt bad at times and it was spreading from the skin to the toe nails making them look all wrinkly.

Again I googled and found lots of advice:
-vinegar foot bath
-salty water foot bath
-teatree oil

and one that *really* made me think:

This one guy claimed he had gotten rid of it 100%, only by.. QUIT USING SOAP. Someone had told him that soap unbalances the skin so its more open to fungal attack....

Soo, I started taking foot baths with vinegar AND salt.. and sprayed my feet with teatree oil afterwards.. and quit using soap on them.. (my goal was clear and *nothing* was gonna prevent me from reaching it)

After one week my feet was 100% smell free and new baby soft skin started to appear where the damaged skin peeled off. I could rub my finger between my toes 24 hours after washing them, and hold it under my nose and still smell *nothing*.

Gradually I washed my feet less, and now I spray them with a little vinegar once a week. The toe nails look *perfect* now, and the skin is pale pink and baby soft.. and I can go for 3-4 days without washing and they still smell *nothing*.

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But enough about feet. This success got me thinking that maybe soap unbalanced my scalp and face in similar way, allowing the micro fungi to grow out of control.. so I quit all soap/product use on my face and scalp, and I quit using the oil, and at once I got the allergic reaction but 3 days later it started improving. Now I rub my scalp and face with mild vinegar water once a week and almost all the redness is gone and its still improving.

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I always had really smelly arm pits and I always heard that its bacteria and fungus that create the smell while they eat sweat.. so I quit using soap on them too and it worked brilliantly!! now they no longer smell like decay, but more like new sweat, even after two days without showering.

The clothes get almost as smelly as before tough..

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But, I found that all this only works if I rub my feet, scalp, face and armpits really good in the shower. This is key. You got to rub good, so you remove dead skin and accumulated dirt that the soap used to help remove before.

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I read that the skin is salty, oily and acidic by nature. Soap is caustic and removes all oil from the skin. I can only guess that the oil+acidic properties of human skin have developed with evolution to PROTECT the body from bacterial and fungal INFECTION... and that soap is the best way of removing this protective layer.





Reply from 'Silvertree':
Interesting stuff. More field tested info. I am using white vinegar on my whole body now. I had a raw and itchy scalp caused by a shampoo I did not agree with. Looking on the internet I came across a number of recommendations for using white vinegar to treat it. It worked great. It is very good at removing soap residue, and rinses clean so you do not smell like a pickle. I currently treat my scalp with vinegar, let it sit for 2 minutes, rinse, shampoo, rinse, spray with vinegar, and rinse again. My hair is shiny and soft, and looks much better the next day when I wake up. Far less oily.

This led me to try it on my next problem. I have had an ongoing infection inside my nose for years. The doctors have prescribed antibiotics which stop it for a week or three, and then it comes back, and I do not want to live on antibiotics. They had recommended a nose spray of salt water, which I buy in little squeeze bottles. I took an empty bottle and filled it with white vinegar. I sprayed it in my nose in the shower. Then I rinse with the salt spray. It burned a lot at first, but my nose improved within the first day. After a week, the problem was gone.

This got me reading about vinegar, and I saw a recommendation to use it on your face. I tried putting a little on a cotton ball and washing my whole face with it. My skin looks better than it ever has. I am 56, and it got rid of the bags under my eyes, and the big wrinkles at the corners of my eyes are all but gone. I would say I look 10 years younger in a month. My forehead and nose were always very oily, and prone to blackheads, and pimples. Even in my 50s, I would still get one or two a month. My skin is no longer oily, and so far no pimples.

The next thing I tried was replacing deodorant by washing my underarms with vinegar. By this point, I had a spray bottle of the stuff in my shower. I spray it under my arms, wash with my hands, rinse, and spray more on to let it sit while I wash the rest of me. Then I rinse carefully to avoid the pickle smell. I no longer get arm pit odor when sweaty, and I notice that I sweat less to boot. I was getting a rash from the deodorants anyway, and would have to stop using them from time to time.

I still can't stop using soap. Social conditioning I guess. I am using Cetaphil soap free soap bars anyway, because most soaps are make me itchy. I now spray my whole body with vinegar after I wash, and wash my feet with vinegar only and a soft brush. I use the brush and vinegar on my hands as well. Then I rinse thoroughly.

The result is I have never felt cleaner in my life. My clothes do not smell after I wear them. My socks do not smell, and my feet feel better. My bath towels smell clean after a week when I wash them. I feel better. It is like I spent half a century covered in soap scum and bacteria that live on soap scum, and now that it is gone, it feels wonderful.

Another thought has occurred to me. We make the pheromones that attract women, but they get masked by deodorants, perfumes, and the smell of the bacteria that live on the skin. I am wondering if my new clean self is putting out more pheromones, or they are masked less. They are made by skin, and I can feel that my skin is healthier. No answer, but food for thought.

I pay $1.29 US for a gallon (3.75 L) of generic Roundy's brand 5% acidity distilled white vinegar, and it is replacing a whole pile of expensive stuff I used to buy. Better and cheaper. Can't beat that.

Next home remedy. Something else I found while researching the cosmetic use of vinegar. 3% hydrogen peroxide. I use it as a mouthwash once a day. It kills the bacteria that cause bad breath, and plaque. My breath is better all day, better when I wake up, and my teeth are noticeably whiter after a month. My mouth always feels clean. $0.89 US per liter. A liter is lasting me a month. That, and brushing with baking soda gives you natural sweet breath. Well, it doesn't help if you are a garlic addict, but it does cure bacteria caused bad breath. Do not spill it on your clothes or carpets. It will bleach colors out.

I am still amazed at how well this stuff works. I am starting to suspect it never gets recommended on TV or in print because the soap, shampoo, and deodorant ads are a huge fraction of advertising revenue, and they are running a business.

Silver





Reply from 'Belliger':
What I think's happening is that you're giving your face a weak 'acid peel,' as Plastic Surgeons would say. 'Acid Peel' is a very good and long established plastic surgical technique, it's just that they use a much stronger acid and charge you the earth for doing it.
So long as you don't peel too deep I don't see any risk, except accidentally getting it in your eyes. And you'd know if you'd peeled too deep because the skin would be raw and sore, 'burnt' in fact. So far as I can ascertain, vinegar has no long-term cancer causing or other unpleasant action. Hope this helps. Belliger