Again, as with my Romeo the cat story, I didn’t think I’d be writing a post about my most recent experience with turmeric, so I didn’t take any photos to document what happened. But I decided to write about it anyway, because my experience might be of help to others who might find themselves in a similar predicament.

A few months ago, right before the Xmas holiday, an odd-looking, spot appeared on my left arm, seemingly from one day to the next (I probably just hadn’t noticed it). It had a crust on it, and it was a bit oozy (I’ll spare you too many details!).

I didn’t know what it was…possibly a cat scratch that had gotten infected? My cats don’t scratch me…not voluntarily, I mean, but they do climb all over me/us when we’re in bed. In particular, Pinga sleeps on top of me, and sometimes–when she gets startled, e.g.–she takes off like a rocket headed for outer space, leaving behind a bunch of scratches and a rather vexed mommy. I have scratches on my back and shoulders almost all the time. So yes, the first thing that occurred to me is that it might be a scratch…

But it looked more like a weird, infected insect bite. Bottom line: I couldn’t figure it out.

Then another spot appeared on my arm, nearby. Yikes, it’s spreading, I thought. I didn’t like that one bit…

We were about to leave for Austria. I didn’t have time to go to the doctor. I also didn’t want to go to the doctor: there was a lot of flu going around, and I didn’t want to be exposed to it in the doctor’s waiting room, which is usually filled with coughing, germy patients at that time of year.

But I was a wee bit concerned, so I showed it to a friend who told me it might be “impetigo.” Impet-whaaat? I’d never heard of it. All she knew is that it is something children usually get.

I looked it up. In medical terms, it’s a very contagious bacterial skin infection caused by Staphyloccoccus (staph) and Streptococcous bacteria. It’s one of the most common infections in children, as my friend had told me, and it is characterized by oozy sores, similar to the one on my arm, although, hey, some of those impetigo photos that you can find online are really REALLY GROSS, My arm didn’t look all that bad, nothing like what I’d seen on those medical sites…

Since I’m clearly not a child, I was puzzled. That is, UNTIL I read that people with impaired immune systems can get impetigo infections, too. Ah. There you go. My poor little immune system…

I went to the pharmacy where the doctors scratched their heads a bit and then confirmed my friend’s diagnosis. They gave me a topical antibiotic cream, which I put on the two sores immediately, covering them both with bandages.

Well, off we went to Austria, and even though the spots on my arm definitely improved and stopped making, er, babies, they hadn’t totally disappeared by the time we got back home.

At that point I had a brrrrrrrilliant thought: Indians heal their cuts and wounds with turmeric, so why shouldn’t I give it a try? I whipped out my jar of organic turmeric and rubbed some onto the two spots. They were both gone within a couple of days. Zap!  😎

Then, about ten days ago, a spot popped up on my left arm again. Same arm, different area, so this might happen again, from time to time (oh well).

This time, though, I was ready and knew what to do. I didn’t bother with the antibiotic cream but rubbed turmeric onto it immediately. When I first found it, it was still “angry,” ready to go a bit crazy and make some babies. As soon as I applied the turmeric, though, the spot started drying up almost instantly. I can still see its shadow now, but it has been neutralized.

This time, no “babies.”

If I ever see any more spots return, I will document the whole thing with photographs, if possible.

Anyway, here’s my point: if you ever have a cut that is taking too long to heal, or a sore of some sort, like mine, think about sticking some turmeric on it…Organic turmeric only, eh!

CAUTION: turmeric stains like crazy, so don’t wear anything light-colored over the treated area, even if it’s covered by a bandage. I wore my dark, long-sleeved turtlenecks for the entire period…

P.S. The photo (above), which I took quite a number of years ago, shows a spoonful of C3 Complex curcumin powder. I don’t have time to take a photo of some turmeric right now. But I did want to mention two things: 1. I used turmeric powder, not curcumin (although…if there is a next time I might think of using curcumin…why not?), and 2. I used less than a pinch of the spice…barely a dab.

And a few days was enough to dry up the spot…Tada, like magic…