My little boy (2 1/2 years old, without the slightest sign of interest in pottytraining) is the most rash-prone fella I've ever seen. If he LOOKS at something irritating, he breaks out in a rash. Diarrhea is the worst-- his skin instantly erupts into a pink mess that quickly becomes extremely painful, even BLOODY, if allowed to continue without immediate and effective treatment.
In my hunt for products to stop the diabolical diaper rash in its tracks, I came across this- BFI, an antiseptic powder that's been around since at least 1902. It's not as effective as I'd hoped for the diaper rash-- possibly because pee comes along and washes it off too often for it to really work its wonders. But take a look at its reviews on
drugstore.com- or on
amazon.com. People would walk miles to find this stuff! It's amazingly effective for:
- minor cuts
- scrapes
- burns
- chafing
- dogs' ear infections, skin wounds, and "hot spots"
- athlete's foot
- skin infections
- bites (insect and animal)
- belly button fungus (I am not making that up)
...the list goes on and on, once you start reading the reviews.
A quick look at the ingredients gives me three quick clues to its effectiveness: menthol (mint), eucalyptol (eucalyptus), and thymol (thyme) are among its "inactive" ingredients. (Here's a great post by Ozark herbalist Jim Long on
Listerine and its use of the same ingredients.) Now I'm not sure if these are natural or synthetic forms of those chemicals being included today, but I am sure that they were originally included in the formula because of the healing and germ-fighting properties those herbs contain. Once again, a simple product with simple ingredients can blow away the doctor-prescribed drugs and chemicals that cost ten times as much.
Lucky for me, I found it easily (and cheaper than I could buy it online) at our fabulous
local downtown pharmacy. This is something every mom and pet owner ought to have on hand.
(Images of old BFI bottles located via Google hunting on Ebay and the Natural Museum of American History. Fun to see those!)
7 comments:
Thanks for the tips. We constantly are fighting some rash in the summer from plants and bugs. Good idea about having it on hand for the dogs, too.
BTW, we have a brand new all natural store in Mountain Home. The Truck Patch is right on Hwy 62. You should take a little car trip sometime!
I'll have to check that out, Kerri! I haven't been to Mt. Home in... oh, a decade or so, but surely I'll make it out there soon! I've heard it's really changed, and that the thrift store shopping is amazing over there because of all the retirees. Hmm...
I don't do a lot of thrift store shopping - or other shopping - as we just don't have the room for more stuff, but my neighbor seems to enjoy the thrift store shopping here! Mtn. Home has changed quite a bit just since we built the little house in 2003. I understand everyone used to go to Harrison to shop, but now that Mtn. Home has gotten so large, Harrison is more of the occasional trip for people around here now.
If you haven't discovered it yet, lanolin is the best thing ever for diaper rash. It doesn't burn, keeps all manner of fluids away from the rash and works for all kinds of things. We call is 'magic cream' in my house :)
I'm going to try lanolin on my boy now, thanks for the recommendations!
Jay @ The Canvas Art Shop
Awesome post, thank you for the ideas!
mohka
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