What is Swimmer's Itch and How Can Emu Oil Help?
Last fall I began corresponding with a customer named Mary who was suffering from what her Dr. had diagnosed as swimmers itch (cercarial dermatitis). Mary had developed a skin rash in late August after returning from a Florida vacation where she spent several hours in a salt water pool. She said the pool was very warm and slightly green, but since it was a reputable hotel chain she thought it was just the nature of a saltwater pool.
Swimmers itch is caused by a parasite which can live in fresh or salt water. They usually don’t survive in swimming pools that are chlorinated or sanitized with salt water generators, unless there is a lapse in maintenance. This parasite has numerous stages of development that cycle it between primarily two hosts – ducks and snails. However, if someone is unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the cercariae (larvae stage) can penetrate the outer layer of human skin. Because these larvae cannot survive in a human body they die after a few hours releasing toxins into the skin which cause the rash.
For most people, the rash only lasts a few days, but for those with weakened immune systems, previous or prolonged exposure to the parasites, the rash can be very difficult to heal. Mary and I have also speculated on the possibility that Cyanobacteria (commonly, and erroneously known as blue-green algae) might have played a secondary role as that too can produce skin irritation and may have been responsible for the greenish tinge to the pool water.
Using Emu Oil for Swimmers Itch
For Mary, the initial rash then developed into a secondary infection resulting in deep abscesses on her ankle. Her Dr. prescribed an antibiotic, but after reading the two pages of side effects Mary felt that she wanted to try to treat the sores naturally and would fill the prescription only if that didn’t work.
She had started using emu oil purchased elsewhere and when that supply ran low stumbled upon our site and purchased our AEA Certified Pure Emu Oil. After applying our Emu Oil in small amounts, frequently, throughout the day she began to see much stronger results. "Some of the experience is mind-blowing as I am literally watching new skin being formed." She said, as she "could see it healing from the deepest levels up".
“I have had to learn real faith in an alternative natural method, real faith, not just experimenting. This experience has also shown me that my diet has to be totally changed, too, and I was cheating on that.” Mary had previously identified that gluten and sugar were compromising her health and though she worked hard to control her diet she had been cheating and felt that was another factor in her body’s weak response to the toxins. In her own words - “I think the universe is teaching me a lesson about changing my diet to eliminate sugar which can aggravate these rashes/infections.”
Mary’s full healing still took months, and she experienced a few further out-breaks as her body continued to fight the toxins. She later began taking the DuoFlex Emu Oil Gel Caps and felt the combination of taking Emu Oil internally and applying it topically really helped her healing.
We continued to correspond on her condition and she wrote me again saying “This 4th month has been a test of my faith, as the top layers of my re-grown skin have been slow going, but each day Songline Oil penetrates with its powers, I feel it soothing and calming the place on my ankle, which has completely closed up into pink new skin. Words can’t express my gratitude for Songline especially since the dermatologist had no clue, just wanted me on an antibiotic with a lot of side effects. My ankle and foot are healing nicely. The power of Songline Oil is felt immediately, as it calms and soothes any discomfort or itching right away. Thank you Songline, I am so glad I found you on the Web when I got home from the Florida hotel. And I have used 3 other brands of Emu Oil in the past, but only Songline has the more powerful effect.”
I would like to thank Mary for sharing her experience. She impressed me with the level of research she was willing to do to understand what was happening to her body and decide which treatments felt right to her; and her understanding of how important diet is to our overall health. I talk to far too many people who would rather take a pill they know little about then even attempt to make an uncomfortable lifestyle change.
Mary’s final advice “I’d like to say to everyone, if your hotel pool is really warm and has greenish water, stay out! If you are going swimming in a lake or the ocean, stay out of the shallows---the algae and marine toxins are attracted to these areas.” And I’d like to add. If you are going on vacation – don’t forget your Emu Oil.
More :
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/swimmers-itch-topic-overview
http://www.dermnetnz.org/topics/swimmers-itch,
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/swimmers-itch/symptoms-causes/dxc-20273258