Tag Archives: emu oil

April 25, 2016 · 5:47 am

What About Emu Oil?

I stumbled across this strange substance while in the dog park. Despite the expression, “What happens in the dog park stays in the dog park,” I am going to share my experience with you.

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How to Hide/Heal a Facial Scar – Chapter 2

Actually, this isn’t really chapter two, but it is the second blog post on hiding and healing a facial scar. I wrote the first one in August of 2013. You can read the post How Emu Oil and Coconut Oil Hid a Facial Scar. I wrote it a year after the Mohs surgery I had in 2012 and showed the result.

Now comes chapter two. Back in September of 2014 I went under the knife again as I had managed to accumulate two basal cell carcinomas. The first was on the other side of my face, symmetry anyone? The second on my back. As occurred the first time, I had about 15 stitches on my face and a scar extending longer than an inch. You can see it on the illustration below. In the interest of brevity, I am not going to do the scar on my back. This way we are comparing apples to apples.

That was six months ago. As I did before, I applied emu oil and coconut oil to the scar as soon as the bandages came off. Additionally, this year I began wet shaving with a double edge razor rather than the electric I had used for the past decades. I mention that because once I was allowed to shave again (about two weeks after the operation), I found that I nicked myself on the scar several times. That probably didn’t help the healing process much. On the other hand, I would use aloe vera on my face after shaving along with the emu oil and coconut oil. So, perhaps I had extra regenerative work going on.

What is the result? You can see for yourself below. The first photo was taken as soon as the bandages came off, about a week after the surgery.

I had to keep the dressing on for over a week, so this is the first time I could see it after the operation in September 2014.

Below is the second photo which my girlfriend shot this afternoon.

By my reckoning, this is an impressive healing over the course of six months.

I am very impressed with this healing. Remember, I am not a kid. I turned 75 in January of this year. So, I don’t heal like a youngster.

I would be interested in hearing about any similar experience that you might have had.

Tony

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Filed under hiding a facial scar, Mohs surgery, Skin cancer surgery

Tagged as aloe vera, coconut oil, emu oil, facial scar, Mohs surgery, skin cancer, wet shaving

September 15, 2014 · 2:21 pm

Four Days Removed From Skin Cancer Surgery

I am now in the latter part of my first week following Mohs skin cancer surgery on my face and my shoulder to remove a pair of basal cell carcinomas. I have included links at the end for those of you who might want details of the operations.

My energy is returning slowly, but I am still following the doctor’s instructions to take it easy. I have not ridden my bike since the surgery. The doctor has also prescribed an antibiotic for me to take to fight possible infection in the incisions.

Each day following the surgery I have napped from one to two hours and then gotten a full night’s sleep, so I conclude from that my body is mending itself full time.

My girlfriend has been great about changing my bandages and putting fresh Vaseline on the cuts to protect them from infection.

I am including in this post some unpleasant photos of my incisions, but I thought they might be helpful for anyone who may be going in for surgery or simply wants more details on skin cancer.

The first is a shot of the incision on my face. It measures about 1-1/2 inches. We shot this about 48 hours after the surgery. I wanted to keep it sealed up in the hospital’s original dressing until we had to change it. There were 15 stitches.

The second photo is my shoulder. It measures three inches long and was also taken 48 hours after the operation.

Since I had similar surgery on my face two years ago August, I know how these scars can heal. Last year I did a post with photos of the scar a year later. I used Emu oil and coconut oil on the scar regularly to help heal it. You can judge for yourself how well they worked. The post is How Emu Oil and Coconut Oil Hid a Facial Scar.

Here are the links for my earlier posts on this surgery: I Have a Second Skirmish with Skin Cancer, What About Life After Skin Cancer Surgery?

Back in 2012, I did a series of posts on skin cancer which you can find by typing the words skin cancer into the SEARCH box at the right.

Tony

4 Comments

Filed under cancer, Mohs surgery, skin cancer, Skin cancer surgery

Tagged as basal cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinomas, cancer surgery, coconut oil, emu oil, Mohs surgery, skin cancer surgery

June 2, 2014 · 2:44 pm

Don’t Scrub Your Skin Dry Showering After Exercise

I am a guy and am pretty ignorant about things like moisturizers and fancy stuff like that. I shower, wash, shave, etc. Nothing fancy. However, I did buy myself a personal scrubber a while back and very much enjoyed the foaming lather all over my body while showering.

If you are old enough you may remember an old soap commercial with the tagline “You’ve got that Dial feeling” showing someone with soap bubbles all over. That is how I felt using my new soap scrubber.

Inside of a month, however, I began suffering from painfully itchy skin. It would start on my back but my shoulders and underarms also would be screaming to be scratched. This occurred in the winter time. I asked my doctor about it and she said that I was probably suffering from the dryness inside because of artificial heat in the cold weather. She recommended rubbing in oil to lubricate my skin.

I got some relief, but the itching didn’t go away. I happened upon a good explanation on the web, however. It said to be careful not to scrub yourself too clean because in the process you could scrub off essential oils and leave yourself with painfully dry itchy skin.

I stopped using my scrubber and began using Emu Oil Soap, too. The itching went away and hasn’t come back. The soap came in the form of bars that I bought online from Amazon. I wrote up emu oil for the blog earlier. It has wonderful restorative properties.

I can’t stress enough the benefits of exercise for weight control as well as keeping the brain healthy. After exercise a shower is usually in order. Be careful not to get carried away scrubbing yourself clean. The itching that followed my scrubbing was most unpleasant. Check out What About Emu Oil? and How Emu Oil and Coconut Oil Hid a Facial Scar, to learn more about Emu Oil.

Finally, as the hot, sandal-wearing, weather approaches, I would like to mention feet, too. I love sandals and wear them six months a year, mostly without sox. As a result the bottoms of my feet can become very hardened. I have found that rubbing them with either emu oil or coconut oil after I shower restores their natural suppleness. Before I started this about a year ago, the bottoms of my feet had become so brittle that pieces like plastic would break off all the time.

I would be interested in hearing of any experiences you may have had along these lines.

Tony

How Emu Oil and Coconut Oil Healed a Facial Scar

In August 2012 I was diagnosed with skin cancer. Briefly, I went in to have a lump removed from my cheek and it turned out to be a basal cell carcinoma. I went back in for Moh’s Surgery and had it removed. If interested you can read about it in detail on my Page Skin Cancer Facts in General and My Three Skin Cancer Surgeries in Particular.

My scar two weeks after the operation.

My surgery left me with a scar just over an inch long with 15 stitches in it on my left cheek. You can see the first photo of it from two weeks after the surgery.

My scar today just short of 12 months after the operation.

Full disclosure time. I am a senior citizen over 70 years old. Getting a scar like that on my face at a time when my body is no longer generating new cells as it did when I was young left me with expectations of a bit of a facial disfigurement in my future.

What to do about it? Plastic surgery is out of the question for me for financial and other reasons. Continue reading →

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Filed under aging, biking, cancer, coconut oil, Mohs surgery, skin cancer

Tagged as aging, basal cell carcinoma, biking, cancer, coconut oil, emu oil, Mohs surgery, skin cancer, surgical wounds

July 22, 2012 · 3:28 pm

What About Emu Oil?

I stumbled across this strange substance while in the dog park. Despite the expression, “What happens in the dog park stays in the dog park,” I am going to share my experience with you.

There was a Doberman that had the most beautiful coat I had ever seen on a dog. This dog’s coat epitomized the word lustrous. The Dobe just stood out from the other canines. I asked the owner what she used to produce such a gorgeous coat. She said that she rubbed it with emu oil.

Not recognizing the word, I asked her to spell it. E-M-U. Okay, when I got home I went to work on the computer and learned from the Maple Springs Website: “Emu oil comes from the rendered and refined fat of the emu bird. The emu is similar to an ostrich, a member of the ratite family. Most of the birds are raised in the U.S. by emu farmers, and then sent to be rendered and refined. This type of farming is similar to cattle farming. One of the things we know about the emu is that they have wonderful immune systems. The emu can be close to death from injury and in a few days be good as new. It is this wonderful healing properties that they pass along through the emu oil. This is why the emu oil is good for so many things.”

The University of Texas medical school said that their tests indicated that emu oil was very good for the skin and is a “non pore clogging substance, helping the keep the skin healthy.”

The Properties of emu oil included it being a good source of Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9. When applied directly to the skin it will penetrate and deliver the health benefits of these essential fatty acids.

According to WebMD, “Some people apply emu oil to the skin for relief from sore muscles, aching joints, pain or inflammation, carpal tunnel syndrome, sciatica, shin splints, and gout. It is also used topically to improve healing of wounds, cuts, and burns from radiation therapy; to reduce bruises and stretch marks; to reduce scarring and keloids; to heal surgical wounds caused by removing skin for skin grafts; to reduce redness due to acne; and to soften dry cuticles and promote healthy nails. Emu oil is also used topically athlete’s foot; diaper rash; canker sores; chapped lips; poor circulation; and skin conditions, including cancer, dry skin, dandruff, eczema, psoriasis, wrinkles or age spots. It is also used to protect skin from sun damage and to promote more youthful looking skin.
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