To urge you all to buy a jar of coconut oil?

[Littlefluffyclouds81]

Some parts of this might be TMI, and I apologise in advance for that.

A few months ago, I had a boyfriend who had an unfortunate penis condition called balanitis, where it would get red, itchy and sore. The doctor prescribed him steroid cream and it did nothing to help, and in fact thinned the skin so much that his banjo string snapped

I did some reading on the Internet, and found a forum saying someone had cured his balanitis with coconut oil. I suggested it to my bf and he gave it a go, his condition cleared up within a few days by applying coconut oil.

I bought a jar of it myself this week as it was on offer on Amazon. So far, I've tried it out on thrush...I woke up with a definite case of it, got a lump out of the jar (it's solid and melts on contact), ummmm inserted it, and hey presto, instant relief and no symptoms since.

Then yesterday I had a mega spot. Like the kind of spot that takes up half of your face and would normally take 3 weeks to heal. I applied coconut oil to it several times yesterday, and when I woke up this morning the spot had pretty much gone.

I've also been putting it on my hands and feet, where I get stress eczema, and it provides instant relief, and seems to be clearing it up.

Other things that it can apparently cure are nappy rash, impetigo, most kinds of infections (can be ingested if it's an internal thing), and loads more, do some googling.

Anyway, felt like I had to share. I'm well chuffed that for 6 quid I have a product that seems to deal with a lot of common health problems, and it actually works (and fast)!

ANY oil will help remove cradle cap, I get some from the chippy once they've fried the saveloys in it seventeen thousand times and it works a treat.

Can anyone explain to me how is this an AIBU?
And if it isn't really, why are people telling Doreen to fuck off when really all she was doing was responding in the spirit of AIBU?

Urgh cutter :)

cuttinguppears it's more of a shill than an AIBU, (purely IMO of course).Mumsnet is probably the perfect place for that though.

Aloe Vera and water only on burns. Never anything that will insulate and keep the burn burning.

Will try it on my curls

Dr Hoffman's coconut leech farm.

All of you who use it on your hair - how do you do it, exactly? How much, do you leave it on overnight, wrap it in anything? Is it a faff?

I tend to wash my hair then put a load on whilst it's wet, comb it through and leave it (pony tail, plat etc). I tend to do it in the morning (if not going anywhere maybe except supermarket). I have done it over night but it leaves a greasy pillow case. Not nice. I will then give it a good couple of washes at night and condition/dry as normal at night.

My mum also uses it in the same way and she has straightened Afro hair.

I do the same as mouse. I have frizzy hair due to hypothyroidism and it adds shine, makes it softer and less wiry, and adds to the gently waviness. DD uses it in the same way, but at night (she doesn't care about greasy pillows!) She ties her curly hair in cloth (no idea how) and the result is beautiful, head turning ringlets in the morning. No brushing.

Yeah, I don't fancy putting it on at night and either ending up with a greasy pillow case, or having to sleep with my hair wrapped in something (uncomfortable).

Could I put it on damp hair and then blow dry it? Or would that leave it looking greasy?

It's fine for anecdotal evidence when talking about it helping to soften cracked heels and get rid of spots.

But for things like burns, sun cream, infections etc I like a bit of science and evidence. Which dermatologists recommend coconut oil and what would be considered light sun? I googled but couldn't find anything concrete.

I hope nobody who has just read the start of the thread believes the burn thing, some poor parent might put coconut oil on a burn in a panic and make things a whole lot worse.

Some times the Internet is a really dangerous place.

I agree that recommending it as, for example, a sunscreen is kind of irresponsible.

SPF 10 is nothing, and I doubt it even is SPF 10.

Actually, there is evidence that coconut oil is effective as an antifungal:
pubmed study

I bought a small tub for a couple of quid a couple of years ago from the local pharmacy, and it's still going strong. It's been great on nappy rash and dry skin, and much better value than targeted products.

One of the big pushers if Coconut oil as a miracle cure was Mercola. Ge was told by the FDA at least twice to remove the claims from his website (which madquerades as advice for natural remedies and antivax quakery but just reallly there to push dodgy products) because he couldnt provide any evidence for the his claims.

Gunpowder- did you notice the key words "in vitro"?

I bought some for oil pulling (anything's worth a go with my teeth) but then had a look at the ingredients:

per 100ml
lauric acid: 44.8g
myristic acid:17.4g

Which gave me pause. In the absence of being able to find the pH of coconut oil on google and absence of a way to test it myself, I was hesitant to soak my teeth for 20 mins at a time in what may be a quite acidic solution. I have enough acid erosion as it is.

I didn't find it much cop as a moisturiser.

Surprised to hear someone found it sorted spots and blackheads because, well, mine are oily enough as it is; it'd be the skincare equivalent of deepfrying a pizza. With some misgivings, though, I have spread some on the bridge of my nose. We'll see what happens.

Dowager - I just use it like serum and put a little bit on my hair when it's still wet before I blow dry it. My hair is the bane of my life and I've tried most things - it's definitely one of the better products I've used.

Yes Bertrand I did notice that.

I thought this was the interesting bit of the abstract: It is noteworthy that coconut oil was active against species of Candida at 100% concentration compared to fluconazole. Coconut oil should be used in the treatment of fungal infections in view of emerging drug-resistant Candida species.

I thought the main reasons stuff didn't work in vivo when successful in vitro were toxicity, which we know isn't a problem with coconut oil, (allergic people aside), or delivery, which isn't a problem if it's a skin condition. Maybe now coconut oil is a 'thing' one of the Big Coconut companies will stump up for an in vivo trial.

Sorry, italic fail there.

I should say, I meant 'nutritional information' rather than 'ingredients'. The stuff I've bought is pure coconut oil.

I expect that coconut oil isn't always a great treatment for all skin conditions even when people aren't allergic. I find all oil-based treatments cause me to itch because they trap heat in the skin, although so far I have only had a noticeable reaction to products containing lanolin.

Sweet Adelaide agree
Its too thin and doesnt sink in, it is better than nothing but a dermalex repair cream or e45 intense recovery are so much more effective

I oil pull with it and my teeth look so much whiter and my breath feels fresher. I also use it on my body (face is oily enough) as I have dry skin with patches of excema and it is good but needs a ton of rubbing in. Smells wonderful though 👍🏼

Fluffy
You will get the same results using water , which is a lot cheaper

And less horrible to have in your mouth!