Types of Cancer Salves and Pastes

Types of Escharotics

Escharotic:

A caustic substance that causes a chemical reaction with tissue, usually attended by heat, itching, and burning that results in the destruction of the reactive tissue.

Allopathic and natural medicine represent two distinct medical traditions, each with a long history. Both schools of medicine agree that it is necessary to destroy or remove malignancies. So, allopathic medicine has relied on surgery and/or toxic minerals such as arsenic and antimony or caustic chemicals such as zinc chloride or nitric acid, this for at least the last 2500 years. Running parallel to the allopathic school, there has always been a tradition of natural medicine, one that relied less on surgery and chemicals and more on plants. Even Hippocrates suggested to his students that if they were more interested in surgery than diet and herbs that they should follow the army because that is where they could practice surgery.

During much of history, the schism between the two schools of medicine was deep and acrimonious, not really much different than what we see today since proponents of each modality exhibit the kind of ignorance that fuels efforts to discredit whatever is not understood. The difference is that allopathy currently holds more power and so has the ability to persecute the proponents of natural healing, though even this is not new. In France, 700 years ago, curing using natural methods, even prayer, was deemed criminal unless one possessed the proper credentials and followed the rules of the profession, this in Christian countries that should have celebrated all such wondrous healing.

Merging of Traditions

Ironically, where escharotics are concerned, the two systems of medicine joined forces about 150 years ago when Eclectic physicians began combining zinc chloride, first with bloodroot and later with goldenseal. Even stranger to the history of medicine, this merger occurred both within the ranks of professional physicians as well as lay practitioners. This fact is made no more clear than with the two main twentieth century exponents of escharotic use.

The highly controversial Harry Hoxsey and entirely respectable Frederic Mohs, M.D., seem to have had nearly identical formulae. Hoxsey was wholly lacking in proper credentials, but he inherited a "deathbed" formula and eventually came to operate the largest chain of cancer hospitals of his time. He was possessed of an intimidating tenacity that alienated him from virtually the entire officialdom of his time, but he was praised by patients who claimed to owe their cures to him.

While doing research with the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Mohs developed what he called a fixative paste that, like many physicians of the 19th century, he used in conjunction with a minor amount of surgery. The Mohs method is now standard for basal cell carcinomas where it enjoys a 99% success rate. Hoxsey's work was moved across the border where it is still widely regarded as the most successful cancer treatment available.

Salves and Pastes

Whether we are looking at lay persons who provide salves to customers as a matter of cultural or religious tradition or at the Mohs fixative paste, most of the preparations that are today available are a mixture of herbs and zinc chloride. Very few are purely botanical; and those that are tend to be salves rather than pastes. Pastes are water-based products that are quite thick and usually also a bit sticky. They tend to dry out and cake up when in contact with body heat.

Salves have some sort of oil to aid penetration. Though it is not necessarily a matter of water versus oil, the salves that are to be found "on the street" are usually less aggressive and slower acting than the pastes.

There are a lot of escharotic products being produced today by Native Americans, descendents of early settlers, cowboys, lay practitioners whose religions permit the use of natural medicines but not pharmaceutical medicine, herbalists, and even veterinarians and medical doctors. Except for the Hildegard of Bingen violet crème and Christopher ointments, nearly all the widely available external preparations are pastes, and nearly all contain zinc chloride.

Hildegard's Salve

The book contains over 100 recipes for cancer salves, pastes, poultices, liniments, internal tonics, and teas as well as detailed instructions for use of the products.

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Zinc Chloride and Ingredients in Pastes