Sunday, February 24, 2008

Update: My Broken Nose

So I mentioned the other day that I had broken my nose. I went back to see a doctor this morning because I was concerned that the staff infection wasn't healing fast enough -- and because the comments on the original post freaked me out a bit.

It's not MRSA. And although it wasn't healing as fast as the first doctor had suggested, it's doing fine. He did a more thorough exam and said that the staff entered through the broken skin and set up camp in the nostril on one side.

That made me feel better -- and my nose is actually starting to look like my nose again.

But as usual, I bumped up against closed-minded medicine. I have been using olive leaf extract, a pretty potent natural antibiotic and antiviral, and tea tree oil, which on topical MRSA is statistically as beneficial as any pharmaceutical. The doctor told me I was silly to be wasting time and money on such things.

I personally think both have been useful. Especially the tea tree oil, even though I don't like it's estrogenic side effects. But for short-term use, I can live with it. When I apply the oil, the pain and swelling subside almost immediately, so I have been applying it several times a day.

Hopefully, someday, mainstream medicine will accept the benefits of complementary approaches.

Regular blogging should resume tomorrow, as much as my schedule will allow.