Today’s post is going to be slightly different. It is not directly about fitness training or nutrition (both important elements of your optimal performance), but rather about your skin and how to heal it naturally if you get some issues. We, tennis players and other outdoorsy athletes, spend so much time in the sun, and many of us have gotten the skin compromised. And if not now, it could happen in the future, and this post may be of interest to you later. Save it for your files.
For the past 3–4 weeks, I have been getting emails with questions for help from my YouTube video about healing my BCC (basal cell carcinoma) naturally, without a chemo cream or expensive Mohs surgery (see at Wikipedia). I feel like many people who are interested in alternative options are searching for information, and this email is for all of them, and for all of you, my loyal readers, in case you are in a similar situation. I will show a few pictures, which I won’t attach inside this post because they are quite descriptive and for some people less than appealing. You can see them by clicking on the links, and if you don’t want to see them, do not click.
Before I became a tennis player in 2003, I was a drug-free bodybuilder and as a part of competition preparation was intensive tanning in the tanning bed.
I know, I know… it is not good for us, but then, being you and “invincible,” I didn’t think that far. Once I stopped bodybuilding, I stopped tanning, but it didn’t get much better because now I was in the sun every day for at least two hours, in the middle of the Southern California day. A long story short: one day I found a little reddish spot under my right eye, and it didn’t want to go away. In a denial as I was, I was ignoring it for several years, until I just couldn’t deny it anymore. So the search for natural healing options started.
There are many different natural solutions out there, including bloodroot, black salve, Curaderm, orange oil, baking soda, eggplant, vinegar,topical enzymes, cannabis, ammonia, coconut oil, melatonin, coenzyme Q10, aloe vera, DMSO, ibuprofen, Cymilium, vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin K2, hydrogen peroxide, petty spurge, milkweed, and many more. If you are interested to read more about any of them and other people’s experiences, check out this TopicalInfo.org forum site.
At first, I just randomly tried a few options that seemed easy and inexpensive: the Cymilium, orange oil, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda. I very much wanted to do the cannabis oil as I have read many great results, but couldn’t get my hands on it. My approach was very uncommitted and unscientific. Even with that, it worked pretty well and I thought that I healed myself. Looking back now, I think I didn’t finish my treatment until the end (I didn’t know what I was doing) and the thing returned shortly.
After ignoring it for a while again, I eventually went to a dermatologist to get it checked. I already knew what I would hear. Yes, it was a basal cell carcinoma. In a way, this was a blessing, because it is a very slow growing cancer that I knew I can get rid of easily, and at the same time it opened my eyes a little bit to humbly acknowledge that I am vulnerable as well. The suggested procedure was the Mohs surgery, which with a laser takes away a layer by layer of the cancerous cells, until there are no more cells. The cost depends on how many layers are taken away. I feel very uncomfortable with any procedures that are cutting into my body and I always prefer options that strengthen my own immune system and promote the body’s ability to heal. So now I went back to the research and this time I took it very seriously.
This time I chose the Curaderm—Dr. Bill Cham’s product created from the eggplant (and other important stuff)—because it had a solid research behind it. Dr. Cham’s results were excellent and the only people who didn’t get a complete healing were those who quit too early. For the inquiring minds, here is dr. Cham’s 2011 study and a PubMed 2012 study. I loved dr. Cham’s work. I bought his book The Eggplant Cancer Cure (find it here on Amazon) and read it in one sitting (yes, it is very short and a quick read). I created a plan, wrote everything down, bought all the stuff I needed, consulted with a few of my smart biochemist friends, and was ready to start. I bought the Curaderm BEC5 cream on Amazon as well. It had amazing reviews from many happy customers. Since then, all the different Curaderm sellers got shut down and all reviews were taken off. Some speculators believe that the medical system was not very happy about a successful natural product, but what do I know? Other than that it is not there anymore. There are a few sites selling Curaderm BEC5 cream, and I do not have a personal experience or any affiliations with them: CuradermCream.com and VitaStream.com. The price is the same what I paid on Amazon back a few years ago.
The process is really simple and is very well described on their websites, so I won’t go into many details, I will rather answer all the questions that people are contacting me with, because they are unsure what is happening during the process itself. You will need:
1) Curaderm BEC5 (store it in the fridge between the applications, or it will become runny and lose it’s potency as well)
2) Micropore tape (such as this one on Amazon, but you can get it anywhere). I personally used the 1″ version and cut it into a round shape perfectly for my spot.
3) They do recommend Hibiclens Antiseptic solution and I did buy it, too. However, I was in touch with Dr. Cham’s research team during my process, and they suggested the Hibiclens is not necessary because the Curaderm cream itself has antiseptic properties. I used the Hibiclens in the beginning, then I stopped and used only plain water. It felt more gentle on my skin.
4) Optional Tamanu Oil. I did use it through the entire treatment as it supports the skin healing and regeneration, but it is not necessary.
The Curaderm BEC5 healing process
I applied the cream twice a day, at 7 am and 7 pm. They do suggest you can do it many more times during the day for speedier healing, but after consulting with Dr. Cham’s team, I chose only twice a day, because it is more gentle on the skin. I cleaned the spot with warm water, and trust me, this cleaning got pretty ugly several weeks into it. You would not believe what the body expelled. I petted it dry, applied Curaderm inside the spot (don’t waste it on the surrounding skin) and taped over with the micropore tape. That’s it. You want to keep it covered 24 hours a day, besides the two cleanings that you do. You want to have your spot moist at all times. Never let it dry.
Sometimes keeping my tape dry was tricky, as I continued playing tennis and when I was sweating, the tape got sometimes too wet. In those cases, I did another cleaning and cream application. Most of the time, I put a lot of effort into keeping my sweat in check with bandanas and hats. My spot was under the eye, so it ws easy to pet it dry during training.
You have to stay patient with the process. It can take 8–12 weeks of daily two applications, and within the first few weeks, your spot will get really ugly. It stings a lot (I did like that stinging, but for some people it’s almost unbearable). It will grow in size, it will look inflamed (yes, the white blood cells work hard), and a lot of ugly white stuff looking like pus will be coming out. Do not let this stop you. This is the healing process, where your body immune system is attacking the assaulting cancer cells and getting rid of them. Many unprepared people get anxious and scared during this phase and quit. Then they complain the cream doesn’t work. You never know how deep your cancer cells reached, and the cream seeks them out, layer by layer until they are all gone. It won’t hurt the healthy cells, so you have nothing to worry about, if you just remain patient. Let the cream do the work.
Once this phase is over and your spot reaches its maximum size (mine was almost a quarter size), it will slowly start shrinking as new new, healthy cells grow and slowly close the area. During this stage you may find white little “pearls” being expelled from the area. Just make sure you wash them off during each cleaning. As your spot gets tiny, you will become more impatient, because you start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Make sure you really finish the treatment and don’t rush it just because it is almost done. When I thought I was done, it was around the week 10 or so, I saw a little weird thing at the edge of the closing spot. I didn’t like it so I applied the cream, and what an unpleasant surprise: it started to act again. I guess there was a secondary spot and my light at the tunnel just turn off, ha. Like it or not, I went through the process again. When I was done with this one shortly before Christmas (what a great gift!), I really made sure it was all beautifully closed.
It’s been 1.5 years since my BCC healed and it has not returned. The spot healed without any scars. Even though you can see a slight color change in the area, you would just think this is just a normal blemish that we all have. It doesn’t react to any soaps or environmental changes, doesn’t itch or burn. It is completely normal! I have saved myself $6,000 and had a lot of fun with my experiment. To fully disclose my results, I have not been back to the dermatologist for a biopsy to get my results confirmed (did I mention that I don’t like going to doctors?). However, I got many emails from people whom I helped during their process and who went for the biopsy results after healing, and all of them had 100% healing.
Curaderm BEC5 healing process pictures
This part is for the interested and strong ones. If you don’t like to see medical, less than pretty things, please do not click.
Final thoughts
By no means I want to convince you to do what I did. We all have a different approach to health, and I encourage you to choose what fits your personality and what you feel comfortable with. I wanted to share my experience, because I am getting increasingly more requests for help and I am realizing it is important. The best way is to prevent all this (yes, yes, I know it now!) by using a good sun protection, eating healthy antioxidant foods (a plant based diet is great, read this post about it), and reducing your stress through exercise, good sleep, and doing other relaxing activities. Less stress means stronger immune system and better healing. Feel free to email me with any questions or concerns you may have. And remember, always consult your doctor for anything you do (again, look who’s talking… ha), because this cream works great for slow growing cancers such as basal or squamous cell carcinoma, actinic keratosis, sun spots, etc. Make sure you don’t have anything worse. While the cream could work, it is a slow process for fast growing problems.
Building the excitement…
Yes, yes, the book for which so many of you have been waiting for quite long now (much longer than I was planning) is coming out within weeks. (EDIT June 3: it is out!!! Available on Amazon here) Stay tuned… Until then, add more veggies and fruits into your diet, no matter what eating style you have. Feel free to send this article to any of your friends who may have skin issues. Many do and they may appreciate this knowledge.
