So many people come here because they've heard our sugar scrub gets rid of Tinea Versicolor, so I thought I'd talk a little about it.
I'm gonna show you something gross in a minute, so I thought I'd soften the blow with an adorable kitten. Enjoy!
Tinea Versicolor is a fungal infection on your skin that is caused by an overgrowth of yeast. It is one of the most common skin diseases in tropical and subtropical climates. Hey, the price you pay for living in paradise. Oh wait, let's not forget about tsunamis. Haole Rot and tsunamis, but other than that, it's paradise...Oh and earthquakes...and shark attacks...staph infections from coral...volcano eruptions...Welcome to Paradise! ...At least we're not in Australia where you can get killed by spiders the size of your face.
Signs of tinea versicolor are hyper or hypo-pigmented spots on the skin. Sometimes it's one or the other, and sometimes it starts out with light splotches and then you start getting dark ones too (Oh joy! – variety IS the spice of life!)
Here's what it looks like:
I chose one of the least disgusting pics I could find, because I didn't want to freak anybody out...but it can get worse. It can also manifest as reddish splotches, which I had in addition to the white splotches when it got really bad. As if that weren't enough, my red splotches had scaly white centers!
The horrors! It's seriously enough to send you into a social coma.
I've written my own story about how I got rid of it – which is how I developed this scrub – You can read it here.
When I finally discovered the winning combination, it seemed like it happened so fast, I really couldn't remember how long it took. After working with many customers treating for haole rot, I have nailed down that it usually takes anywhere from 2-4 weeks to fully get rid of it with the scrub. Also, I never got a recurrence of it after the scrub got rid of it, and that's been 10 years. Every bit of reputable literature that I have found on it, says that it ALWAYS comes back. Mine came back after treating it with an antifungal cream, but it never came back after treating it with the scrub. The biggest thing I loved about the scrub was the way it made my skin feel. It's a luxury spa treatment! Compare that to sitting around for 30 minutes every day covered in Selsun Blue,..not to mention the chemical cocktail you're marinating in with that stuff.
If you're treating for tinea versicolor/haole rot, send me an email and I'll be your biggest cheerleader, supporting you through your journey to spot-free living! And best of luck to anyone going through this – I'm there for you :)
Another thought came to me recently, after getting sepsis a couple months back. I was on enough antibiotics to kill every microorganism within a 10 mile radius and obviously that means, unless you want problems, you have to replace the natural balance of your personal ecosystem with probiotics. This got me thinking: Probiotics get rid of an overabundance of yeast in your body, which occurs when you take antibiotics, and Tinea Versicolor happens to be caused by an overabundance of yeast, so why not take the same approach? I mentioned this to a couple customers recently, who wrote me to say that the scrub was either taking a long time to work, or in one case, they hadn't seen any results after about a month of daily use. While I cannot guarantee that it will work for everyone, I am tenacious and think like a scientist with problems like this, so I want to understand what is different about these people who are not getting good results. It occurred to me that just because it's manifesting itself on the skin, Tinea Versicolor is more than superficial, so why not approach it systemically, just like you would after taking antibiotics?
I recently heard back from a customer who took this advice and he was ecstatic because it was the first time in years that he has been able to see any results from treating his haole rot, He'd been suffering with this for years when he came to me, and it took him a few months to decide to try my scrub. I reiterated the importance of sticking with it and also the dietary changes. He wrote me back two weeks later telling me it had finally started to disappear!
It makes sense if you think about it, so if you're having a really stubborn case, it's definitely worth your while to take a two-prong approach with treatment, and eat/drink a natural probiotic yogurt, kefir, kombucha, or there's even some really good probiotic water on the market. , while using the scrub too.
I would also suggest that you try a natural kefir that boasts their probiotic content because many companies that make these, do it for the sole purpose of helping you get this into your diet, and yogurts that have been pasteurized have added the probiotics back in, because pasteurization kills them off. Also, yogurt is usually much higher in sugar, and many don't contain active cultures at all (because of the pasteurization), so you need to check on the label to see if they even contain them at all.
Additionally – and this should probably be the #1 thing on your list of stuff to do when trying to get rid of Tinea Versicolor – cutting sugar out of your diet as much as possible is a good way to help improve the results too, since sugar feeds yeast. Now this may seem counter-intuitive since you're using a "sugar" scrub, but the funny thing is, sugar also kills bacteria and is a great field triage for wound treatment. It is admittedly much better for you on the outside of your body, than on the inside...but c'mon...donuts! OMG, I'm telling you to ditch sugar and then I give you donuts to drool over – I am the devil herself, aren't I?
I thought right now would be an awesome time to tempt you with a few donuts from Voodoo Donuts. I'm not sure, but I think that one with a pentagram can be used in a magical ritual to send the carbs to your enemy.
Before I wrap this up, I want to mention one more thing that I really think needs to be seriously considered: We have been turned into lab rats. There are so many horrible things lurking in the ingredients of stuff we put in and on our bodies that it boggles the mind. Many of these are by-products of preservatives, or preservatives themselves. They are potentially responsible for creating hormone disruption, cancer, reproductive problems and non-reproductive organ failure (yeah...failure!) I read labels constantly, and since crating this scrub because I was freaked out about the toxic chemicals in so many of the ostensible "cures" that I tried, I have become an advocate to help bring this knowledge to the public, because it's hiding in so many places and many times, disguised as something good. If you have Tinea Versicolor, or any other skin condition, food allergies, mystery illness, etc., it's a good idea to start reading labels and familiarizing yourself with what's really inside the processed/packaged foods you eat and the personal care items you use, and cut out the things that have potentially harmful ingredients! If you're interested in becoming more informed about the ingredients in the products you use, subscribe to my blog.
To recap, here's a list of tips to help you get the best results:
Cut sugar out of your diet as much as possible while treating the Tinea Versicolor – especially if you are frustrated in your results.
Try to stay dry and avoid humid environments/sweating as much as possible.
If this is not possible, do your best to mitigate the circumstances by showering/rinsing off and thoroughly drying after swimming/surfing/working out, etc.
Wash your wetsuit!!! If you're a surfer and you keep putting on that wetsuit and the haole rot keeps coming back, or won't go away, it might be lingering in the wetsuit, so wash it! Click here for instructions. (I'm working on this post, so I will come back and link it when it's up - subscribe to my blog to get it in your inbox)
Wash your sheets and anything else that may be contaminated. Better safe than sorry!
Use the scrub daily as the last thing you do in the shower or bath – simply rub on wet skin and massage into the skin a bit, then rinse. Your skin will feel wonderful – soft and super moisturized :)
Store your scrub in a cool, dry place and do not put it directly under running water –it will disintegrate and you will be bummed out :(
It will usually take about 2-3 weeks of daily use of our scrub to fully get rid of tinea versicolor.
While it's not necessary to let the scrub sit on your skin for a while, if you have a really tough case, you may want to try and leave it on your skin for a few minutes before rinsing.
THIS is what happens when you don't wash your f@#%ing wetsuit!
Hope this helps you fight your fungus. Please send me an email or comment below, and let me know how it works for you!