19 replies to this topic

[Healthy Almonds]

Hello Longecity community, I have separately posted this information on Reddit here http://www.reddit.co...s_from_my_nose/  and here http://www.reddit.co...ed_to_my_nasal/  and have an ongoing discussion at acne.org http://www.acne.org/...sed-my-pimples/. I would like to broaden exposure because of the difference it is making for those who have tried it. Thank you.

 

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In early July 2014, I applied Triple Antibiotic Ointment (TAO)  to both of my nostrils to combat frequent, painful sores that I would get from scratching the inside of my nose.

 

 

Mupirocin is a commonly recommended antibiotic that is effective in the decolonization of various Staphylococcus aureus strains that is present inside the nose. Mupirocin is available through prescription only, but recently a publication http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/23377521 shed light on TAO as an effective means of removing S. aureus from the nasal passages. TAO is a nonprescription ointment and is the generic name for Neosporin.

 

 

Using the TAO publication as a guide, I applied Walgreens generic TAO 1-2x daily into each nostril with a cotton swab. Each nostril got each end of the swab and I applied it as far back as I comfortably could.

 

 

As a college student in microbiology, I have access to Mannitol Salt Agar media that encourages the growth and differentiates Staphylococcal species. Yellow zones around yellow colonies on an MSA plate indicates the presence of S. aureus while other Staphylococcal bacteria, including the common skin microbe S. epidermidis, grow but do not yield this color change. I do not have a before TAO picture but I have put nasal samples on MSA plates multiple times (as both a student and teacher) over the years, and the growth characteristics from each nostril were identical to the right side of this plate http://www.sciencepr...-bottom-SIL.jpg. 

 

 

The following picture represents my results after three weeks. http://imgur.com/6fiGHHH  In the picture, plate one is after 5 days from my left nostril (where I got most of my nose sores), plate two is after 10 days from my right nostril and plate three is after 20 days from each nostril. After five days I had a significant reduction in the concentration of S. aureus that I was accustomed to seeing from previous nasal samples and after three weeks of daily application I had no yellow colonies grow.

 

I stopped all TAO application in late September. Nasal swabs from early October http://imgur.com/GCF3J5J and January 2015 http://imgur.com/XSmoKYN have shown that S. aureus has not recolonized my nostrils. They are not in my ears either.

 

Anecdotally, besides no nasal sores, I haven't developed any cystic acne nor acne breakouts since putting TAO in my nose over six months ago. Daily facial washes, topical benzoyl peroxide, and dietary changes have worked wonders in dealing with the moderate acne I have suffered from since high school (28 now) but I would still get 1-2 cyst breakouts develop almost every week that would take weeks to heal. S. aureus is present on the skin, in the nose, and in the throat of approximately 30% http://www.idph.stat...c/hb/hbmrsa.htm of healthy individuals. My acne regimen focuses exclusively on my skin and I would get lesions despite the adverse environment I created. 

 

 

I believe I was transferring large concentrations (based on the number of yellow colonies that used to develop on MSA plates and my frequent nose sores) of S. aureus when I touched my nasal mucus and subsequently touched another part of my face. This facilitated my breakouts. S. aureus is well known for causing inflammation and disease, including pimples http://www.mass.gov/...eus-mrsa.html#2. It is also found alongside Propionibacterium acnes in acne vulgaris lesions at similar proportions http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC2763741/ http://saspublisher....MS16724-727.pdf

 

 

Also, I had transferred S. aureus to the nose of my girlfriend. A fellow biology student, she tested her nose on MSA plates prior to us dating and she was S. aureus negative (no before picture). After 4 months of dating she became positive http://imgur.com/tdRdBOW in both nostrils. While her MSA plate wasn't as bad as mine were prior to TAO, she developed a nasal sore that she didn't remember getting before and had noticed a small increase in forehead acne.  She has since eliminated her Staph with TAO http://imgur.com/S0WXazY.

 

 

Antibiotic resistance is a concern http://www.medscape....warticle/749666 with TAO use and it was something I was mindful of. I have a healthy immune system and I applied the TAO daily. I have previously tested for nasal MRSA with a methicillin antibiotic disc. My Staph were not resistant.

 

Furthermore, I teach Microbiology at a community college and my students and I swabbed our ears and noses and plated them on MSA. Here are our results for S. aureus presence.

 

n=19. 18 students and myself.

S. aureus in the nose and/or ears 74% (14)

S. aureus in one or both nostrils 47% (9)

S. aureus in one or both ears 63% (12)

 

I am noticing a correlation between S. aureus in the nose and/or ears and cystic acne. I know of 6 individuals who have put Mupirocin, TAO, or other antimicrobial agents into their nose and/or ears and all have reported either an elimination of nose sores or improvement with their acne. Please read the Reddit and acne.org links for more information. 

Edited by Healthy Almonds, 23 January 2015 - 07:49 AM.

[Healthy Almonds]

S. aureus was previously present inside of my nostrils but never showed up from ear swabs. Here are examples of two individuals who had a heavy S. aureus presence in their ears but were negative in their nostrils.

 

Person 1 http://imgur.com/HWkpDMZ and Person 2 http://imgur.com/4KOM9yy. Person 1 suffered from chronic cystic acne until Accutane cleared him up. He currently suffers ear infections (in his left lobe and the yellow side of the plate), sinus infections and a chronically stuffy ear. Person 2 suffered chronic moderate-severe acne, mostly along the jaw line, and has noticed a substantial improvement in acne breakouts after about a month of TAO to his ears.

 

Also, interestingly, a co-worker had previously done a nose and ear culture on MSA plates and found a minor presence of S. aureus in her nostrils. She later took Amoxicillin for her rheumatoid arthritis and started developing a rash of nasal sores that she hadn't gotten before. According to the antibiotics Wikipedia page, many clinical isolates of S. aureus are resistant to Amoxicillin. This may be because Amoxicillin is susceptible to beta-lactamases http://en.wikipedia..../Beta-lactamase that many S. aureus isolates carry. The authors of this publication http://www.ncbi.nlm....icles/PMC529192 describe how Amoxicillin plus a beta-lactamase inhibitor as an antibiotic therapy increased the probability of nasal colonization of S. aureus in children. The resistant Staph were found to be increasing beta-lactamase production to compensate. 

 

It's possible that my co-worker has an Amoxicillin-resistant strain of S. aureus that flourished when its competition was killed off.

 

 

[Healthy Almonds]

Bacterion http://www.acne.org/...3706-bacterion/ from the acne.org forums  has been putting cotton balls dabbed with colloidal silver http://en.wikipedia...._uses_of_silver into his nostrils and ears and has been logging his observations. I am pasting his last two posts here.

 

 

Posted 22 January 2015 - 10:31 PM

You are definitely on to something here.

 

I've been using a similar method to clean my nostrils and ears for 5 days morning and evening and I didn't get one single pimple since.

 

Since I'm from Europe and don't have access to TAO, I've been using cotton buds dunked in colloidal silver. Unfortunately I don't have access to all those tools to measure, but I'll continue to do so for a month.

 

I really hope you can continue with this research on your students and afterwards make it to a paper or something. I'm 100% certain it will be worthy.

 

Edit: Also, I've been using so many antimicrobials in the past 2-3 years that no bacteria should have survived on my face. There is definitely another source of it, whether it's the nostrils, the ears or in the neck. And I'm certain everyone else is in the same situation.

Edited by Bacterion, 22 January 2015 - 10:34 PM.

 

 

Posted Yesterday, 11:20 AM

I still haven't got one single pimple since I've started this. I only have one non-inflamed clogged pore on my forehead and some blackheads, just like everyone else gets once in a while.

 

As proof of this, whenever I used to wash my ears with water, I would get pain that lasted for 1-2 days. I thought they were sensitive to water so I had been dry cleaning them for the past few years. Whenever I picked my nose, no matter how gentle, I would also get sores and sometimes even bleeding. Now the ear pain and nose sores are gone.

 

Logically, It could be that s. aureus is causing the initial inflammation response (which happens before the comedones form, as a response to it). In most cases it gets killed by the free fatty acids that compose the sebum (I've read an article about that long ago but I no longer remember where) and the comedones that form are filled by the skin's natural microbiome, with p. acnes abundantly.

 

I've been thinking for a while that it is not a single bacteria at work here as previously thought (p. acnes), but an entire microbiome. Some also get oily flakes/dandruff that worsen the inflammation response and antifungal creams solve that.

 

This need so much more research.

Edited by Bacterion, Yesterday, 11:24 AM.

 

Edited by Healthy Almonds, 25 January 2015 - 12:15 AM.

[Healthy Almonds]

Gram-negative face folliculitis is primarily caused by Pseudomonas. http://emedicine.med...55221-treatment. Pseudomonas is commonly associated with swimmer's ear and chronic middle ear infections. https://microbewiki....a_infection#Ear

 

The ears as a Pseudomonas reservoir may also result in chronic acne.

 

TAO is highly effective against Pseudomonas http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/16368476

[Healthy Almonds]

A 2012 post about curing boils with Triple Antibiotic Ointment into the nose and ears. http://www.earthclin...res/boils9.html

 

 

 

[YEA]   My family became plagued with boils for many years while working in Romanian Hospitals. I really believe I have come up with a viable cure for boils. The concept of iodine or any other topical treatment is it kills the infection to some degree. If you place triple antibiotic ointment in your nose, where staph grows, and in your ears, you will cut the spreading of it. Scrub you skin with an rough washcloth and antibiotic body wash. Bleach your tub every time you use it so others and yourself will not be reinfected. Staph grows in your nose, ears and other warm wet places, but, mostly on your skin. It appears to be external, and that is where you have to fight it. It is highly contagious.

 

Triple anti biotic, like Neosporin, seems to be the cure, when placed in the nose in pea sized amounts. We beat it after a long battle very quickly after starting this treatment and this method has kept us free and helped others. It is proven to really be a answer to the boil problem.

 

[chemicalambrosia]

Interesting posts, thank you. I'm currently trying to deal with a recurring chronic sinus infection. Do the bacteria you're dealing with infect the sinus cavity too?

[Healthy Almonds]

I don't recall getting sinus infections when I was an S. aureus carrier. Disease manifested itself as nasal sores and folliculitis boils.

 

With that said, I can see how nasal Staph can make its way into the sinuses and cause infection. It's really good at causing disease. Here is a New York Times article that talks about the role S. aureus may play in chronic sinusitis. http://www.nytimes.c...usitis-ess.html 

 

I had a heavy concentration of Staph in both of my nostrils and that contributed to my recurrent sores. You may similarly have a heavy dose contributing to your sinus infections. 

[Healthy Almonds]

Here is -DD's http://www.reddit.co...my_nose/coow22q experience with TAO into the nostrils.

 

 

I just wanted to say, Thank you. This information changed my life and it's only been 5 days since I found out about it and tried it.

What I thought was just nasal/sinus suffering due to allergies for years of my life is completely gone. No swelling, no irritation, no scabs in my nose, any pressured feeling or trouble breathing or stuffiness of any kind, just gone. I have a completely normal functioning nose and sinus's.

Also, from what I can tell so far my cystic acne I had left is going away and nothing new has come up. Just regular clogged pores to deal with, no inflamed big pimples or anything cystic new so far.

I wish I would have taken pics but this sounded so simple I didn't really expect much. I have body acne as well that I scratch at a lot and I would get bad pimple from that witch I thought was just because of me irritating it/pushing the infection inwards/having dirty hands in general but now, I think it was due to me always fiddling with my "allergy" nose then touching my skin, spreading this most likely all over my body.

That too, seems to be going away and nothing new. YEARS, of my life spent like this. SO much inflammation in my sinus/nose/middle head area has gone done I feel so relaxed. I use to grind my teeth or clench them hard because of a persistent pressure built up from my nose area always being so irritated and that feeling started to go away within 4 hours of first application. After night one going to bed with it, for the first time in years I didn't wake up with at least one pimple under my nose.

Just feeling the relief it brought to my nose and whole middle face area that I could never relieve even with allergy meds form my dr, made me turn to my husband and want to cry. Years of this always, and within 4 hours it was going away because of TAO in my damn nose.

I'm breathing so clearly right now and it feels so wonderful. The fact that it's helping with my skin is just a bonus to me.

Thank you for getting the word out on this! I will appreciate it for the rest of my life.

 

[chemicalambrosia]

A topic on someone who cured acne with sinus rinsing:

www.reddit.com/r/acne/comments/14sezm/my_10_year_battle_personal_story_treatment/

 

I'm currently doing a round of antibiotics for my sinuses. I figure I might as well try TAO in the ears and nostrils as well. Have you swabbed the outer ear and found S. aureus?

 

[Healthy Almonds]

Wow, thanks for posting that. I've been talking to a couple of people on Reddit who are facing a very similar situation and I am hopeful that their outcome will be the same. 

 

I have swabbed my ears for Staph presence, but I never turned out positive. Even though I had a heavy concentration in my nostrils, I don't believe my Staph were able to out compete my ear microbiota. However, others http://i.imgur.com/4KOM9yy.jpg http://i.imgur.com/HWkpDMZ.jpg have tested positive for Staph in their ears while negative in their nostrils. One guy had chronic cystic acne predominately along his jawline and neck, while the other dealt with chronic ear and sinus infections. He had cystic acne until a round of Accutane.

 

Staph could be in your ears and/or nostrils. The guy who went on Accutane frequently picked at his ear when he had stuffy ears, and I can see how that leads to sinus infections if after he itches his nose. 

[chemicalambrosia]

This may be a stupid question. What I meant to ask is should I be swabbing out only the ear canal, or the outer ear too(the ear flap)?

[Healthy Almonds]

Both to play it safe.

[Healthy Almonds]

I went to visit my family during Easter and brought MSA plates to test my families ears and noses for Staph presence.

My father,  mother,  and sister 

all tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus in their ears. 

 

My dad had moderate acne along his forehead during his teenager years. He also had a few bouts with cellulitis on his legs http://www.webmd.com...tion-cellulitis When he swabbed his ears for the plate, he was on Amoxicillin after a leg biopsy. Staph was present in his ears despite his antibiotic use. Also, his two brothers have rosacea http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pubmed/2259005

 

My mom didn't have acne when she was younger, but she said she frequently gets ear aches that she attributed to wax buildup http://american-hear...orders/ear-wax/ My sister developed acne around the same time I did (she's two years my senior) although hers was only temporary. She does, however, suffer from frequent ear pain and nose pimples despite no Staph showing up from her nasal swab. Also, as a child she had frequent migraines that necessitated brain scans. Her scans were always negative for anything abnormal. While her ear portion of the plate does not have the yellow coloration, it was yellow until it was masked by the overgrowth of bacteria that came from her ear http://www.dermnetnz...is-externa.html

 

I believe, due to the contagiousness of Staphylococcus aureus, that it is likely my sister and I got Staph from our parents during our youth. Generational acne may be the result of family members transferring Staph to one another by living together. 

 

Edited by Healthy Almonds, 26 June 2015 - 11:28 PM.

[Healthy Almonds]

I recently visited my family and asked them to swab their ears and noses for decolonization of Staph. They all said they had put TAO in their ears for at least a week. 

 

 

Staph is the predominant bacteria in my dad's ears and there now appears to be a slight nasal presence. He was on Amoxicillin during the first swab, and isn't on any antibiotics during this one. It looks like the Staph presence has gotten worse. A Staphylococcal biofilm http://dujs.dartmout...al#.VaHgAPlVhBd may have provided antibiotic evasion. Or, possibly, Staph is present in his earwax http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/11177359  -- despite its antimicrobial properties.

 

My sister's plate was gouged because the agar was dried out and brittle, so she wasn't able to spread the swab across the agar. She appears to colonize Staph in her ear but doesn't have the same overgrowth as her original plate did. She also had a Staph colony pop up from her nose. 

 

My mom appears to have successfully decolonized her ears of Staphylococcus aureus. 

[Healthy Almonds]

Potential correlations between Staphylococcus aureus carriage and disease.

 

The role of nasal carriage in Staphylococcus aureus infections

 

Epidermolysis bullosa patients suffering from chronic wounds were 100% colonized by Staphylococcus aureus

 

Staphylococcus vaccine effectively reduces Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

 

Staphylococcus aureus may cause type 2 diabetes

 

The correlation between nasal carriage rate of Staphylococcus aureus and the development of symptoms of persistent allergic rhinitis

 

A significant association between Staphylococcus aureus colonization and asthma

 

High prevalence of nasal Staphylococcus aureus in patients with psoriasis

 

 

 

 

 

[AlexCanada]

Incredible information you have here!

 

 

I deal with acne (which I don't care about) but more importantly CFS and various complex issues which have really reduced my functionality.  I wonder how much of this could be related to chronic sinus infections and fungal infections? I get pains in my ears which come and go every few days. But I also have chronic nasal agitation. This includes allergies, tingling and other sensations inside which I cannot properly articulate.    And when looking in the mirror the inside of my nose looks pretty red in various places.

 

 

Is it advisable to basically apply the neosporin in my lower nasal and outer ear canals?  If we do not have neosporin then we do have Polysporin here in Canada for sure. 

 

I wonder what other alternatives for dealing with nasal issues and healing the nasal cavity?  You mentioned Collodial Silver which I do have.   I also have Bee Propolis which is known for it's anti-bacterial properties. 

 

I'm still learning about Staph infections and it's implications for health. 

 

 

[Healthy Almonds]

@AlexCanada 

 

I strongly believe that there is a correlation between heavy Staphylococcus aureus colonization and a host of acute and chronic illnesses. Since creating this thread, I've been actively updating what I learned at this subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Staphacne/. Feel free to take a look there for more information.

 

To combat Staph, you can apply Neosporin to your anterior nares and outer ear. Try 3x a day for 5 days. Polysporin should be an effective alternative, but I've never worked with it. I use rubbing alcohol now to clean in and around my ears and inside my nostrils. Not only does it work for me, but it's also impossible for the bacteria to develop resistance to the method. I created a thread on my subreddit that details the protocol that has been most effective at removing Staph from different parts of my body https://www.reddit.c..._nose_method/. 

 

Best of wishes on combating your chronic ailments! If you try a decolonization method, please keep us updated

 

[adamh]

I was just on a course of cipro for an unrelated condition and I notice that my chronic sinus issues have not been present lately. For years I would have sneezing fits every day in which I would sneeze 5 or 6 times in a few minutes. Using a nasal rinse seemed to help a little.

[Healthy Almonds]

@adamh

 

I can speak from experience about the sneezing fits. Also, my voice used to be so nasally and I was a mouth breather at night because of chronic congestion. Problems I no longer deal with now that I've decolonized my nose of Staphylococcus aureus and regularly clean my nostrils with rubbing alcohol-soaked cotton swabs.

 

I've used neti pots and tested for nasal Staph while using it and I found that while it did reduce the bouts of congestion, it didn't seem to actually get rid of the bacteria. Likely because of the many adhesion mechanisms Staph can employ to hang out in the nasal passages. That's awesome that the cipro worked for you. I use that antibiotic when testing for bacterial antibiotic sensitivity and cipro was pretty effective against a broad range of microbes.

[Advocatus Diaboli]

Cipro is bad news as it can wreck your tendons (all fluoroquinolone-based antibiotics, actually). Also, one must be really careful with neti pots as you might end up with a fatal brain-eating amoeba (naegleria fowleri) getting deep into your nose, and thence brain, if your sterilization procedures get sloppy.