Speculations:
Scarring and Blood

Several people have written about tragic experiences with scarring associated with black salve use..

While some scarring may be related to the particular product used, there are some other possibilities that I would like to propose, purely as speculation.

• First, the pictures I have studied with respect to scarring suggest that the area that actually scars is not identical to where the paste was applied.

• Second, some people use the pastes without any reaction whatsoever—suggesting that the reaction, however mild or strong, is more related to the pathology than the chemical constituents of the paste.

• Third, those with infection seem to scar much more than those who are either free of infection or who manage the treatment in a hygienic manner.

I will post one set of pictures to depict this phenomenon clearly. Here, a breast tumor was treated using a black salve that was applied in a circular area. However, the scar following treatment was linear, completely so.

I have other photos in my possession that indicate similar reactions, including those of Janis (see the questions and answers) and some others. The scarring issue is therefore somewhat mysterious and possibly not exactly related to the actual placement of the paste (which was bloodroot in the above instance as well as that of Janis.) My hunch is that the scarring is somehow related to the condition of the blood because the scar seems to form over arteries rather than where the paste was placed on the skin.

To deal with scarring, turmeric can be added to the actual product used for treatment. It can also be taken internally. There are other "solutions" that have been tried by some persons. These vary from homeopathic remedies intended for such purposes, post-treatment plastic surgery (such as described by physicians in the early part of this century), and laser removal (as described by someone who used a black salve on her son.) Some of these solutions are radical.  Some say that internal use of red clover reduces scarring.  This is the main herb in the Hoxsey tonic, which we produce under the name of Sundance Elixir.

Again, it is speculative, but some practitioners, such as Hoxsey or the successor to his work, Mildred Nelson, advise use of an internal tonic for some months prior to commencing escharotic use. These tonics are milder in action and should perhaps be used in conjunction with the escharotics, but they have often been used independently of the pastes and salves. This option may not be available for those with no time to spare, for those whose tumors have already ulcerated, or for those who have started on a program and need to continue with it without interruption.

Please take a look at the photomicrographs of the blood of a patient using scrophularia syrup.

Dr. John Christopher believed that skin cancers are the outer manifestation of inner conditions — that when exposed to the sun, ripen and come to the surface. My experience with such conditions is that the blood is "corrupt" (a term used historically in reference to toxic conditions affecting the blood.) Many believed that no cancer could be cured without first addressing the blood. There is one practitioner using a bloodroot paste with persons who were exposed to agent orange while posted in Vietnam. If he gives bloodroot internally, the skin erupts, apparently driving a deeper condition to the surface. The skin is then the escape route for the internal conditions. There is an utter randomness to this process as it is not possible to predict where the eruption will occur. Moreover, as morbid material builds up on the surface, it is not known whether other parts of the body are becoming less toxic or less malignant.

These are questions without answers. However, again speculating, it is possible that just as a tumor, the primary tumor, begins in a certain tissue from which it may metastasize, so an ulceration, induced by an escharotic or occurring naturally, may be a release mechanism that when properly treated draws morbid matter from throughout the body to the designated exit, perhaps reversing the spread that was occurring prior to creating the exit point.

Warning: though there may be some merit to these speculations, they are without proof; moreover, bizarre physiological developments should not become a basis for complacency when a condition appears to be worsening.

There is, however, enough evidence of more than is generally accepted in conventional cancer treatment to want to cover more bases when dealing with a malignancy.

P.S.:  Since this page was first written, we have developed a cream for post-escharotic use called Feathered Turtle.