I am often astounded by how little I know. Here I am with over half a century of life experience behind me, and I have never heard of neem oil. Andywight told me about it, and I quickly turned to the Internet to learn more. What I read
there was surprising. It seems the people of "backward" India have known about neem oil for thousands of years, yet this college-educated American had never heard a word about it in his 57 years! This little oil from the seeds of the neem tree is antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic. The
neem tree is considered "the village pharmacy" in India. Twigs from the tree are commonly sold in India as "
toothbrushes". Just chewing on the twigs promotes dental health! I have often wondered why Indian people seemed to have such healthy teeth despite their apparent economic poverty. Evidently, the American concept of poverty is heavily flawed. Just like the American concept of education.
A friend of mine lent me his "Razor" hand saw to do some tree surgery in my back yard. This saw cuts tree branches like a hot knife through butter, making other hand saws appear like incompetent wannabees. Yesterday, I accidentally brushed my hand lightly across those teeth, but I didn't feel anything, yet a minute later blood was dripping down my fingers. I wondered what that was all about, then I remembered my brief encounter with those teeth. Sure enough, upon examination, I saw I had five tiny cuts on my fingers. This morning those cuts were infected. I was about to reach for the antibacterial cream from Walmart when I remembered the neem oil. I had bought some off of eBay and it had just arrived by mail the other day. This might be a good test of its antibacterial properties! I put a drop of neem oil on my finger and rubbed the oil into the tiny cuts. Thirty minutes later, the pain was gone and the red swelling was fading.
I think I'm onto something... though maybe a little late.