Dr. Dana Myatt, NMD
Cat Scratch
While at medical school, studying to become a naturopathic doctor, Dr. Dana, NMD, received a cat scratch on her foot. She paid no attention to it, but on the second day she noticed a red streak traveling up from her foot to her knee. The typical treatment would have been with antibiotics. Instead, Dr. Dana made a poultice with charcoal and water, and applied it directly over the scratch, and left it in place for a couple hours. When it dried out, she removed the poultice and was surprised to see the redness had receded half way down to the foot. She simply remoistened the poultice, and replaced it over the scratch. After a couple more hours, she removed it to find that the red streak had completely disappeared. She had no further problems.
Diabetic Ulcer
“Between my first and second year of medical school, the grandfather of one of my classmates had been told by his doctor that his foot was so badly infected it needed to be amputated. He had already lost a toe, and did not want to go that route. I had the night care of this man and overnight I placed a charcoal poultice over the foot. We continued this practice for a month. We were rewarded for our efforts by seeing the foot turn from black back to a healthy pink. After the month, he was once more up and about. We also gave him some simple hydrotherapy treatments, and instructed him on how to improve his dietary habits.”
Tooth Abscess
“I recommend to all my patients that they have a supply of charcoal in their emergency kits. For tooth abscesses, I take a tea bag and slit open the bottom. I then empty the contents, and replace them with charcoal powder from three to four capsules, and tape the bag closed. It is then moistened, and placed against the offending tooth.”
Brown Recluse Spider Bite
“I have never actually treated anyone with a bite from a black widow, but have treated several brown recluse spider bites. These are far more difficult to treat. I have seen people who required cosmetic surgery to repair the extensive tissue damage, and some people have recurring symptoms years later.”
She went on to tell of an encounter a friend had with a brown recluse:
“While teaching a course in Scottsdale I noticed a small ulceration on my friend’s leg. Maxine had not noticed it, but by the next morning it had gone from less than dime-size to quarter-size and had become angry and inflamed. A large open ulcer had developed, and she had enlarged lymph nodes in the groin. I immediately prepared a poultice, and placed it over the open ulcer. The poultice was replaced several times daily over the course of a week. Maxine also took a couple of herbal supplements and charcoal internally. By the second week there was no evidence of a bite at all.”
Post-surgical colic
After many experiences, Dr. Dana, NMD, has discovered that charcoal is an excellent preventive for what she terms “Killer Colic”.
“I often prescribe charcoal as a preventive for post-surgical colic. I recommend that those of my patients scheduled for intestinal or gynecological surgery take six capsules of activated charcoal at the second to last meal before stopping food intake in preparation for surgery. At midnight, they are to take more charcoal, and then nothing more at all until after their surgery. In my own case, after surgery, the doctors kept waiting for me to pass gas as a sign that my bowels were again functioning. They did not want to feed me or release me, but I assured them that I had no gas, and that my bowels were working just fine.”
Infected Wound
Dr. Myatt frequently recommends charcoal for her two-legged patients at work but sometimes her four-legged pets at home also need the benefits of charcoal.
“One of our cats somehow tore one of her claws out and the foot became badly infected. The vet recommended a treatment of antibiotics, but we decided to try a charcoal poultice first. My husband, Mark, was able to secure the poultice so that the cat could not remove it. By the third day the foot was back to normal.”
John Dinsley
Born in British Columbia, Canada, John Dinsley has lived, and worked from South America to the North Pole, from Nova Scotia to Nepal. He is trained as a lifestyle counselor, teaches public health programs, home remedies workshops, and has operated a family care home. He and his wife Kimberly are the owners of Charcoal House LLC. They often travel together across the U.S. and internationally to conduct charcoal workshops. He is a carpenter by trade, has managed an organic market garden business, and volunteered in overseas development work. When he is not building, teaching or gardening, he enjoys writing.
