The Vaccine Debate

To Vaccinate or Not To Vaccinate?  That is the question.

I recently got embroiled in a bit of a vaccine debate.  A blog I peruse occassionally posited to debunk the idea that "vaccines cause food allergies." I pointed out that while there aren't any direct cause studies linking vaccines to food allergy - there is enough circumstantial evidence that one must ask questions.
Let me just say that my son, unfortunately, is completely vaccinated.  I obediently followed the doctor's recommendations and schedule shooting up my son every month to two months throughout his first year of life and we concurrently strode along the atopic march.  I thoroughly regret the decision to, at the very least delay and spread out shots, if not pass the whole thing off altogether.  And while I cannot "prove" that the vaccines caused him to have food allergies and asthma, my maternal intuition tells me that it was a signficant contributing factor.

But why?  I'm posting below our banter feedback.  I've kept it anonymous for a variety of reasons.  Most importantly, I feel like "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."  Also, I wanted you to be able to read links and discern for yourself.  It's important to examine both sides because for some people it is possible that the current vaccine schedule does work.  For our family, I believe,  it did more harm than good.  We are potentially the outliers and I would suggest that all medicine would be better if things were handled on an individual basis.

Me:  If this is second post - disregard. I hit publish and nothing happened. At any rate - here is link
Delay in diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus vaccination is associated with a reduced risk of childhood asthma.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18207561Plus vaccines go into the body without going in through a mucus membrane - there is study that discussed children encountering food first through skin (especially eczematic skin) generating allergic sensitization versus first encountering said food through mouth, throat, stomach route... It is in book Epidemic of Absence (must read in my mind for anyone in allergy circles)I would ask the same of you - can you provide links to peer-reviewed, well constructed study that's been validated by others that proves that skipping vaccines can (probably better word is does) lead to death.I am always open to learning. I am not doctor or med professional - only arm chair scientist. Are you a medical professional? How do you discern whether or not the study is well constructed and valid? I am curious.This is a complicated discussion that polarizes people on both sides. I am always open to learning. In my opinion, vaccines should be evaluated on an individual basis.
Thanks
Denise

Blog I occasionally peruse:  Nope. Not getting lured into the vaccine debate. I read four years of vaccine research when my kids were little.  The only thing I will say is that I thought of you today when I read this Slate article:http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/02/will_computers_eventually_make_scientific_discoveries_we_can_t_comprehend.html“[W]hen people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together.P.S. This is a cohort study that was done a year later than the one you cited. Far more comprehensive; totally different conclusion:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19255024
Me:  Not into a debate, just food for thought.There were also doctors recommending smoking in the mid 1900s, and I'm sure opponents of that were hit with "the earth was flat."At any rate, all I'm saying is that it is more complex. And the areas with low vaccination rates have low to no allergies & asthma. Just makes you wonder. I'm sure it's part of a spectrum of modern things that add up into askew immunity.Also, look at infant mortality rates across the globe - significant portion of them are not from the things we vaccinate for. I did.Food for thought.
Another mother poster:  I personally do not think that we need to have a new study that shows that skipping vaccines leads to death. We need only look at our history and the many, many people who did die of diseases for which we now have vaccines (and a lower death toll) and look into the world to areas with lower vaccination rates (and higher death tolls).
Anonymous poster:  to each their own.
Blog I occasionally peruse:  I don't agree with that when there's potential for harm to others. We don't just shrug and say "to each their own" when we're talking about drunk drivers...or smokers...or guns in public places...Texas excluded, of course. ;)

This debate got me thinking.  I really do not like talking in generalizations - or regurgitations.  I also can't stand with others do it with the conviction that marketers refer to as "drinking the kool-aid."  So I briefly read some other resources to look at vaccine rates and infant mortality rates (IMR).    I think that it is quite possible, if not probable, that most, if not all, the decrease in IMRs that we credit vaccines for isn't really due to other factors, such as:  improved nutrition, sanitation, and access to healthcare when it is needed.
Here is information that I feel supports this argument:
"Infant morality rates regressed against number of vaccine doses routinely given: Is there a biochemical or synergistic toxicity?"     This study or retrospective used data through 2009, but it is still signficant.  I cannot vouch for its validity - but it is food for thought.  I also think it's fascinating

"For example, Gambia requires its infants to receive 22 vaccine
doses during infancy and has a 91%–97% national
vaccine coverage rate, yet its IMR is 68.8. Mongolia
requires 22 vaccine doses during infancy, has a
95%–98% coverage rate, and an IMR of 39.9."

An Epidemic of Absence Part 2

Ok, so last nights reading kept me up until about 2am.  Not just the reading, but the section talking about maternal contributions to children being born allergic.  I ruminated to the point of neausea.  In a perfect world, where I have powers to see into the future, I would have done:
1 – eaten way more omega-3s
2 – not remodeled, painted, laid new carpet… beautified my home with scents of disease
3 – most importantly, hauled my ass to a small farm and shoveled shit, milked cows, cleaned after pigs & chickens, and frollicked in bacteria and pollen proteins at least every weekend – for the mix of bacteria to hopefully educate, through the placenta, my son’s immune system.
Wow, it would be interesting to see if all this would have helped my son be born less allergic, or dare I even say it, not allergic at all!?!?!?!
So now what?
I’m not finished with the book – so I continue to hold out hopefully for some clue as to my next steps.  I am rather hung up on the m.vaccae – and have already hatched a plan to redecorate my home with buckets of various animal dung and slop.  Seriously.  The plan is to go out to some Amish or organic farms and purchase their animal excrement.  Not sure after that.  Do I look for microscopic images on the internet to try and identify and hopefully harvest some beneficial fecal animal bacteria?  Do I just let us breath it in?  Will this help, not help, or make things worse?  In the book, Mr Manoff mentions that for some the bacterial exposure after the allergen sensitization has happened, can make things worse – creating an onslaught of defensive alarms.  How & what should I do?
I know it sounds crazy – and not to go into too much detail – but it is a bitter pill to swallow that I need to stand idly by and not try anything.
My hatching plan in progress is evolving to include:
low dose chelation & supplementation to support such detox
exposure to educating bacterial (probiotics yes – but most strains I can find with studies backing them are not available on the market.  Plus this very laser targeted exposure… not so sure it’s effective).  Green acres is the place for me… Farm living is the life I need.  Well OK an urban farm mashup focused on poop and mud.  If you read the book you’ll see just how significant orofecal infections can be in generating a healthy, robust, and tolerant immune system.
fecal transplant (this is on the radar – not on action plan).  We are awaiting our kits from the human gut project – just informational at this point.  But definitely something to think on further.
helminths (this too on radar – but not action plan).  I’m not sure if this isn’t something that my son would need to decide for himself.  Plus if this did graduate to action plan – it is something I’d try for myself first – having raynaud’s and joint issues – both of which point to a whacked out immune system.

An Epidemic of Absence

So I am reading “An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases,” penned by Moises Velasquez-Manoff.  At this point, I’m about a third of the way through.  The book is truly amazing in its take on the evolution of much of the human immune system.  It has, for a brief moment, spun my perspective on the allergies that my son has.  It’s as if my son’s body has evolved to negotiate a world that suddenly shifted over the last 50-100 years.  As if allergies and asthma were not a disease but a trait developed over millions of years of co-existence with micro-organisms, parasites, bacteria, fungi… and now suddenly they’ve been removed: through hygiene, vaccination, modernity….  What’s briefly refreshing about this perspective is the idea that these things that we have been told are disease, are really beautiful biological partners in maneuvers that have found themselves on the dance floor alone.  A sort of “it takes two to tango,” that is now clumsily performed by one.  So it’s been nice to have a different glimpse of this stuff that has been my obsession since the diagnosis – as not disease.  It’s painted a vision for me that if we lived in the world our bodies have honed themselves over the millenia to expect, one where we were rife with an onslaught of ‘old friends’ as it were… parasites, bacteria and viruses that span TB to polio,  it’s completely possible that my son would be the shining example of robust strength & health  – as opposed to the kid with the inhaler, benedryl, and epi slung over his shoulder in a carry bag gauging whether or not the pollen level is too high to play outside, or if the person about to shake his hand was recently eating peanuts… Oh the joy this brief glimpse of what could be brings.

The depressing, or disheartening side of things, is that Mr Velasquez-Manoff  talks about a window of opportunity for molding or shifting the immune system is most open (he claims only open) during childhood.  So the bacterial & parasite partners can only prevent allergy/asthma if they make an appearance in childhood before, or within a tiny time-frame of exposure to, say ragweed or peanuts.  And that once we reach adulthood, our immune systems are pretty much set in their ways.  Miss this window of youthful malleability and your basically left with managing a skewed immune system.

Now not to go back on my depressing paragraph above, but he then goes on to talk about a bacteria, M. vaccae.  This soil & cow dung dwelling inhabitant brought to brief fame by the Stanfords in the early 1970′s supposedly corrected Mrs Stanford’s Raynaud’s syndrome.  Better than that though, apparently

“M. Vacae injections helped their daughter’s asthma…”

This is interesting.  This affirms, to me, that maybe the immune system is more malleable in adulthood than we think.  I mean it cleared up the wife’s autoimmune issue.  The other thing that is interesting to me, is that a couple years back I had brought mud from an organic pig farm home for my son to put his hands and feet in – and – well play in.  I ended up not doing it for whatever reason.  But maybe I was onto something.  Maybe I should revisit that idea this summer.  At any rate, I’m excited to continue my read and recommend this for anyone interested in asthma, allergies, or autoimmune issues of any kind.

Apple Cider Vinegar Kills Plantar Warts - SERIOUSLY.

Take it from a woman who spent months - SIX - and money - $800 in copays - and pain - LOTS AND LOTS OF IT - trying to remove plantar warts using the dermatologist.
I seem to subconsciously subscribe to the do everything wrong before I get it right.  So I had what I thought was a callous that had been on my foot (the pad below my big toe) for years.  Even my mother thought it was a callous (the apple doesn't fall from from the tree).  And one day she blurted out "Good grief! Will  you buff that thing down already!"
So I did.  But then it spread.
I thought wow, that's interesting... I must need to buff harder and longer.
So I did.  I buffed so much that it hurt... I thought well no pain no gain.
And within days it grew more and spread to my finger.  At this point the bell finally went off.
THIS CAN'T BE A CALLOUS!
At my doctor's appointment I showed it to him.
"That's a plantar wart."
Cut to:  the podiatrist who he referred me to.
"Yep that's a plantar wart alright and a big one.  What'd you do buff it?"
"No of course not, do you think I'm an idiot?!"
So he cut, scrapped, froze.  I requested he do my finger.
"I can't touch your finger, I'm a foot guy.  You'll need to see the derm."
Cut to the derm.  He could do it ALL.
Cutting. Scraping. Burning. Salcylic acid between cuttings, burnings, scrapings....
And AGONIZING PAIN.
Now I have a high tolerance for pain, but this shit was ridiculous throbbing pain.  I hobbled for weeks before needing to return for subsequent floggings.

After 6 months, he barely made a dent in what had become after my buffing escapades a plantar wart that covered the entire ball of my left foot.  He did that sighing moaning thing that doctors learn in medschool - the thing that lets you know that you are pushing the bounds of their day to day practice and their mental hard drives are spinning back to med school.  And then he stepped out of the room and returned with some syringes.
"Read this."
"What's this?"
"Well clearly what we're doing isn't working.  So we'll need to try the next step up.  #*%*&(*$&# (that's me forgetting the name of the injections). Read this.  I'll be back in a couple minutes and we can just load you up and you can go home.  This should do it."
The sheet listed contra-indications and potential side effects of this chemotherapeutic injection.
CHEMOTHERAPY!@!@!@
I now realize that even antibiotics can be considered chemotherapy (chemical therapy - get it), but at that time it seemed to be way to foreboding for my neurotic female woody allen brain.
When he returned I told him I don't want to do this.  I need some time to think before committing to those injections in my body.
He assured me it was localized, so not systemic.  And the gist of it was - irritate the cells there enough that they wake up and basically assist in annihilating this pesky hpv thing on my foot.
I left the office, thinking well I'll be covered in a callousy plantar wart before I go that  chemo injection route.
I went online.

Here's what I tried that didn't work for me:
banana peels
potato slices
duct tape
wiping or soaking in apple cider vinegar

Here's what finally worked for me:
I soaked a piece of cotton, big enough only to cover the warted area in apple cider vinegar, then covered it with bandaid (super large on the foot, medium on the finger) and changed it only 1x every 24 hours.  I did not get the area wet... and the cotton could not be so soaking that the bandage would fall off.  So there's a bit of a balancing act there.
Needless to say - Day 1 - not much going on.  Day 2-7 - intense throbbing pain on my foot up to my knee...and radiating up my finger to my wrist.  This pain was so INTENSE and constant that I could not sleep at night and needed to take ibuprofen just to stop from writhing.  In about 2 weeks everything was gone - not to return - even now about 3-4 years later.
$8.00 bottle of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar and $20 for bandages - intense perpetual pain for about 7 days.  But totally resolved in 2 weeks.
OR
$800 in copays, hours spent in doctors office, intermittent pain when cutting/burning with residual throbbing for couple hours - only to be progressed up to chem injections with untold side effects, timelines, and more copays.
You decide.

One reco: go for the Braggs - I cannot vouch for any other brand or filtered/pasteurized versions.Curad Extreme Hold Bandages, Assorted Sizes, 30/Box First Aid Knuckle & Fingertip Bandages, Sterilized, 5 of Each, 10 First Aid Patch Bandages, 1-1/2" x 1-1/2", SmartCompliance Refill, 10

How I healed from endometriosis

I'd like to share about my experience with endometriosis.  Since January of 2012, I had been getting pain on my right side.  Sometimes it would wake me at night.  Over the course of about 7-8 months it cycled up and down growing progressively more present and more painful - to the point of my white knuckling it through varying points of the month.
Of course like any good neurotic with high speed internet, I self-diagnosed - which lead me to worry something fierce, do a half-ass attempt at Gerson, and just become downright miserable.  Finally, my friend convinced me to seek medical care.  Not having health insurance, I went to the doctor I had seen prior to being uninsured.

She did a pelvic exam and told me, "there's nothing wrong with you.  Don't drink milk."
"I don't drink milk."
"Good."
"I mean my son drinks camel milk and occassionally, I take a sip."
"What! Why? Don't drink that.  It' is probably bothering your intestines."
"Shouldn't you do an ultrasound to make sure it's not my ovaries."
"No. First stop milk.  Then come back if you still have the pain.  Then we'll discuss an ultrasound."
Yikes.


Back to pain - day in and day out.
I went to my herbalist and she gave me a mix.  It would make the pain go away, but then return again.  So basically if I stopped, blamo - back to pain.

I felt like I was getting nowhere.  So I went to the government hospital and got an ultrasound.  They told me there was an enlarged follicle.  One doctor called it a cyst - another - not a cyst.
Come back in 4-6 months to check again.
In the meantime, obsessed with this pain, worried... it felt like I had a lemon in my abdomen when I would sit down.  I was convinced of the worst.
In my obsessive reading, I came across studies about ginger having cancer-killing properties - especially with ovarian cancer.  It was also shown to work to assist chemo for patients doing both.  In desperation, I blended a thumb size piece of ginger in some apple juice and slugged it down.  This is going to sound unbelievable, but within about 20-30 minutes, my pelvis felt warm... and then the pain subsided... better than an ibuprofen.  I did it several days and then stopped.  At the first sign of pain, I would ginger again for a day or two.  I would say it took about 2-3 weeks for the pain to completely go away.
Upon returning for my second ultrasound my ovaries were clear.  The doctor I met with this time, said that given the pain, and the enlarged follicle at the beginning - she would say I had endometriosis.  She gave me a script for birth control pills and sent me on my way.
I have not had the ginger drink in about 2 months.  I have a tinge of pain returning, so I'll be blending up the powerful concoction this weekend.

Again, I'm not a doc - just someone looking for ways to take control of my own healing.  I'll take a couple ginger shakes over birth control pills for now.

Articles that inspired my regimen
Ginger kills ovarian cancer cells
Cytotoxic effects of dried ginger in mouse model
Ginger inhibits cell growth of cancer
Ginger's anti-inflammatory effects

Reducing IGE levels for food allergy and asthma

This posting is from 2012 - to read the most recent update (May 2015) read my article "Reducing IGE Levels for Food Allergies and Asthma Update"  We've made much progress (knock on wood) and had much learning since this original posting!


So we had a 6 month follow up with the allergist after my other post on lowering IGE levels.  I'll open with what I think is the core of her, and all the other allergists I've seen, approach... "...Well I don't think there's any use in tracking that with my asthma patients.  I just don't see how that could be of any value in my management of their asthma."  Now I'm paraphrasing, but in a nutshell that is what she said to my question regarding the connection between elevated cholesterol and liver function and asthma and the studies that show a link between the two... and how people with liver disease (not saying we have it) can have elevated IGE levels because b-cells can be differentiated into IGE antibodies in the LIVER and taking steps to detox the liver and improve its function can lower IGE levels....

Silence.

(I should add that years back my son had a cholesterol test - standard blood draw panel from the chiropractor that we went to see - and it was slightly elevated - at the time he was in the 25% for weight).

Look, I'll be the first to admit it.  I did not go to medical school.  I read and think about lowering my son's IGE levels and healing him... maybe a bit too much.  And, I've turned my life upside down on this quest.  But it doesn't mean that I'm not onto something. 

Then she followed up the earlier statement with a chuckle and a "It's not like I'm a hepatologist.  Why don't you talk to your pediatrician about that."  Not too go off on a total rant, but it's amazing to me how we can discuss in the corporate world the idea that "silos" are bad - that is the disconnect between departments in a structure or group that is trying to achieve a common goal.  It makes for redundant and sometimes counter-effective efforts, major opportunities for screw ups, and it just sucks resources out when smaller efforts would be equally if not more effective - if there was just productive cross communication between departments.  So why have we allowed our health care to be silo'ed - oh sorry, I just woke up - profits.

Ok enough of a rant.  I think I made my point.  And this experience further affirms for me the need to really see most doctors as tools.  Not that they are stupid or bad - but ultimately you as a patient on the pursuit of health need to recognize that you must consult the professionals and then go off and do your own due diligence before just taking their word for what is best.  Doctors ultimately, the majority of them at least, are, as my allergist above so eloquently put it, in the the field of disease and illness "management."  Do not expect them to heal you.   

But back to our IGE update.  So status as of this visit (and I'm working on a graph):
IGE back up to 1165 from 1072 in June
Asthma issue not so good - could be from cold but also tells me I'm not doing my best - back to flovent 1 puff 2 times a day, and when he has a cold - 2 puffs 2 times a day.
Boo.

Skin test for avocado negative - so we are super slowly - in an effort to manage my anxiety with the process - going to introduce over the next couple weeks.  My son, who is nursing cold, was so excited at the prospect of a new food that he begged me to give him some when we got home.  I, of course in total neurotic me fashion, gave him a small dot of a smidge on the tip of one fork prong.

We can focus less on weight gain - my son is in the 60% (this time last year 25-50%) for his age and weight.  Now I can pull back on the carbs and push more veggies (which I have always done - but before I've let him eat more carbs just for calories).  I think this weight gain is about the camel milk.  He has gained nearly 10 pounds over the last 12 months - in comparison to a 2-3 pound weight gain in years prior. 

Now what does the above mean moving forwards?

Well I am scheduled to speak with herbalist in the next 2 weeks.  I want to discuss modifying our protocol - I really don't feel like I am getting a payoff for the efforts it takes to get him to swallow the 28 or so (not counting vitamins) capsules a day.  I feel like after 1.5 years, we'd see more improvement - even with our not so great compliance these last couple months.  I've read about some other herbs that have been shown to be much more potently IGE decreasing.

I feel like we've experienced the IGE curve they discussed in the study where they used 1 gram of sodium ascorbate with some children who had elevated IGE levels and other issues as well - but basically within the first 6 months, IGE levels dropped only to slowly rise back up to they began over the following 1.5 years.

I am examining some probiotic options - of course the strains that I can find that are linked to reducing IGE levels - are currently in mixtures grown on and containing traces of dairy - still verbotten.

This next year will be about the liver - I have a theory about my son.  My theory is this - he got completely thrown out of whack with the antibiotics in the first moments of his life - so his flora got totally set off in the wrong direction.  Then, and this is before that, I believe that in the womb or somewhere after, his liver became loaded with toxins.  I don't want to go into too much self beating here - but I just was not the most thoughtful pregnant woman - dietwise, home remodeling-wise... just not thoughtful.  Also, I do believe that all the vaccines added fuel to this combo and that coupled with a possible propensity for IGE production (his father has allergies to cats and possibly eggs) made for a perfect storm.  And now it's my job to make it right.

So back to the liver - 2013 - the year of liver detox.  The only thing is slow - because as Dr. Levy said in a speech I saw - "Detoxification can be retoxification."  So I'm not sure yet how to approach this - beyond I've read about some supplements and vitamins I'm exploring.

Bring back the veggie juice campaign.  I'm going to reinstate the veggie juice efforts with my son to get his antioxidant capacity boosted.  Important all around - especially for asthma.  I may break out the blender or other modern day device to overcome the obstacle of cleaning my juicer after each use.  Another 2013 push - something is better than nothing perfect.  IE, blender usage for juicing or smaller juicer - for me better than not doing it because I don't have time or energy to haul out my big juicer.

Bring back kung fu - we stopped going to kung fu in the summer because the teacher we were studying under kind of went over the deep end.  I've found another school I'm happy with - but it involves a drive and $150/month.   I think though now, that part of what made his pft test better in June was all the nutritional efforts, the first 6 month boost of vit C, and kung fu.  

Links to articles that inspired above:

Sodium ascorbate and IGE 
Cholesterol and asthma
Liver and IGE
Liver X receptors control IGE expression in B cells
Increase antioxidant capacity with fruit and vegetable consumption
Antioxidant capacity and pulmonary function

MRSA boil topical approach

I recently met someone who had also battled MRSA.  It never ceases to amaze me how all over it is.  In fact, I am more convinced that the majority of people (if they've ever been in a hospital) are carriers.  I remember the nurse at the infectious disease doc telling me that she believed the majority of health care workers are carriers as well.

It's interesting because while we were traveling, I had to take my son to the urgent care facilities due to a spiking fever (101 - 103.6) and rich cough for - well - the entire duration of the trip.  When I finally took him in - the doctor there gave us 3 antibiotics - oral, for my son's eye (because I mentioned that he had some eye crust the day before), and ear (because  the doc thought his ear was looking like it may be starting an infection).

When I asked what these were for - he said bronchitis.  I asked - "What if it's viral?" He responded "If it was my son, I'd give him the antibiotics," with an air that seemed to scream "DUH LADY - Just do what I say OK!"  We also had an issue with the asthma - so he recommended upping the flovent (which we did).  Upping the flovent was all we did - for several reasons.  But it struck me - that in this day and age - I wonder if antibiotics should be given at all without doing some sort of sputum testing or something.  I mean - how can you know whether or not the medicine will work for whatever particular bacteria it is you think you're fighting.  I think this guy was really just old school - but having the MRSA experience really gave me a weariness for antibiotics.  Of course, they need to be in the arsenal - but as a last - last - last resort - and once susceptibility testing has been done.  

For my son, I upped vitamin C, gave him extra zinc (about 10 mgs), magnesium, cod liver oil,  a concoction of honey, acv, and water (which he hated but drank), AND our Qigong teacher gave him an intense massage for about 45 minutes.  After that, he fell asleep for a couple hours.  (I must disclose that he had taken a dose of benedryl an hour earlier, which makes him sleepy) - but after he awoke a couple hours later, the fever did not return and the cough died down.

Upon our return home, we did a session of hydrotherapy - and all was once again good in the world.

But back to the woman I met.   Apparently, she had MRSA on her leg - done the oral antibiotic thing - and it kept returning.  She told me that she had recently gotten a small boil on her leg again - and she took this topical gel called tecnu first aid gel (formerly known as Staphseptic - but re-branded because the FDA was after them for marketing that it killed MRSA - which according to my acquaintance it actually did do) put a glob onto the boil - then with a needle she scrapped the boil until it started to bleed.  Using cotton swabs, she squeezed out all the pus - constantly reapplying the gel to make sure that it was always covered.  Until, she had basically bled it out.  Yet more gel and She claimed that by the next day - it was well on its way to healing.   Amazing.  According to her, the tecnu gel must get into the wound - she couldn't just put it on the boil and it would make it go away - that is why she bled it. 

Now I am not recommending you do this - just sharing someone's experience. 

I mentioned vitamin C additionally to her.  From my experience,  I needed the battle won internally - but maybe as a 1-2 - tecnu gel and vitamin C could work together.

Update

Tecnu contains benzethonium chloride - not so in love with this chemical.   See safety sheet here.
Just something to be aware of.