DMSO vs My Injured Knee
Thanks to a reader, today I received a bottle of DMSO.
My wife took the day off from so that she could the house for some errands, such is the bizarre state we now live in. Anyway, this gave me the chance to try this out.
As a refreshers, in August I twisted my left knee horribly as I jumped from one anchored inflatable raft to another. I have been walking with a cane since and only with increasing pain and difficulty after the first few weeks of it getting better; swelling down, pain decreased and greater range of motion.
Not wanting to go to the hospital for any reason, not after what we have been through these past 4 + years, I decided to look into DMSO as suggested by a reader. Asking for my information, two readers sent not just information, but DMSO itself. Thanks to you both. One arrived today I have applied it. Below are my experiences thus far.
First, I was at a loss as to how to apply it. We have a box of old clothing that after laundering we cut up into rags. That was my first thought to use but I recalled reading that DMSO can bring the detergent and softener from fabric into the body. Looking around, I opted for paper towels. Ours are white and thus dye free and DMSO is a byproduct of paper production so I though it was best out of the limited choices in the house.
The paper towel soaked it up so thoroughly that I had some difficulty getting any on my knee. Eventually I did. I applied all around the joint including behind the knee. I did NOT feel anything other than the sensation of a liquid upon nay skin. I thought I would feel something as shipu (think a bengay like substance) did produce immediate relief when first applied after the injury. However, when I bent my knee, the stiffness was gone. Absent as well was most all the soreness and most of the pain. A considerable amount of pain on the left front of the knee suddenly made itself known. It is a deep, intense soreness. I belief that it was always there but eclipsed by dominate pain on the sides of the knee. It still hurts to bend the knee to climb stairs, but I have not bent the knee for anything than to more it out of the way or clear obstacles for most of the last 2 months.
If I was not distracted with concern over either my wife or kids suddenly returning home I would have noted the time I applied it and when certain sensations occurred. Sadly, I cannot give a meaningful timeline. One massive improvement, for the first since injuring it, I am not always conscious of the pain. I have not had a moment except for when I finally fall asleep after several cans of beer to deaden the pain when I was not constantly in pain. The pain that recently became apparent at the front left of the knee is subsiding. Still has a long way to go to be gone, but greatly reduced with in the last hour or so.
There is also now a sensation that something is going on inside the knee, under the skin somewhere. Is this real or just a sensation, I do not know. I became aware of this feeling a couple of hours ago. Some have reported a burning sensation on the skin. I felt just a little and not everywhere I applied it. It did not last very long and was far less painful than Tigerbalm which I use for sinus trouble.
Is it helping my body repair any damage? I don’t know. Will update as I have more to report.
Thank you to all who sent information and especially to those who sent DMSO.
Midwestern Doctor writes:
Topically Applying DMSO:
A lot of different approaches exist for applying liquid DMSO (e.g., an [ideally organic] cotton swab or cotton ball has long been a popular method of application, while others like using a spray bottle [made of materials DMSO won’t dissolve]—particularly for sensitive areas). Typically, I prefer using a paintbrush, and if nothing is available, I often end up using my fingers (which does work). If you do the brush, it is important to get one that is made out of natural fibers (e.g., horse hair) rather than synthetic ones (which are more common) as those fibers can be absorbed by DMSO and then brought into your body.
When applying DMSO with a brush, you have two options—dabbing it on or painting it on. The big advantage to the dabbing option is that it’s less likely to cause skin irritation (so I always suggest it to people who are having trouble tolerating topical DMSO—for example, this made patients much more open to using it from arthritis in the knees), while the major disadvantage is that not quite as much gets absorbed into the body. Regardless of which one you, assuming a liquid has been applied, you then want to give DMSO time to try (which can take 20 minutes) before putting anything on the skin above it (e.g., clothes or any type of chemical containing product).
In addition to dabbing on DMSO, the “tricks” I’ve found for topically applying DMSO include:
•Having gravity pull it into the body. While this is not essential, in some cases doing this (e.g., applying it to the back while lying face down) seems to help.
•Using ultrasound to direct DMSO into the body. I got this idea from Morton Walker, who would use DMSO as the coupling agent between the probe and the body, and then aim the ultrasound probe towards the target tissue in the body (e.g., a heel spur) while simultaneously watching how the tissue changed as DMSO permeated the tissue—all of which he reported excellent results from. Unfortunately, I have not had anywhere near as much time as I’d like to try this approach out, so I still am immensely curious about it.
•Apply DMSO on top of artery which directly blood flow your target (e.g., you can apply it on the back over the pulmonary arteries while someone is lying face down to help bring it into the lungs or onto the carotid (neck) arteries while someone is lying on their back to bring DMSO into the brain (which is helpful when a stroke is occurring).
•Start with small areas DMSO is applied to before putting it onto larger areas, as doing this will give you a good sense of how much DMSO is appropriate for someone, and not overdose it. Simultaneously however, some conditions only respond if a large area of skin is painted with DMSO.
Additionally, with small regions of the body (e.g., arthritic fingers) some people will just dip them directly in a DMSO solution.
did you notice any garlic-like taste sensation with the 50% concentration?