Charcoal Works!
Pastor Kurt Dahlin is the founder of Water Wells for Africa. He has, over the last year, been experimenting more with the medicinal benefits of charcoal. He writes:

“Charcoal has amazing medicinal value.  I want to discuss some of the positive uses of charcoal.

1. I have had a terrible rash on my dry cracked feet for decades.  My feet are constantly red, itchy and the toenail on my left foot falls off every year from fungus.  I had given up treating my feet and generally ignored them. Last summer when I came home from Africa I had a strange new rash on my feet that defied every treatment. I didn’t want to drag myself off to endless specialists to end up with an antibiotic cocktail.  So I thought I would try the charcoal remedy.  I took my own wet suit booties which are waterproof and I mixed up 2 tablespoons of charcoal powder in a third of a cup of warm water and poured that same amount into each bootie. I wore socks and the slurry covered my feet above the ankles. I did this and sloshed around for nine days.  After three days I was discouraged because I didn’t see many results.  However, the fourth day the change was dramatic.  The rash was considerably subsided so I was encouraged to continue.  After nine days my feet were as soft as a little baby, all my rashes were gone and my feet were normal color.  No one could believe it, especially my children and friends and my wife who had put up with my foot neglect their entire lives.  I was really shocked by the remarkable results and so is everyone who now sees my beautiful feet.  Some days I would change the charcoal water out twice a day and wear my boots as long as possible.  On a couple of days I was only able to wear the water proof boots for five or six hours. However my feet are a thing of beauty.
2. I accidentally impaled my finger along the nail under the cuticle with a piece of wire.  I didn’t think about it because the wire was thin and it didn’t cause me much pain.  However, the next day my finger was swollen, painful and very inflamed.  So I cut the finger off a latex glove, mixed some charcoal powder with water and taped it on my finger up to the second knuckle.  I left this on all day and the next day I felt so much better.  So I did it again. After three days the pain was gone, there was no inflammation and again I was amazed.
3. I went fishing with my son Daniel.  I don’t know what happened but my left index finger was so swollen and throbbing that I couldn’t tie my fishing knots.  It could have been an ingrown fingernail or I could have mysteriously injured my finger with a hook. Yet the finger was hot and stung to touch it. So I took a latex glove cut off the finger added some charcoal powder and water and taped it on my finger. I changed it twice a day for four consecutive days.  After four days there was no pain, no swelling, my finger was as good as new. No doctor and no medicine.
4. I had a terrible toothache, swollen glands in my throat and a migraine.  I took three ibuprofen and lay in bed.  After an hour I was still very miserable.  So I decided to get some charcoal powder and mixed it with psyllium fiber and just enough water to make a paste and packed it all around my sore tooth.  Within an hour I was able to get out of bed and go about my business somewhat cheerfully.  My headache was gone and my tooth felt better.  So I left the charcoal paste in all day.  I made more paste and packed it between my cheek and gum all day for three more days.  I would put in a new pack and leave it in at night. After two days there was no pain in my tooth.  After four days the swollen glands in my neck were gone.  I finally went to the dentist about three weeks later.  I had a cavity underneath a filling in a molar.  I needed a crown.  However in the interim, the pain was very manageable and I was surprised that charcoal/psyllium paste also dealt with my sore throat problem.  If I were living in a particular part of the world that was not serviced by a local dentist; I would definitely benefit by using charcoal powder for toothaches and gum disease.  I probably would chew a piece of charcoal all day long.
5. I’ve been brushing my teeth with charcoal powder and toothpaste for almost two years.  My dentist was amazed at the health of my gums and the whiteness of my teeth.  Normally my teeth cleaning is a painful experience.  Even though I brush regularly and floss frequently a visit to the dentist for cleaning was painful.  However, since I’ve been brushing daily with charcoal powder and toothpaste my last two dental cleanings have been the easiest in my life.  No bleeding gums, no pain, and each cleaning took less than 20 minutes.  I love how clean my teeth feel when I brush with charcoal powder. There was very little plaque buildup and no gingivitis or periodontal disease. I imagined that all people in the world who have access to charcoal could benefit by brushing with charcoal powder and achieve his dog into the top hat seed know if the fifth better oral hygiene.
6. I felt that charcoal is so powerful that it should benefit the entire body to periodically take a warm water charcoal bath.  So I ground up about ½ cup of my own campfire wood charcoal into powder and added it to a cup of water outside.  Charcoal powder is very messy.  It is best to mix it in water first outdoors before adding it to your bath.  I enjoyed about an hour of relaxation.  I had a nagging neck ache that went away immediately.  I also had developed a rash in my crotch area that would not respond to normal treatment.  I could feel pain leaving my body.  My hair felt so clean and soft.  There was no tattooing affect; no skin discoloration and no discoloration of my gray hair.  I am pleased to say that the very next day my rash showed remarkable improvement and now just two days later it’s completely gone. I will wear earplugs next time and goggles if I want to soak my face so charcoal grains don’t get in my eyes and ears.
7. For two months I’ve had something called trigger finger on my left thumb.  It’s very sore down at the base of the thumb and I can’t bend my thumb back as normal.  So I took a latex glove, mixed some charcoal powder and water and poured it in the glove.  I wore the glove all day.  I felt like Michael Jackson.  Of course I did it in the privacy of my own home.  The pain in my thumb was improved and my range of motion was also improved.  However, I noticed that my hand that was in the glove had a more natural skin color than my other hand and less age spots and wrinkles.  I was able to ask people to take a test to determine which of my hands looked better and every one that I asked, without hesitation, picked the hand that had been in the glove.  So tonight I am again wearing the charcoal glove to see if there are some benefits for the injured thumb and my old age spots.
8. My wife has a horrible arthritic condition on her little finger.  I decided to see if charcoal powder would help that condition.  So I cut the finger from a latex glove; and I mixed some charcoal powder with water and taped it on her finger.  Yesterday, Tuesday, February 11, 2014 was the first day. I will continue it and keep you posted.
9. For the past 10 months I have been drinking a tablespoon of charcoal powder every night with my psyllium fiber.  I had a blood test in March 2013 and another one at the end of January 2014.  In every category my blood panel has improved.  My sugar level is lower and my cholesterol is lower by 23 points.  My diet has been the same and my pitiful exercise routines are the same.  It could be that the change in my blood panel test was due to the wood charcoal.
10. I have a cyst the size of a marble on my back on the edge of my spine.  I have had it for as long as I can remember.  Sometimes it inflames and hurts me when I sit on a wood back chair.  I probably should’ve had surgery and had it removed.  So I bought some 4 inch waterproof bandages.  I’d made a paste from charcoal powder and psyllium and it put it on the bandage and applied it to my cyst.  Today (Wednesday, February 12, 2014) is the second day and I am amazed to say that the cyst is greatly reduced.  I am encouraged to continue my charcoal treatment to see if I can fully dissolve the cyst.
11. Thursday, February 13, 2014,  A very large rat survive a cat attack long enough to die under our house. After a week the disgusting odor from the decomposing carcass was overwhelming. So we purchased the services of a local plumber to go under the house and retrieve the body. He threw it in the trash can which had a lid. However, the stench was so great that I couldn’t throw away any trash. I collected half a bucket of wood ash and charcoal, about a gallon, from the evening campfire and poured it into the trash can and into the bag with the dead rat. The odor was so bad that it clung to my clothes even though I had only opened the lid for 10 seconds. I had to take off my shirt and leave it outside the house. Within a half hour the foul putrefaction was greatly reduced. Encouraged, I gathered additional ash and charcoal and gave another application. Soon, there was no more stench. I held the lid open to be sure the horrible smell was eradicated. Amazing and shocking….happily…the power of simple ash and charcoal.
12. June, 2012: Chris had gone hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains the day before his long flight to Malawi, Africa. Southern California is famous for poison oak. Chris contracted a very severe case over his body that would not allow him any rest from itching, redness and rash. In Blantyre, Malawi we decided that Chris should take a long hot charcoal bath. We purchased some locally made charcoal and had it pulverized. We then mixed a cup of charcoal powder in the tub and added Chris. His itching was relieved for 6 hours and within three days his poison oak plague was gone. Since we are all familiar with the duration of such a harsh case and the variety of recommended treatments—we were amazed at how quickly his case was resolved.
13. Sunday, February 23, 2014: Leilani: On Friday my son NATHAN 11 years old, was violently throwing up from a bad stomach virus that was going around. We had suggestions to try Pedialyte; try Gatorade; to try water with lemon and it didn’t work. So that went into Friday night. Friday night I started getting sick violently throwing up in the middle of the night at 2-3am in the morning. So by the next morning were dehydrated needing to go to the emergency room. Sunny  Bray, our son’s tutor, reached out and asked how Nathan  and I were doing. Upon hearing about the stomach virus and the ferocious vomiting, she suggested for us to ingest the homemade charcoal powder that we had been currently using to brush our teeth. No formulas were given we just went to the charcoal took a heaping teaspoon mixed it into a large, maybe 6 ounce, glass of water and drank it down. The first cup we threw up but the second one stayed down. We both began to feel better immediately. We had body aches from being dehydrated, vomiting and not eating so we had a day of not feeling good but we weren’t throwing up. A few days later my middle child came down with the stomach virus and before I could tell him to ingest the charcoal he had thrown up numerous times. The same situation happened to him; the first cup of charcoal in the water he threw up but the second glass he kept down and stop throwing up from there! My middle son asked me to kill him he was in such pain from throwing up. At that point I told him to ingest the charcoal powder. He was so sick that he would try anything. He was reluctant but he did it and he was soon better. I mean charcoal is like the miracle solution!”

Pastor Kurt
California
February 2014