Boils develop around infected hair follicles and oil glands. The infected area first turns red and then produces a small painful bump, which becomes bigger and softer over the next few days. As pus begins to accumulate under the skin, the tip of the boil will turn white, forming a head. Boils can become very painful due to the inflammation caused by the infection and the pressure from the pus buildup.
If a boil develops on the eyelid, it’s known as a sty. Only the mildest of treatments should be attempted on a sty.
The most common places for boils to appear are the face, scalp, neck, armpits, chest, back and shoulders, thighs, groin and buttocks.
A particular form of boil can develop between the buttocks, this is known and a pilonidal cyst, and due to its location where it is pressed from the sides, it is known to be exceedingly painful, and sitting down can be impossible without the aid of a donut cushion.
Boils are usually nothing to worry about even though they are painful and unsightly. There are simple remedies that you can use at home to draw out the infection, soothe the skin, control infection and induce the boil to heal. However, in some cases a boil can develop into a serious infection that requires medical treatment. You should see your doctor if
- More boils develop around the boil
- There is lymph node swelling
- You develop a fever
- The skin around the boil becomes red, swollen and warm, indicating that the infection has spread.
Types Of Boils
- Furuncle – Usually caused by staph bacteria which infects a hair follicle. More than one follicle can become infected resulting in a large boil with multiple heads.
- Cystic Acne – This differs from regular acne with the infection going much deeper into the clogged oil glands. Cystic acne most commonly affects teenagers due to the unbalanced hormone levels during puberty.
- Pilonidal cyst – Found in between the buttocks, this type of boil develops when a hair follicle becomes infected. It’s more common in men than women and long distance truck drivers often suffer from these very painful boils.
- Hidradenitis suppurativa – This type of boil generally can’t be treated at home. This condition involves the infection of the sweat glands in the armpit or groin.
Causes Of Boils
- Ingrown hairs – Ingrown hairs are hairs that have turned inwards and grown into the skin. They form a small bump on the skin. The ingrown hair causes inflammation and the buildup of sebum, which is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. Warm compresses and gentle skin exfoliation should be used to encourage the hair to grow out. If you attend to ingrown hairs as soon as you notice them, they are easy to remedy and unlikely to result in an infection and boil.
- Foreign objects – Anything that gets stuck in the skin, like a splinter, can introduce infections and cause a boil to form.
- Nutrient Deficiency – Good levels of nutrition are important to keep the immune system functioning and the skin in good health. Nutrient deficiencies increase the chance that infections will develop around ingrown hairs or blocked pores because the body lacks adequate defenses to fight off the first stages of infection
- Illness – Certain conditions like kidney disease and diabetes result in a weakened and strained immune system, which often results in boils forming.
- Poor hygiene – Without proper cleansing, bacteria are able to build up to levels that result in infection.
The first step to take to treat a boil at home is to use a warm compress on the affected area or soak in a hot bath. The heat dilates the blood vessels, which allows more blood to reach the area. White blood cells fight infection and if caught early, the boil may drain internally without needing any further treatment.
Repeated heat applications will draw the infection to the surface and encourage pus to form. At this stage the boil may pop on its own, bringing much needed pain relief.
To use a warm compress. Clean the boil and surrounding skin, then place a clean washcloth in hot water and wring out. Apply the washcloth to the boil and leave on the skin until the cloth begins to cool, then dip back into hot water and repeat the process. Continue for 20-30 minutes, 3 or 4 times a day.
If the boil doesn’t release the pus on its own, you can apply gentle pressure with clean fingertips to the sides of the boil and encourage it to pop and drain. You should clean the skin with an antiseptic before you attempt to pop the boil to avoid introducing more bacteria to the open sore.
Allow as much pus to drain from the boil as possible, but stop squeezing once any blood appears. Apply a clean dressing over the boil to prevent infection. Continue to use heat packs to keep a good flow of antibodies to the infection.
In addition to the hot water compress there are other home remedies that you can try to heal your boils. These remedies will draw the infection to the surface while providing antimicrobial infection killing support.
1. Turmeric
The enzyme circumin gives turmeric its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Turmeric can provide support for your immune system on the inside while fighting infection on the outside. It’s a staple ingredient in Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine. You can take turmeric in capsule form or you can take one teaspoon of turmeric in a little warm water or milk. Drink 3 times a day.
You can also apply turmeric directly to your boil. Use Kasturi turmeric for skin applications as it won’t stain like regular turmeric. But if your boil is an area that no one will see for a week then go ahead and use the regular grocery store spice.
There are several ways to prepare turmeric to treat your boil
Mix turmeric with a little warm water to form a thick paste. Apply to the boil and leave for 30 minutes, Wash off with water. Apply the paste several times a day to help draw the pus to the surface and encourage your boil to pop and drain.
The addition of fresh root ginger to the turmeric produces a powerful infection fighter. Take a one-inch cube of fresh ginger and whiz it briefly in a blender with a few teaspoons of water. Add the turmeric to the ginger paste and apply to the boil. Leave for 30 minutes then wash off.
Mix turmeric to a paste with apple cider vinegar instead of water. The acidity of ACV helps to restore the pH of your skin and combat infection. When your skin’s pH gets out of balance and becomes more alkaline, bacteria are able to thrive.
2. Milk and Apple Cider Vinegar
Milk is a traditional home remedy for boils. Warm one cup of milk and stir in 3 teaspoons of sea or mountain salt. Add one tablespoon of turmeric powder and one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and stir well. Add enough cornstarch to make a paste and then apply to the affected area several times a day. Leave for 30 minutes then rinse off.
3. Neem Leaf Paste
Neem is traditional Ayurvedic remedy. Neem has antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties. It will combat infection and reduce swelling.
Neem leaves are available from Indian grocers, health food stores and online retailers.
Crush a handful of neem leaves using a mortar and pestle, a stone or heavy jar. Apply the crushed neem to the boil and leave for 20 minutes before washing off.
Dried neem leaves are a convenient way to make a neem paste since they are easy to store. Using dried leaves is also easier than using fresh because you don’t have to grind them up!
Crumble some dried neem leaf and mix with a little water to make a paste.
4. Tea Tree Oil
Tea tree oil is an essential oil which is a potent antibacterial, antiseptic, antifungal and anti-inflammatory. It’s frequently used in skin preparation designed to heal all manner of skin infections and imbalances.
Dilute 3 drops of essential oil with one tablespoon of warm water. Use a cotton pad to dab onto the boil. Repeat 3-5 times a day for best results.
5. Potatoes
Potatoes have been used for centuries as a poultice to draw out skin infections. They are able to remove toxins as well as calm angry skin and provide mild pain relief.
To make a potato poultice, you’ll need
- 1 firm raw potato
- Grater
- Squares of gauze
- First aid tape or bandage
Cut two squares of gauze to the right size to cover your boil and the surrounding skin. Grate the potato, you don’t need to peel it, but do wash it first. You don’t need a lot of potato, just enough to heap onto your gauze. Place the grated potato on one piece of gauze, then place the second piece on top, so the potato is sandwiched in between. Then place the poultice onto your boil and secure firmly with first aid tape. Keep the poultice in place all day. Prepare a fresh poultice for overnight use.
Crude as this remedy may seem, it really does work very well and many people find that the early application of a potato poultice will eliminate a boil in a very short time, often by the next day.
6. Onion
Onions are another potent, traditional remedy with impressive infection fighting powers. There’s even anecdotal accounts of villagers protecting themselves from catching the Plague (Black Death 1346-53), by eating copious amounts of onions and bathing in water full of onions. Onions are probably the most unpleasant smelling remedy here, but they are powerful, so don’t discount this remedy.
Onions contain anti-inflammatories, antifungals, antimicrobials, antivirals and analgesic properties. White onions in particular are known to remove toxins, disinfect wounds and reduce inflammation. They stimulate circulation to the affected area, causing the increased presence of white blood cells. Onions also draw pus from the boil, allowing the infected wastes to drain out.
Onions are loaded with sulfur – it’s what gives onions their potent smell and makes your eyes water. Sulfur is also a powerful detoxing element.
You’ll need:
- Fresh onion – preferably white, but yellow is fine.
- Squares of gauze
- Bandage or first aid tape
Cut the onion into thick slices and place one directly onto the boil. Cover with a gauze square, then fix with plenty of tape, or wrap with a bandage to hold it securely in place. Leave the onion in place for 3-4 hours, then replace with a fresh slice. Make sure to wear your onion poultice to bed too.
You can also use onion juice if you have a boil on your face and you can’t walk around with a big piece of onion taped on there all day. If you’ve got a juicer – the kind that extracts juice and leaves the pulp behind, then juice one onion and apply to the boil. Don’t have a juicer? No problem. Whiz an onion in your blender until it becomes a sludgy liquid. Then take a tea strainer or piece of muslin/cheesecloth and strain the onion sludge over a cup to separate the juice.
You will smell a bit oniony, but no worse than if you had onions for lunch.
7. Epsom Salt
Epsom salts or magnesium flakes are antimicrobial and antiseptic and act as a drying agent to bring boils to a head more quickly, draw out toxins and reduce inflammation, which relieves pain.
The easiest way to use epsom salts on body boils is to run yourself a nice warm bath and sprinkle in 2 cups of epsom salts. Then take a nice long soak. You get the benefit of hot water acting on the boil along with the salts.
Alternatively, for boils on the face or scalp, you can use an epsom salt poultice.
Take 2 tablespoons of epsom salts and add enough warm water to make a thick paste. Apply to the boil and leave it on for 20 minutes, then wash off with cool water.
People with high blood pressure shouldn’t use epsom salts.
8. Garlic
Garlic is perhaps one of the most healing substances on the planet. I’m not exaggerating. Natural healing expert Stephen Buhner lists it as a superior alternative to antibiotics in his book Herbal Antibiotics. Here’s an excerpt from his book
“How Complex is Garlic Compared to Penicillin?
Known active constituents of garlic
(there are at least 35 other constituents whose actions are unknown):
ajoene, allicin, alliin, allixin, allyl mercaptan, allyl methyl thiosulfinate, allyl methyl trisulfide, allyl propyl disulfide, diallyl disulfide, diallyl heptasulfide, diallyl hexasulfide, diallyl pentasulfide, diallyl sulfide, diallyl tetra sulfide, diallyl trisulfide, dimethyl disulphide, dimethyl trisulfide, dirpopyl disulphide, methyl ajoene, methyl allyl thiosulfinate, propylene sulfide, 2-vinyl-4H-1, 3-tithiin, 3-vinyl-4H1, 2 dithiin, S-allyl cysteine sulfoxide, S-allyl mercapto, cysteine.
Known active constituents of penicillin:
Penicillin”
It’s the incredible complexity in plant substances that makes them so effective. Bacteria will never become resistant to plant based antibiotics because there are too many substances, undergoing too many complex reactions, at anyone time for the bacteria to figure out. But the super intelligent bacteria knocked the c**p out of penicillin and many other antibiotics in the blink of an eye.
Although penicillin was discovered in 1928, it didn’t enter wide use until after the second world war. In 1945 Alexander Fleming warned that numerous bacteria were already resistant to penicillin. In 1945, 14% of staph bacteria were resistant to penicillin, by 1950, 59% were resistant. By 1995, 95% of staph bacteria was untouchable by penicillin.
Garlic on the other hand is as effective as ever at taking bacteria down. Garlic even takes MRSA infected boils in its stride, with Dr. Ron Cutler, a microbiologist at the University of East London saying that garlic’s main ingredient, allicin, may be able to kill the staph within days. Mother nature take a bow!
To act as an effective antibiotic internally, you do need to ingest large quantities of garlic, one or two cloves won’t cut it, so the best method is to take garlic capsules. Whenever your body has an infection to fight, load up on garlic pills. Wards off vampires too, so I hear.
As for treating boils, it gets to work on contact, eliminating infection, reducing inflammation and drawing the pus out.
Make a poultice using gauze and crushed garlic cloves. Crush one large clove or 2 smaller ones and place in the center of a gauze square. Cover with a second piece of gauze and apply to your boil. Fix in place with first aid tape or wrap with a bandage. Change the poultice every 5 hours. By taking garlic internally and using a poultice on the boil you should see fast results. It’s smelly but effective.
9. Cornmeal
The Aztecs used cornmeal to treat boils. Cornmeal doesn’t have any particular medicinal properties, but it is very effective at drawing boils to a head where they can burst and drain on their own or be ‘popped’. It’s also a cheap remedy that you’re almost certain to have in your pantry.
Add cornmeal to half a cup of hot water and make a paste. Apply to the boil and cover with gauze then tape in place. Change the dressing every two hours until the boil comes to ahead.
10. Bread Poultice
Bread is very effective at drawing impurities from the skin. It will even pull a deeply embed splitter out of your thumb. Bread reduces inflammation, soothes the skin and brings the boil to a head.
To make a bread poultice, use 1 slice of bread and soak it in warm milk or water until it’s spongy. Apply to the boil and leave for 5 – 10 minutes. Repeat twice a day. Quick, effective, non smelly and cheap!
11. Echinacea
Echinacea has antibacterial, antiviral, and immune-stimulant properties. It directly inhibits staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria responsible for the formation of boils. The active ingredient in Echinacea is Echinacoside. Echinacea is widely available as an extract, capsule, ointment, tea or powder.
Echinacea has an impressive record in treating severe boils, carbuncles, abscesses of all kinds, insect bites, typhoid, cholera, cancer, syphilis, meningitis, malaria, diphtheria, tetanus, impetigo and even rabies. It’s one impressive herb!
When applied to a boil it offers pain relief, reduces inflammation, increases blood circulation and fights infection.
Add one capsule of echinacea to a tablespoon of carrier oil and apply to the boil. Leave for 10 minutes then wash off. Repeat 3 times a day. You can also make a strong cup of echinacea tea and use the teabag as a poultice on the boil. The heat from the hot teabag increases the boil fighting abilities of echinacea.
12. Castor Oil
Castor oil is obtained from the seeds of the castor plant and is widely used in Ayurvedic medicine, for treating a variety of skin ailments and chronic pain.
Castor oil contains Ricinoleic, which is an anti-inflammatory, and contains antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties.
Apply a few drops of castor oil to a cotton pad and apply to the boil. Tape in place with first aid tape and leave for 3-4 hours before changing the dressing for a new one.
