* Chronic acne present 10 years causing marked disfigurement. No response to numerous and various medical treatments. After only six weeks’ treatment with wheatgrass spray and cream combination, there is significant improvement in appearance.
Wheatgrass appears to contain growth factor activators which may be responsible for the remarkable improvement shown in these photographs. In acne, there is a disturbance of the sebaceous glands. The activity of these glands is controlled by various hormones which in turn are controlled by the body’s immune system.
Wheatgrass, as a potent immune stimulant most likely plays an important role in acne treatment via this mechanism.
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from person to person.
* Alopecia areata is quite a common condition that causes patchy and sometimes complete hair loss, usually from the scalp, but can affect any part of the body. The condition can occur at any age and is considered to be due to autoimmunity i.e. where the body’s immune system attacks and damages normal body tissues. In this case, it attacks the hair follicles or bulbs beneath the skin and “turns off” their ability to grow.
About 50% of these patients recover spontaneously within 6 to 12 months, but many can suffer the condition for many years. There is reputedly no known cure, but I have increasing numbers of patients recovering completely using my wheatgrass extract. The patient and/or carer however, needs to commit to daily application for at least 12 months. The case below emphasizes the importance of perseverance when using wheatgrass for alopecia.
Recovery may be brought about in the same way that wheatgrass produces rapid healing of injured body tissues such as skin, muscle and bone following injury. Wheatgrass appears to contain hormone-like molecules that stimulate growth factor activity. Growth factors are essential for promoting cell division and proliferation and for immune stimulation. This may well create an environment for re-activation of dormant hair follicles and subsequent hair re-growth.
Case Study: 28 yr. Old Lady
This 28 year old Japanese woman suffered from alopecia areata for 5 years including a large, readily visible and embarrassing bald area at the back of her head. She had tried a number of treatments without success. She first attended my clinic on 14 August, 2002. After applying wheatgrass cream every second or third day, she regained complete hair re-growth within 4 months. On 4 February 2003, hair remains normal. I have increasing numbers of patients recovering completely using this treatment.
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from person to person.
*The symptoms of anal fissure can be relieved by wheatgrass which, although you may not know it, has quite remarkable pain-relieving and healing properties.
You may not need to change your diet, drink gallons of water, use stool softeners or load your bowel with fibre. You may also be relieved of the pain and bleeding that can be so distressing in this condition.
Surgery, like botox injections and other expensive procedures should only be considered as a last resort.
Anal fissure – What is it?
As shown in Figure 1, a fissure is a split or tear at the outer end of the anal canal wall, usually at the posterior or back side of the anus. In chronic fissures, a skin tag known as a ‘sentinel pile’ often overlies the fissure and can be mistaken for a painful haemorrhoid.
Fig 1. Anal fissure
The power of Wheatgrass Healing
Although it affects a different part of the body, anal fissure results from a breakdown in the anal wall very much like the split lip shown in Figure 2 which, as many of us know, can also be very painful and difficult to treat. This young male patient suffered for more than a year and received numerous treatments including antibiotics, steroids and anti-fungals that didn’t work. His wound however healed in one week after only one application of wheatgrass cream. Why? Most likely because of Growth Factor activation by one or more bioactives in wheatgrass. (See final paragraph for more information)
What are the symptoms of anal fissure?
Typical symptoms may be:
Common Questions
Why is there so much pain?
The area where anal fissure occurs is supplied by numerous nerve endings that are highly sensitive. Even a tiny split in the wall of the anal canal can be very painful, particularly during a bowel motion when the anal muscles are stretched.
Who else gets anal fissure?
Anal fissure is very common. It is estimated that approximately 250,000 new cases occur each year in the US alone. It can occur in newborns and right across the age spectrum to old age, and affects both sexes equally. It is most common from young adulthood to middle age. Pregnancy and childbirth can aggravate or initiate the condition.
How long does it last?
Approximately 50-60% of anal fissures will heal spontaneously. However, it can recur or become chronic (sometimes lasting for years) in the other 40-50%.
How is anal fissure diagnosed?
Symptoms of pain and rectal bleeding will alert your doctor to make a simple examination of the outer end of the anal canal. If an acute fissure is present, it will look like a small tear in the posterior (the back end, near the spine) of the anus as shown in Figure 1. Chronic fissures have thickened edges and a ‘sentinel pile’ as mentioned earlier.
If considered necessary, particularly if bleeding is present, the doctor will arrange further investigations such as colonoscopy to exclude other causes of blood loss.
How is anal fissure treated?
My method is simple. I use a wheatgrass extract in a cream base and get the patient to apply a small amount just inside the anal opening twice daily with a cotton bud. In greater than 80 percent of cases, the symptoms disappear, usually within four to six weeks, sometimes within a few days.
Because the fissure itself is not a life-threatening condition, it is not essential to heal the fissure although most of them do heal in time. The aim should always be to rid patients of their symptoms so they can resume a normal quality of life – something that wheatgrass is very good at.
What causes anal fissure?
Doctors invoke all kinds of reasons why fissures develop including constipation, hard bowel motions, diarrhoea, inflammation, reduced blood flow to the anal region, poor bowel habit and even ‘spiky’ foods such as peanuts. They seem to forget that many fissure patients do not have constipation, (some in fact have diarrhoea) and some babies are born with fissures. It is unlikely the cause is related to trauma unless there is some direct injury to the anal wall e.g. from colonoscopy or childbirth.
More likely, the fissure occurs first and the constipation follows. In other words, constipation is an effect and an aggravating factor, not a cause of anal fissure. How do I know this?
The answer is based on simple clinical observation of numerous patients with chronic constipation. Many of them had undiagnosed chronic anal fissures that were missed because examination of the anal canal had never been performed. However, when their pain symptoms were relieved following treatment with wheatgrass, their constipation disappeared.
This suggests there must be some other process causing the fissure(s). I believe one contributing factor is auto-immunity.
What does auto-immunity mean?
Normally the immune antibodies our bodies produce act to stave off bacteria, viruses and other organisms that try to invade the body, and to kill off cancer cells that continually develop inside us. When this system goes awry, such as when the body undergoes severe or prolonged emotional or physical stress or severe illness, these antibodies can attack and damage healthy cells, tissues or organs. This is called an auto-immune reaction which can eventually cause an auto-immune condition if it continues long enough. In rheumatoid arthritis for example, joints can become severely damaged. i.e. they become red, swollen and painful and eventually lose their function.
My theory is that this is what occurs in anal fissure and possibly in other similar painful conditions such as tennis elbow and plantar fasciitis and perhaps even in the split lip shown in Figure 2. For some reason, these antibodies attack the mucous membrane on the anal wall. This breaks down and the fissure opens up. At time of passing stool, the anal muscles reflexly go into spasm and the bare nerve endings in the fissure produce a painful sensation. The pain leads to stool avoidance which can then cause constipation which aggravates the fissure and the whole process becomes cyclical.
Unless some way is found to heal the fissure, or the body repairs itself, the fissure becomes chronic. The anal verge being unable to “rest” for any length of time because of the need for bowel evacuation, the fissure remains open.
So the aim should be to fix the fissure, not the constipation. However, this has never been an easy task – until now.
How does wheatgrass work for anal fissure?
Having used wheatgrass on thousands of patients for a variety of conditions it has been strikingly obvious to me that it facilitates natural healing e.g. for wounds, burns, fractures, anal fissure etc. One can actually see the healing in progress for example in burns and infected wounds when the open wound re-covers with a thin film of new cells in 24-48 hours. This keeps the exudate that contains growth factors necessary for healing – in, and the bacteria out. Often the patient’s pain disappears as well. These are not phenomena one sees when the body is healing itself unaided.
It is well known that hormones produced by the body called Growth Factors are an essential and very important part of the healing process, and for reducing inflammation. It appears that wheatgrass in some way stimulates the production of these important growth factors that ’normalize’ damaged tissue and facilitate rapid healing. Wheatgrass can also work very well for some auto-immune related disorders such as acne rosacea and psoriasis. In other words, wheatgrass is a potent, natural healing agent.
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from person to person.
The rebound of eczema symptoms after ceasing topical steroids can be very distressing as well as difficult for doctors, patients and carers to manage.
*In my experience, wheatgrass can make this so much easier to prevent and control in the majority of patients. I believe this is due to the immune stimulant effect of wheatgrass which helps the skin recover naturally.
The method is quite simple.
First, aim to reduce the steroids gradually over a period of time – say two to three weeks. For the first week, start to boost the skin’s immunity by applying wheatgrass two to three times daily, but in combination with the topical steroid. Wheatgrass first, steroid on top. Use either the wheatgrass extract in a cream base or as a lotion. Because a simple lotion contains fewer ingredients than cream formulations, it is my preferred treatment for eczema in infants and children.
In the second week, try to reduce the steroid by 50 percent either on a daily basis, or every second day.
By the third week, it may be safe to reduce the steroid to twice weekly, then once weekly, then cease. In this way, you will build up the skin’s immunity quite significantly so that the steroid may no longer be required provided the wheatgrass continues to be applied once or twice daily.
In the event of flares, which often happen in the first few months but are usually milder than before, repeat the steroid/wheatgrass combination. However, this time, reduce the starting dose of topical steroid, then continue with the reduction schedule as before. It is quite possible this period will be significantly shorter than the first ‘cycle’.
I have helped numerous patients, adults and children, towards far better quality skin this way, most of whom have been able to dispense completely with their steroids. Others only need to use the steroids to help them over a flare from time to time, but only for days rather than weeks or months. It is also worth noting that many eczema patients improve if wheatgrass is given orally (Supershots) in addition to the topical formulations.
In the more severe cases, I use daily wheatgrass application in combination with oral steroids i.e. prednisolone, usually 20mg. daily to begin with, to get control over the eczema by reducing inflammation and itch. I then reduce the prednisolone by small increments of 2.5mg every three or four days as this helps significantly in reducing rebound. The aim is to cease the oral steroids as soon as possible, but to maintain the wheatgrass application. If rebound occurs, I repeat the steroid cycle, but never return to the original dose. Usually, if the patient has commenced on 20mg. prednisolone, I return to 15mg. then repeat the gradual reduction in dosage.
This process may take three to six months, but the outcome is usually successful so that only the wheatgrass topical is required.
Eczema Flare and Dry Skin Prevention Techniques
No eczema treatment, including wheatgrass and topical (or oral) steroids, is likely to work unless simple, ‘damage control’ measures are also taken. Try to assist your immune system to heal your skin naturally by reducing or eliminating exposure to adverse factors such as soap, hot water and frequent shampooing which dry the skin, aggravate the condition and slow recovery. My rules:
AVOID SOAP – of any kind. This includes soap-containing shampoos, dishwashing detergents and so on. Try to find colloidal oatmeal containing soap-free wash for body and face and a shampoo containing the same ingredient. Oatmeal appears to have a similar immune-boosting action as wheatgrass and the two appear to work synergistically.
In Australia, the only colloidal oatmeal containing product I am aware of is the ‘Dermaveen’ brand, available at pharmacies. In the USA it is called ‘Aveno’, but I believe there is an equally good but lower-priced product available at Walmart stores under the ‘Equate’ brand.
REDUCE EXPOSURE TO HOT WATER in other words, take short (5 minutes max) showers and NO BATHS. Soap and hot water combine to remove sebum from the pores of the skin and deep into the sebaceous glands, inhibiting sebum production causing dryness and itchiness. Sebaceous glands (See Figure) are controlled by hormones and the immune system, which wheatgrass appears to strengthen naturally.
APPLY WHEATGRASS AS A CREAM OR LOTION AT LEAST TWICE A DAY. More often if necessary. As well as strengthening the skin’s immunity, biological actives from the wheatgrass are absorbed into the body and in time, the patient’s immune status becomes stronger – a major bonus. I also recommend taking wheatgrass orally to further boost the immune system. Ultimately, many patients end up controlling their own eczema just with wheatgrass. The saving to the patient in time and cost can be substantial. Steroids can be gradually reduced, and in time the skin can recover naturally.
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from person to person.
* A large bruise (haematoma – marked by arrows) seen 2 hours after this footballer from the Highett Football Club was kicked on the right temple during a game. Wheatgrass cream was applied immediately after injury. No ice was used. The swelling was originally very tense and blue, but when this picture was taken, it had already softened and the dark purple-blue discoloration almost disappeared.
The following day, (less than 24 hours after the injury) the swelling has virtually disappeared leaving only the skin abrasion where impact occurred still visible.
The Head Trainer of Highett Football Club, Malcolm Matthews estimates that since a wheatgrass-based cream was introduced to the Club, recovery rates for hamstrings and other muscle injuries, groin strains, abrasions, blisters and many other injuries have improved by at least 30 percent.
Malcolm is happy to share his wheatgrass healing experiences with anyone who is interested. Please call him on 0429 171 171.
This is an excellent example of how quickly wheatgrass can stop bleeding under the skin and in deep tissues thereby reducing the swelling of traumatic injuries. If this simple, inexpensive method of contusion management was widely used, post-traumatic swelling and therefore injury recovery time could be dramatically shortened.
The potential uses for wheatgrass as a first-aid application are numerous. For instance, sports injuries, motor vehicle accidents, before and after surgical procedures and operations, falls in the elderly, school playground injuries and so on. It would prove invaluable in every ambulance, hospital and doctor’s office, home, office and glove box.
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from person to person.
What is molluscum contagiosum?
Molluscum contagiosum is a common and quite contagious viral infection affecting mainly school-age children. It appears as small, sometimes itchy raised spots anywhere on the body, but mostly on the face and upper body, armpits and behind the knees. Although not dangerous, molluscum can be quite unsightly and distressing to both child and parents. Sometimes the child is banned from public bathing areas because of it. Scarring, dermatitis or skin infections can sometimes result from the infection.
Molluscum also occurs in adults and is usually, but not always, sexually transmitted.
How do children get molluscum?
The molluscum virus usually spreads by direct contact from person to person e.g. from family members or other infected people with whom they swim or bathe. The incubation period can vary between about 2 to 24 weeks.
How is molluscum treated?
* If possible, start with prevention. If a family member has the condition, avoid the sharing of baths, towels and close contact with other children
Traditionally, there has been little in the way of effective treatments available. Medical advice and treatment varies from “it’s impossible to treat..it will disappear in a year or two”, to freezing, cauterizing, squeezing, pricking, slashing and burning the spots. Other “treatments” include benzyl peroxide, Betadine, and Burow’s solution (aluminium acetate). None of these methods are satisfactory, can be quite distressing to a young child and should be avoided as scarring can result.
One of my own children contracted the virus and more as an afterthought, not expecting it to work, applied the wheatgrass extract daily to the lesions. To my surprise, in about three weeks, they had completely disappeared.
Since then the collective experience of my and many other health practitioners’ patients and hundreds of people around the world shows it can take anywhere between two weeks and three to four months for the spots to disappear. Because of its high degree of safety in infants and children and rare treatment failures, it pays to persevere.
Either the wheatgrass extract in a topical cream base or a lotion can be used for molluscum, but because individual responses vary, it is impossible to predict which is most likely to work. For large affected areas, the lotion would be more economical. Twice daily application of either formulation, parental patience and the knowledge that treatment will most likely be successful are the keys to treatment.
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from person to person.
*Plantar fasciitis (PF) is a common, painful heel condition that can subject some sufferers to physical and associated psychological disability for many years. It is often refractory to treatment, although many cases remit spontaneously. Response to therapy varies as widely as the many interventions available, such as orthotic footwear, steroid injections, extra-corporeal shock wave therapy, anti-inflammatory medication, physiotherapy and surgery. Given the documented, anti-inflammatory effects of wheatgrass1,2 and preliminary clinical observations of symptomatic improvement in patients with plantar fasciitis using a topical wheatgrass cream, this pilot study was instigated to test the efficacy of the application.
Materials and Methods
The pilot study was performed over the internet. Thirty-one patients were recruited on a first-come, first-served basis with the approval of the webmaster of www.heelspurs.com, a popular, semi-commercial English language website in the United States. This site offers support and advice via message boards for sufferers of plantar fasciitis and associated heel pain conditions.
Participants were not informed of any of the known effects of wheatgrass and were promised adequate supplies of the application to cover the three month trial period in return for completing pain level measurements at the requested times. Tubes of cream were despatched to each respondent and replenished at one and two months after commencement of the trial or on request. Participants were sent a basic questionnaire and a protocol by email. They were asked to report their maximum pain levels on either foot on an ascending scale of 0 to 10 at weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 12 following commencement of treatment. Because some pre-trial patients had responded rapidly, often within the first week of treatment, pain levels were requested more frequently in the early stage of the trial period. If updates were not received on the prescribed date, respondents were contacted by email for their pain levels. Once-daily application was advised in order to examine the effects of minimal intervention. Participants were instructed to apply a small amount (“rice-grain size”) of cream to the most tender or painful area on either or both heels. Participant responses were collected regularly and descriptive statistics calculated. Baseline and followup pain scores were compared using a paired sample t-test.
Results
Thirteen males and 18 females joined the trial; 29 from the USA , one from Canada and one from Ireland . Twenty subjects had undertaken previous therapeutic interventions which included surgery, extra-corporeal shock-wave therapy and steroid injections. No exclusion criteria were imposed. The average age of participants was 45 years (range 23-68 years) and the mean overall symptomatic period for PF was 48 months (range 9-144 months).
Fig. 1. Heel pain. Daily wheatgrass topical application. Mean maximum pain levels associated with plantar fasciitis over 12 weeks. n = 31
There was a progressive overall decline in mean maximum pain levels over the 12 week period from 6.1 to 3.25. (Figure 1). By the end of the 12th week, 16 participants (51.7%) had a greater than 40% reduction in maximum pain level while four (12.9%) recovered completely. Six subjects (19.4%) experienced no improvement and one suffered an increase in pain and withdrew from the study. The mean +/- (SD) pain at baseline was 6.1 +/-(2.5) and at 12 weeks was 3.25 (2.5). There was a significant difference between pain at baseline and 12 weeks, (p <0.05).
Discussion
To the author’s knowledge, topical applications have been of little use in the treatment of plantar fasciitis. Extensive research into the therapeutic properties of cereal grasses began in the 1930’s in the U.S.A. , however, no study of the effects of topical wheatgrass applications in the treatment of plantar fasciitis was found in the literature. This study resulted from the clinical observation that several patients with plantar fasciitis responded quite rapidly (sometimes in a day or two) to treatment using the wheatgrass-based topical application. The findings of this study suggest that this application may be a useful and effective adjunct to treatment in some patients. Kubota et. al. demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory effects from barley juice.3
In a privately funded, unpublished study, the author found indomethacin-equivalent anti-inflammatory responses to carrageenin-induced inflammation on the skin of laboratory rats. Given all cereal grasses are essentially nutritionally identical,4 an effective anti-inflammatory response to wheatgrass extract in some of the trial subjects was not an unexpected finding.
The results of the study are limited by the small numbers of participants, the lack of a control group and by the subjective method of pain measurement by participants. A larger, well-controlled study is indicated.
References:
*This study was funded by the author.
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from person to person.
Psoriasis is a common skin condition that can affect people of all ages. It is characterised by a scaly rash that may or may not be itchy. It is not contagious nor is it due to an allergy.
There is a genetic predisposition to psoriasis (it can run in families) but there is also an autoimmune element involved. i.e. the body’s immune system attacks normal skin and causes damage. The condition affects men and women equally and is often very mild, however it can become quite severe in some patients.
About 5% of psoriasis sufferers will develop joint pains (psoriatic arthritis) which can affect one or more joints.
Psoriasis often responds well to wheatgrass extract resulting in reduced scale, thinning of plaque (the lesions can become very thick and unsightly) and reduced inflammation. Daily topical application of wheatgrass extract in a cream base or preferably a lotion appears to helps reduce inflammation and possibly boost the skin’s immunity which may help overcome the autoimmune component of the disorder. Ideally, combine the wheatgrass extract orally with the topical lotion.
Typically, itch tends to diminish early (sometimes in two or three days) followed by thinning and flattening of plaque over several months. Following continued daily application, lesions begin to fade and can eventually disappear or reduce in number or size. Patients generally find that in time they can apply the extract on a needs basis rather than every day.
For a fair assessment of efficacy, treatment should be continued for at least six, preferably twelve, months. Many patients are eventually able to dispense with both oral medication and topical pharmaceuticals.
* Case History: Psoriasis 20 years
Back & buttock lesions
Psoriasis in a 63 yo male present for 20 years. Numerous topical applications, UV, cortisone injections with little, if any improvement over the years except in summer.
The photograph on the left (after one month’s treatment with wheatgrass Skin Recovery Spray twice daily) shows thick plaque, heavy scale formation and rough, thickened edges around lesions. By this stage, the patient’s itch had significantly improved, and only required occasional topical steroid application.
Centre (6 months treatment), plaque visibly thinner, lesions flattening and spreading, pinkish skin colour returning to lesion surface and edges more clearly defined. Most noticeable are the numerous “skin lines” forming, a sign that I believe shows that skin “normalisation” has begun. More “pseudolesions” have appeared, but these tend to become pale and disappear in time. At this stage, the patient’s genital psoriasis, present for many years, had largely resolved.
Right (9 months treatment) Lesions flatter and fading, approaching normal skin colour. Significant improvement in appearance of lesions over treatment period.
Note: These photographs were not taken by the author.
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from person to person.
Leg Lesions
*Acne Rosacea
Apply daily to affected area. Persist. WG is the only therapeutic agent I know that can assist this condition. Erythema reduced, improved appearance.
*Acute, Painful Rashes
Apply sparingly to affected area. Can provide rapid, dramatic reduction of pain, swelling & blistering.
*Alopecia Areata
Apply wheatgrass cream or spray twice daily. Responses vary considerably and treatment needs to continue for at least 12 months before deciding whether to continue or not. View some successful treatments of alopeciahere here. Wheatgrass appears to have a positive effect on auto-immune conditions such as alopecia, psoriasis and acne rosacea.
*Burn Contractures
Apply sparingly to contracture 3 times a day or more frequently. Contracture can soften in 15-20 minutes allowing increased mobilisation. Long term effect not known. Also worth trying on Dupuytren’s contractures.
*Burns
Apply immediately to burn area after first-aid. Apply light, non-stick dressing (eg Melolin). Change dressing daily. Pain reduction or elimination can occur within hours. Low or negligible infection & rapid healing with reduced scar formation. For these reasons, I believe wheatgrass is of major medical importance as a treatment for burns, both superficial and deep.
*Chilblains
Apply every few hours. Can moderate symptoms.
*Diabetic Foot Ulcers
Apply sparingly to ulcer once a day & cover with light non-stick dressing. If too painful, apply around ulcer. Can reduce pain & risk of infection. May induce healing & increase circulation to affected area.
*Excision of Skin Lesions
Smear small amount of WG over base of excision e.g. cyst, or over sutured skin. Cover firmly with non-stick dressing. Re-dress daily.
Minimal or no pain after local anesthetic wears off. Clean, blood-free open wound site next day, no adherence to dressing. Little ooze. Can prevent infection, with fast healing & reduced scarring.
*Granulomas
Apply WG daily with light dressing. Antibiotics not usually required. Exudate can dry up in 48 hours. Lesion may take several weeks to resolve.
*Herpes Zoster
Use medication if indicated. Apply WG every 4 hours to developing or established rash. May assist & shorten healing process & ease pain.
*Ingrown Toenail
Apply to inflamed area & cover with light dressing once a day. Often marked reduction in pain & inflammation in a few days.
*Injection Sites
Apply immediately to injection site & cover with bandaid. Can prevent local pain, tenderness & swelling.
*Jellyfish & Insect Bites & Stings
Apply immediately to affected area. Can ease pain & reduce inflammation if applied early.
*Laser Burns
Apply to burn site once a day. Can prevent & reduce inflammation & pain.
*Paronychia
Apply to affected area. WG almost invariably produces remarkable improvement, reducing pain, inflammation and swelling overnight. Antibiotics not required and extract prepares area for incision and drainage. However, pus tends to be absorbed and incision often unnecessary.
*Phlebitis
Apply WG 3 times a day or more frequently to affected area. Can soften tissue & reduce swelling, tenderness and pain.
*Phlebotomy, IV Sites
Apply immediately after vein puncture. Can prevent bruising & inflammation. Ideal for venepuncturists.
*Psoriasis
Apply twice daily to affected areas. Persist. May take a couple of months for lesions to fade. Usually itch disappears in first few days or weeks, then plaque becomes thinner with reduction in scale shedding. Lesions become smoother and in time, centre begins to fade
*Skin Abscess
Slow Healing Insect Bites (e.g. White-Tailed Spider)
Apply daily to wound with light non-stick dressing. Repeat daily.The wound can dry quickly & heal within several weeks or sooner.
*Solar Keratoses
Smear small amount of WG on lesion twice daily. Can eradicate lesions in about 6 – 8 weeks. Also useful for basal cell carcinomas.
*Sunburn
Apply as soon as possible to affected area. Repeat 4 hourly. Can significantly reduce pain and inflammation. Helps remove peeling skin. Wheatgrass can also augment the effects of sunscreen. Apply it to the skin before applying your sunscreen.
*Varicose Ulcers
Smear small amount of WG over ulcer bed & surrounding skin every 2 days. Apply non-stick light dressing. Compression not required. Pain reduction & cleansing of ulcer floor can occur with healing from wound edges & centre of ulcer. The skin surrounding ulcer thickens & strengthens. Simple self-care for the patient. Cleansing agents, astringents, compression bandages not usually required. Highly cost-effective. Can reduce the need for hospitalization.
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from person to person.
* Sporting injuries – forget the ice – use wheatgrass
By Dr. Chris Reynolds. M.B.,B.S.
Recently I was in the change room at half-time at a local Highett Football Club game. Players were pressing plastic bags full of crushed ice against pulled muscles and bruises like security blankets. Knowing there was a better way, I wondered why ice is used at all for sports injuries. Ice does not stop bleeding either from the skin, the nose or from deeper tissues.
Researchers have shown that ice can cause inflammation and swelling in the deeper tissues which significantly slows recovery.(1) There also seems to be little agreement among experts about how long ice should be applied.(2) Ice, ethyl chloride spray and other coolants may numb the skin and perhaps relieve pain a little, but essentially they do little if anything to assist or hasten tissue recovery.
Yet it appears these rather primitive methods are all that’s available for emergency treatment of sports injuries. If they don’t stop the bleeding that predisposes to slow healing and recovery, then they shouldn’t be used. But what alternatives are there? Isn’t there SOMETHING that does a better job? Yes, wheatgrass does. Considering the enormous amount of playing and working time lost from sports injuries, not to mention the pain and disability they cause, it’s time the sporting world woke up to this strikingly superlative alternative treatment method.
How can wheatgrass be more effective than ice?
Let’s look at an example. The young footballer pictured below received a hefty boot to the head causing a massive bruise within minutes (Left). On the right is the bruise less than 24 hours later.
All it required to achieve this stunning result was to smear some wheatgrass cream over the bruise. No ice or compression was applied. It is not necessary because wheatgrass penetrates the skin, stops the underlying bleeding and rapidly reduces swelling, often within 24 hours.
Any kind of injury can cause tissue damage. Blood vessels rupture and blood spreads into surrounding tissues causing inflammation and swelling. Pressure build-up then slows muscle, nerve and other tissue recovery.
So, the most important thing to do for any injury is STOP THE BLEEDING! Blood in the tissues can do a lot of damage. The sooner wheatgrass is applied, the sooner the deep and surface bleeding stops, swelling is reduced and blood supply returns to the damaged tissue. Rapid recovery is the usual outcome.
Too good to be true? Not at all. I have used an extract of wheatgrass to treat numerous injuries since 1995. It is without doubt a powerful hemostatic agent i.e. it stops bleeding quickly. Blood noses, open wounds, bruises, sprained ankles, cuts, scratches, abrasions and deep tissue injuries such as corked, torn or pulled muscles – usually respond quickly to wheatgrass. I can understand your scepticism but I can assure you this is very real.
But how does it work?
Wheatgrass is an amazing healing agent, and soft tissue injury is just one of the conditions it works for. If you read the following basic scientific explanation for these phenomena, it all starts to make sense.
For years I have suggested that wheatgrass probably activates Growth Factors. These are small molecules that act as cell messengers to stimulate production by DNA of the numerous proteins required for the healing process. The immune system response, wound healing and stopping bleeding and absorption of blood clot are just a few of the functions vital to the maintenance and repair of damaged tissues mediated by Growth Factors.
I have researched the literature extensively since 1995 and made thousands of clinical observations (the head bruise shown above being a classic example) which strongly suggest that wheatgrass contains Growth Factor Activators. What they do is “kick start” and thereby facilitate the natural healing process resulting in faster healing than expected.
So remember, the top priority in treating sports and other traumatic injuries is to STOP THE BLEEDING AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. If you play sport or have anything to do with managing sports injuries, I can guarantee that if you use wheatgrass, you will see a marked improvement in injury recovery time with reduced pain and swelling. Too good to be true? Not at all. Try it and see for yourself.
Some injuries that respond well to wheatgrass (perseverance pays):
References:
1. Meeusen R, Lievens P. The use of cryotherapy in sports injuries. Sports Med. 1986 Nov-Dec;3(6):398-414
2. MacAuley, D. Do textbooks agree on their advice on ice? Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 11(2):67-72, April 2001.
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from person to person.
“In a moist environment exudate provides the cells involved in wound repair with nutrients, controls infection, and provides the best environment for healing.”
This statement is very true, but the orthodox method of maintaining a moist environment for optimal wound healing is mechanistic and basically flawed. We know that exudate is a crucial product of the natural healing process and contains the necessary growth factors that bring about that healing. By allowing exudate to form above the wound surface, absorb it with a dressing then remove it when the dressing is changed is to waste this all-important natural healing resource. The aim therefore should be to retain exudate under the wound surface to enable it to perform optimally its natural function. Wheatgrass helps facilitate and achieve this function by sealing the wound surface and preventing exudate loss.
* In this case a 50 year old businessman suffered a large, deep injury to his left lower leg when attacked by a pit bull terrier. A split skin-graft was applied to the wound on the same day and orthodox medical management of providing a so-called “wet” environment commenced.
Antibiotic dressings that kill bacteria (but suppress the immune response and rate of healing of body surface tissues) were also applied.
Keeping the wound moist is an age-old concept mainly based on clinical experience, conventional wisdom and research that shows cells grow faster in wet rather than dry environments.
My approach is precisely the opposite. I use a wound-healing wheatgrasss extract that keeps the surface dry by default i.e. by sealing the wound with a new layer of epithelial (skin) cells. This allows new cell growth to occur underneath the surface layer. Wheatgrass is known to stimulate the production of growth factors. These factors are responsible for new cell production throughout the body, including tissue repair in the process of wound healing.
This almost invariably results in:
Instead of intervening with the natural healing process, wheatgrass facilitates it.
In this patient, the skin graft failed to “take”‚ requiring time-consuming and costly regular antibiotic and other dressing changes every few days over the following six weeks. Considerable discomfort occurred each time dressings were removed due to exudate adhering to the dressing.
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from person to person.
Fig. 1. DAY 43 – Orthodox management. The antibiotic dressing has been removed leaving a brown discolouration on the skin and a wet surface which is due to exudate. Note the rough surface of the grafted skin (whitish color), poor, irregularly contoured attachment to the surrounding normal skin and raised areas of granulation tissue. (These are the yellow and red irregularly shaped areas that indicate the body’s attempt to heal the overlying surface. It is not due to infection.) The wound was cleaned, wheatgrass extract (4% solution) applied then redressed with a light, non-stick dressing. (Melolin). The patient was asked to change the dressing daily.
Fig. 2. DAY 45. Just two days after the first application of wheatgrass extract there is dramatic improvement in the surface of the skin graft. Even to the unpracticed eye the wound is looking much healthier. Note the dry wound surface with a thin layer of re-epithelialisation (re-growth of new skin cells) visible over the yellow granulation areas. This seals the wound surface naturally rendering it impermeable to bacteria and preventing infection.
There is substantial filling in of the previously depressed areas‚ covered by the graft seen in Figure 1. The grafted skin is now looking strong and healthy and has blended seamlessly with the surrounding normal skin. The irregular border has smoothed out as has the surface of the granulation tissue. The wound is quite clean, free of infection and dry.
Fig. 3. DAY 50. One week after the first application of wheatgrass extract, skin coverage, which appears strong and increasingly integrated with normal surrounding skin, has progressed significantly as granulation areas continue to contract.
Fig. 4. DAY 55. Twelve days after the first wheatgrass extract application, the wound is almost completely covered with strong looking skin. Apart from two very small areas of granulation, only scab formation remains. This will now heal naturally with dressings used for protection only.
Fig. 5. DAY 63. 20 days after the first wheatgrass extract application. Wound healed. No dressing required. Wheatgrass extract (4% solution) was applied after 6 weeks of treatment effectively sealing the wound and rendering it dry. Just two days after the first application, significant improvement was observed to the wound surface which continued to improve rapidly. The patient managed his own dressing changes with ease, and, other than returning for photographs, required no further medical or nursing attention.In this example, as in numerous others I have managed since 1995, I have no doubt that wheatgrass could revolutionise the effectiveness and economics of skin graft, open wound and burns management.
*Phenomenal Results with Wheatgrass Recovery Spray Trials
by Robert McDowell. Veterinary Herbalist.
As you all know, a horse in a paddock will go to enormous lengths to puncture, rip, graze or tear itself open on anything it can find to do this on. It will also strike and bite at its neighbors and endeavor to hang itself up the fences whenever it can.
Horse owners are therefore constantly coming upon the wounds inflicted by this behavior and having to support their healing.
I have been trialling his new liquid spray preparation with the help of some of my patients and clients on a variety of open wounds over the past month and have had phenomenal results on the following cases;
Long term suppurating cancer sore in a serious human breast cancer case which was causing burning and discomfort which prevented the patient from sleeping at night. External burning sensation almost gone in two days, wound showing positive healing signs in a week and my patient is sleeping better and responding well to my other herbal treatments.
A weeping sore on the nose of a horse with cancer in the facial bones showed a very similar result to my breast cancer lady. The sore which was not painful, but showing no signs of healing whatsoever, immediately began to heal.
Fly bitten ears on a dog which weren’t healing and which required the ears to be bound to the dogs head to prevent it scratching. Bandages off, itching stopped and healing started within the week.
Hobble sores in pacers healing well.
Greyhound breeder with 120 odd pups and young dogs housed in groups and being constantly faced with bites and scratches is trialing the spray as his first aid and only response to all wounds. He simply walks around with his spray bottle at meal times and sprays the liquid on every wound he sees. He is delighted and it is simpler and quicker in its effect than anything he has ever used before.
We have a serious and simple treatment here folks. It should be in everybody’s tack room, first aid kit and float along with your bottle of Rescue Remedy, Herbal Bute Replacement and Hoof Oil.
I will be recommending it particularly to my Show Dog clients and my horse owners in the Western and English Show Circuit as it does offer a very simple and positive first aid response to all wounds.
Get a bottle as soon as possible and start using it.
Yours truly,
Robert McDowell, Herbalist
*Disclaimer: Results may vary from animal to animal.
