We all know vitamin C is useful to take when you feel a cold comming on, but did you know that vitamin C is not just antiviral, but also antitoxic, anti-cancer and anti-hemorrhagic?
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, April 9, 2023
Therapeutic Benefits of Direct Application of Vitamin C: Physicians' use of topical ascorbate began over 50 years ago
Editorial by Andrew W. Saul
OMNS (April 9, 2023) I kept wondering where the pustulous rash on my wrists and between my fingers was coming from. It appeared at the end of an afternoon of working in my back yard vegetable gardens. Suspecting some poison plants to be out there somewhere, I resolved to pinpoint and eradicate them. But my immediate need was to stop the really annoying itching. Necessity being the parent of invention, I decided to try topical application of vitamin C. It was quick and easy: I simply took a half teaspoon of ascorbic acid powder and added drops of water until it formed a paste. Generously applied to the rash, it relieved the itch in less than 15 minutes. A day or so of twice-daily repetition and the rash was gone. I learned that the offending plants in my yard were belladonna and poison sumac. I have also seen this work on poison oak and poison ivy. And I am now more diligent in wearing work gloves.
The general idea of using vitamin C topically did not come to me out of nowhere. Back in 1984, Robert F. Cathcart III, MD, published on how to make what he simply called "C-paste." He used it for herpes simplex lesions and early Kaposi's lesions. "C-paste is made with either ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate and water applied directly to the skin and covered with a bandage. Frequently, one application will suffice for herpes. . . Frequently, applications to intact skin where the patient perceives an outbreak is about to occur will completely abort the attack. Several applications may be necessary to penetrate through the intact skin." [1]
Topical vitamin C is a remarkable and versatile antiviral. Vitamin C paste applied directly to HSV or HPV lesions may make a visible difference, sometimes overnight. It is also effective on warts, which are viral. [2] If ascorbic acid C stings, one may use sodium ascorbate instead of ascorbic acid. I have seen both to work.
All this apparent antiviral property of concentrated vitamin C was an odd companion to the earlier antitoxic property I had experienced.
In the article Dr. Saul also discusses how topical application of vitamin C can assist with removal of basal cell carsinomas and can help stop bleeding (styptic properties). To read the entire article click here.
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