Boils and Abscesses

Cabbage Break large ridges. Dip the leaves in warm water. Apply. Replace when warm. Fig Split fig and apply hot. This is especially effective for a boil on the gum. Honey Honey is a strong antibiotic and has been used from earliest times for wounds and boils. Mix honey with a tiny amount of flour, and apply it to bring a boil to a head.

Onion The Cheyenne Indians used a poultice of onion bulbs and stems. When the boil came to a head, they washed out the pus with raw onion juice and water.

Peach Make up a strong tea by steeping two peach pits in a cup of boiling water; simmer for ten minutes. Apply the tea as a compress to the boil. Also drink the tea for cleansing action. Make up a peach pit tincture during peach season. Use a few drops diluted in water for tea or compress.

Radish Many European countries used sliced root of radish on large boils.

Slippery Elm The powdered fawn colored bark of this tree is very healing as a poultice, and was widely used by many North American Indian tribes for wounds, boils, and skin diseases. Add cold or tepid water to the powder in small amounts to make a paste.

Thyme Heat up a strong thyme tea (one handful of thyme to a pint of boiling water). Steep. Dip in a folded cloth. Apply the thyme compress to the abscess, boil, or swellings. Repeat as often as necessary.