03. Skin Disinfection

The frontlines of this war will be fought on your skin. Staph is naturally a skin bacteria, and that is where it's evolved to survive best. It digs its trenches in there, like athlete's foot. So, germicidal topicals will be your primary weapon in this battle.

Note that diluted dosages (as often found in antibacterial soaps) should be avoided here - as they will likely just breed yet more resistance. So, all of these products should be used at full strength for adequate periods to ensure full kill-offs. Because if you don't kill 'em all, you will only make 'em stronger in the long run!

Tea tree oil or bleach should be what you apply locally & immediately to any suspected infection. Manuka oil is another strong option, but it is also pricier... Or, you could even make your own mix with these and/or various other essential oils also known to fight Staph including lemongrass, geranium, thyme, cinnamon, oregano, clove, lavender, etc.!

Initially, you may want to do a full body wash using the cheapest option - bleach. I recommend taking some long, warm bleach baths that will open and penetrate your follicles and pores - and really dig down into the trenches there. After that though, I would probably use probiotic soaps regularly as the more sustainable, long-term approach.

Anyhow, here is a shopping list of these topicals mentioned, plus some others (natural & synthetic) as well:

Tea Tree (Melaleuca) Oil:

a combination of geranium and tea tree oil was most active against the methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (Oxford strain).

Bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite):

The researchers suggest that a five-minute soak in a bleach solution consisting of 2.5 mcL of bleach diluted into 13 gallons of water, or about one-half cup of bleach diluted into a 50-gallon standard tub filled one-quarter with water, could decrease CA-MRSA colonies by more than 99.9%.

bleach has a shelf life of six months and then "starts to degrade." Each year you keep the bleach around, it loses 20% of its effectiveness

Manuka Oil:

Manuka Oil was 20-30 times more active than Australian Tea Tree Oil for gram positive bacteria

Allicin:

"Allicin is considered to be the most potent antibacterial agent in crushed garlic extracts." Additionally, allicin has been found to successfully penetrate a "biofilm," referred to by researchers as "slime cities."

The US Centers for Disease Control, and Prevention estimates that, "65% of all human bacterial infections involve biofilms.

Bacteria living outside the biofilms are a thousand times more likely to be killed by antibiotics than bacteria living inside these slime cities." Allicin is known to seek them out and kill them

Medicinal Silver:

If colloidal silver works like this study suggests, it has some major advantages of other antibiotics. Instead of simply inhibiting MRSA, it appears to actually kill the bacteria over time. This would give the bacteria less of a chance to evolve so quickly.

PURE Bioscience signed an agreement licensing Ciba Specialty Chemicals to market and sell its silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC) antimicrobial.

The water-soluble silver salt technology of PURE Bioscience is an excellent tool for formulators in personal care and household industries to improve the preservation and bactericidal properties of their formulations.

SDC is an electrolytically generated source of stabilized ionic silver that can serve as the basis for a broad range of products in diverse markets. Colorless, odorless, tasteless and non-caustic, the aqueous microbial formulates well with other compounds.

Axen30, PURE's first commercialized SDC product, is a powerful hard surface disinfectant whose efficacy exceeds that of most leading commercial and consumer products while maintaining a lower toxicity rating. Its EPA registered claims include a 30-second kill time and a 24-hour residual kill on standard indicator bacteria, a 2-minute kill time on some resistant strains of bacteria including MRSA and VRE, 10-minute kill time on fungi, 30-second kill time on HIV Type I, and 10-minute kill time on other viruses.

Oxychlorine:

Microcyn is a super-oxygenated water claimed to be as effective a disinfectant as chlorine bleach, but is harmless to people, animals and plants.

Probiotic Soap:

I bought this soap on a hunch that a topical probiotic product might help with my skin problems. I am terribly prone to MRSA lesions, particularly on my legs, and antibiotic after antibiotic was not the answer. I started using this soap each time I shower (along with the SK1N body lotion) about three months ago and have not had an infection since I started. This is a BIG deal. It's hard to say for sure that this soap is the only factor in my skin's improvement, but I'm taking it! It's also helped with my eczema, has a nice lather and no off-putting smell. Definitely worth the money.

Ideally, you would only apply disinfectants locally just to "snipe" infections, while using probiotics widely to strengthen your overall resistance. This would probably be the best tactic for using both antimicrobials and probiotics together.

Bacteriophage Therapy:

A bacteriophage (from 'bacteria' and Greek φαγεῖν phagein "to devour") is any one of a number of viruses that infect bacteria. Bacteriophages are among the most common biological entities on Earth.

Lemongrass:

An in vitro study on the inhibition of MRSA by essential oil diffusion found that 72 of 91 investigated essential oils exhibited zones of inhibition in soy agar plates streaked with MRSA (strain ATCC 700699). The most effective being lemongrass oil (Cymbopogon flexuosus), lemon myrtle oil (Backhousia citriodora), mountain savory oil (Satureja montana), cinnamon oil (Cinnamomum verum), and melissa oil (Melissa officinalis) essential oils. Of these, lemongrass essential oil was the most effective, completely inhibiting all MRSA colony growth.

Grapefruit Seed Extract:

A combination of Citricidal (grapefruit seed extract) and geranium oil showed the greatest-anti-bacterial effects against MRSA

Grapefruit seed extract has been used to combat bird flu in the past and scientific studies have shown it is also effective against MRSA.

There have been a number of scientific studies showing it kills bacteria. But unlike synthetic antibiotics it doesn't take out friendly bacteria. And it covers a broad spectrum of ailments rather than traditional antibiotics that tend to work on specific areas.

Byotrol:

Glasgow Royal Infirmary reduced its MRSA outbreaks by 50 per cent by using Byotrol in tests run by infections expert Professor Curtis Gemmell of Glasgow University.

Byotrol differs from other disinfectants by leaving a film on surfaces that stops bacteria setting down and multiplying.

it creates an incredibly hostile environment for all microbes, yet on skin it does not strip away the natural oils.

Chlorine Dioxide:

Spray with topical MMS.
Or you can activate 2 drops of MMS (no water) and put in a container that just fits over the boil and press against the skin allowing the gas fumes to go over the boil. Depending on the state of the boil, puss may be discharged. Take MMS orally 3 drops for a few days.

Selectrocide chlorine dioxide can also be used on hard, non-porous surfaces in health clubs, spas, public places and swimming facilities as a treatment against MRSA.

MRSA on hard surfaces is easy to eliminate with a chlorine dioxide solution of 30 PPM. It takes about 60 seconds to kill it off. It is more difficult to remove from skin because of its texture and the flora on the skin interacts with chlorine dioxide using it up to a point where little is left to react with the infection.

LED:

Both visible red, blue and “invisible” infrared light effect at least 24 positive changes at the cellular level. Red light, which is visible, at a wavelength of 640 nanometers, penetrates tissue to a depth of about 8-10 mm. It is very beneficial in treating issues close to the surface such as wounds, cuts, scars, trigger and acupuncture points and is particularly effective in treating infections. Infrared light (880 nm) penetrates to a depth of about 30-50 mm, which makes it more effective for bones, joints, deep muscle, etc.

Can anyone explain why a 470 nm blue light in a form of disinfection or treatment in hospitals, nursing homes, even patients, haven’t been adopted yet?

A research was published back in January of 2009, which clearly demonstrated and reported a natural, visible and safe form of blue light Killed two strands of MRSA bacteria in-vitro. The Research suggested the same or similar results could be obtained in-vivo, meaning patients can be treated above or below the skin.

French Green Clay (Agricur):

The clay killed up to 99 per cent of superbug colonies within 24 hours. Control samples of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) grew 45-fold in the same period.

(I would avoid using this in baths or showers though, as it will slowly clog your plumbing...)

Chlorhexidine:

It's (conventionally) recommended to initially cover yourself from head to toe with Hibiclens in the shower for 10 days in a row. Do this with the water off and let it stand a few minutes. In general, the longer the contact time, the more germs will get killed. Hibiclens goes on slick and seems to do a fair job of reaching medium-depth Staph, but may not get absorbed deeply enough in the skin to get the more embedded ones (like bleach or tea tree oil). So, it may be good for broad coverage, but you may still have to follow-up locally with tea tree oil or something else more penetrative. Also, keep in mind that Hibiclens could theoretically also breed further resistance...(so I'm not sure I would personally recommend this one).

PuraCleen:

This line of sanitizing products includes ingredients like benzalkonium chloride, alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chlorides, alkyl dimethyl ethylbenzyl ammonium chlorides, octyl decyl dimethyl ammonium chloride, dioctyl dimethyl ammonium chloride, etc.

(Ok, now say those 10 times fast!)

Coconut Oil:

Externally, coconut oil can be used as skin lotion which creates a protective barrier on the skin.

Coconut oil acts with compounds on our skin to create an acidic surface that is inhospitable to pathogens. When this barrier is in place, very few pathogens are found on our skin. Our bodies have this acidic barrier naturally, but soap frequently washes it away. This leaves us open to problems that enter the body through the skin - including MRSA.

Hot Water:

Hot water in the shower will help increase circulation..

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