Colloidal silver is an alternative treatment that many people are turning to in order to relieve the symptoms of common health issues like sinus infections or colds. There are many brands of colloidal silver available at health food stores and pharmacies, as well as vast information on the internet about the benefits.
Anyone who has ever tried to research a health condition knows how frustrating it can be. Every website seems to have a different opinion, and it’s hard to know who to trust. Unfortunately, this can lead people to make poor decisions about their health, such as following fad diets or using unproven supplements.
On one hand, you’ll run across thousands of personal testimonials about colloidal silver helping people with practically every disease you’ve heard about. You will also stumble upon some well-known health sites that warn consumers about safety concerns.
(1) Usually, these sources quote a statement made by the FDA in 1999 claiming that there is no scientific evidence to support the use of colloidal silver.
(2) This type of information can confuse even the savviest natural health enthusiast, which is why I want to lend a helping hand and provide some evidence-based information to help you make an informed choice about colloidal silver uses and benefits.
What Is Colloidal Silver?
One common technique used by professional milkmen in the days before refrigeration was to add a silver coin to each container of milk. This was done to prevent the growth of algae, bacteria, and other disease-causing microbes. Before the arrival of antibiotics, silver was used as a professional disinfectant in the early 1900s. It was found to be an effective means of preventing the spread of infection in hospitals and was even used to cleanse surgical instruments.
Silver continues to be used as a natural antibiotic in some professional settings, such as hospitals. In fact, it is often used as a disinfectant in place of more harmful chemicals.
Of course, people don’t need to put silver coins in water to get the benefits of colloidal silver today. The best way to get rid of pesky bugs is by using Colloidal Silver! All you need are some drops from a bottle at your local store which contains nanometre-sized particles suspended in water. The total amount per liter (mg/L) will be numerically equivalent to parts-per-million, or ppm for short; this number tells us how much ionic silver there might also exist within each solution sample since it’s not always easy to see through them without an instrument like an electron microscope.
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There are basically three types of silver solutions that fall under this category of colloidal silver, and these are:
- Ionic silver
Ionic silver solutions provide many of the benefits that true colloidal particles can, especially when used externally. True ionic silver is often marketed as “colloids” and because it’s less expensive to produce than other types, this type has become more popular over time – especially in modern-day medicine where many believe it offers an advantage against virus transmission or infection by bacteria like MRSA.
- Silver Protein
For protecting and suspending silver ions for internal use, gelatin (from animal or plant origin) is often added to coat the silver ions.
This silver protein is the second-most popular type of colloidal silver on the market and can easily be made by adding water to silver protein powder.
- True Colloidal Silver
With this type, it is important to note that true silver colloids do not contain any protein or other additives as the vast majority of their content consists only of nanometre-sized particles.
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How Colloidal Silver Benefits Work
According to a report written by Richard Davies and Samuel Etris of The Silver Institute in 1996, there are three primary ways that colloidal silver can help heal the body:
- Catalytic Oxidation
Silver naturally holds onto oxygen molecules, which readily react with the sulfhydryl (H) groups that surround bacteria and viruses. In turn, this helps block the life-preserving cellular process known as cellular respiration, which is defined as “the set of metabolic reactions and processes that take place in the cells of organisms to convert biochemical energy from nutrients into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and then release waste products.”
- Reaction with Bacterial Cell Membranes
Silver ions can attach to bacteria cell membranes directly and produce the same respiration-blocking effect.
- Binding with DNA
Shown to literally enter bacteria DNA, up to 12% of silver has been detected in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. According to one source, “While it remains unclear exactly how the silver binds to the DNA without destroying the hydrogen bonds holding the lattice together, it nevertheless prevents the DNA from unwinding, an essential step for cellular replication to occur.”
Top Healing Benefits of Colloidal Silver
Colloidal silver has a direct effect on cellular respiration which allows it to provide numerous medical uses for your body. These are the many proven healing properties that have been supported by medical literature:
- Antibacterial, Antiviral, and Antifungal microbial
It’s astonishing to note just how effective this form of prevention and treatment can be against antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as superbugs! Larry C. Ford, MD, was a professional with over 30 years of experience in the field of pathology and silver research. He has worked as a professor at UCLA Medical School and has authored numerous papers on the benefits of silver. He documented over 650 different disease-causing pathogens that were destroyed in minutes when exposed to small amounts of silver.
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Naturistics Colloidal silver is an effective professional treatment against antibiotic-resistant superbugs, as it doesn’t create immunity in the organisms that are killed by it. It cannot be overemphasized how important this is especially in light of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that more than 2 million people in the U.S. suffer illness every year as a result of antibiotic-resistant infections and 23,000 die from these infections.
In addition, a study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary
Medicine supported ionic colloidal silver as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent against both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, but its activity wasn’t as pronounced against fungi.
- Wound Care & Skin Health
Robert O. Becker, MD, believes that colloidal silver stimulates healing in the skin and other soft tissues. He is a professional physician who has written extensively on the topic of colloidal silver and its benefits. Colloidal silver preparations are not only safe for topical use, but they are also effective in treating a variety of conditions. In a research article produced by Pharmacognosy Communications in 2012, it was specifically recommended that certain colloidal silver preparations should be considered for topical use to treat burns, thrush, periodontitis, and other conditions.
For instance, you can treat ringworm (Tinea capitis) at home with colloidal silver because it’s a potent anti-fungal. Ringworm is a common skin infection that is caused by a fungus. It can present as round, scaly patches on the skin. Ringworm is a professional athlete’s infection. It’s contagious and spread by skin contact and by contaminated materials, such as clothing.
Colloidal silver is also a popular choice for professional skin care treatments. It can be used to help heal a variety of skin conditions, including psoriasis and eczema. It’s soothing to scrapes and even repairs tissue damage from burns. In fact, a colloidal silver-based nanogel was successfully used as a dressing for superficial pellet gun wounds in a Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care study. Such silver nanoparticle-based gel dressings for wounds or even chronic wounds are becoming more common.
Topical silver has been traditionally used by professionals on burns, but usage stopped after the advent of antibiotics. However, it kicked back into popularity in the 1960s. The combination of silver nitrate and sodium sulfadiazine to create SSD cream has helped in burn recovery in many patients.
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Applying a silver coating to specialized foam, as part of a wound vacuum system, provides antibacterial activity in vitro. “This technology may assist in preparing infected chronic venous stasis wounds for skin grafting, ultimately leading to better healing.”
- Pink Eye & Ear Infections
Pink eye is an inflamed mucous membrane that covers the eyeball and eyelid lining, and it’s primarily caused by a bacterial or viral infection. Colloidal silver can be used for prompt action against this irritating and highly infectious virus and bacteria.
When applied to the infected eye, the tiny silver colloids pick up the infected cells by attracting them electromagnetically and sending them into the bloodstream to be eliminated.
Our modern prescription antibiotic drugs are designed to work against specific classes of bacteria, but ear infections may be caused by multiple classes of bacteria or can even be fungal. In this case, the prescription antibiotic will be useless, whereas colloidal silver is effective regardless of what may be causing your infection.
- Antiviral
Colloidal silver benefits can be experienced as an anti-viral for HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, herpes, shingles, and warts. Dr. Martin Hum, from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition, lists colloidal silver as one of the natural remedies to stop viruses fast.
Colloidal silver suffocates the virus and can even reduce the activity of the HIV virus in AIDS patients. There are also numerous anecdotal accounts of colloidal silver’s efficacy against the hepatitis C virus.
- Anti-Inflammatory
Colloidal silver is also a fantastic anti-inflammatory remedy. Case in point: Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) studied the effects of inflammation after being treated with colloidal silver; they found that the inflamed skin of pigs treated with silver experienced near-normal skin after 72 hours, while other treatment groups not treated with silver remained inflamed.
Research is beginning to reflect what many people have already known anecdotally for years — that colloidal silver can reduce swelling, speed healing, and boosts cell recovery!
- Sinusitis
Widely used to control sinus infections, colloidal silver can benefit people as a nasal spray, according to a study published in the International Forum for Allergy and Rhinology in 2014.
And a recent 2018 study published in Frontiers in Microbiology found that colloidal silver nasal rinses, when used twice daily for 10 days, are safe and effective for patients with chronic sinusitis.
Twenty-two patients completed the study and were given either oral antibiotics with saline rinses twice a day or colloidal silver nasal rinses twice daily. The results indicate that both forms of treatment showed similar improvements in sinusitis symptoms and using colloidal silver in this manner for ten days was deemed safe.
You can purchase a good quality, pure colloidal silver nasal spray product or add a few drops of liquid colloidal silver to a “neti pot.” To apply it directly into your nasal cavity, let it drain down your throat while tilting your head back.
Also, it’s important to point out that recent research indicates that hidden infections by pathogens could be a cause of respiratory inflammation associated with common allergies and asthma. Colloidal silver destroys Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, which may be the reason why airborne allergy sufferers often find such dramatic relief from colloidal silver.
- Cold & Flu
It is widely believed that colloidal silver helps prevent all types of flu, including swine flu, as well as the common cold.
Few studies have been done to test this clinically, but in 2011 the NIH took 100 children under the age of 12 suffering from the common cold and nasal congestion and assigned them into two groups; the first group was treated with a solution of colloidal silver and beta-glucan, and the second group with saline solution. Even though both groups benefited from the treatment, 90% of the people in the colloidal silver group completely recovered!
- Pneumonia
The modern drugs that are available to us have become limited in their efficacy when it comes to fighting bronchitis or pneumonia. Typically, antibiotics are administered as the first line of defense, but when the pneumonia is viral, antibiotics won’t help in the least. The nice thing about colloidal silver is that it can help regardless of the pathogen.
Colloidal silver is a remarkable product to help fight against bronchitis and pneumonia when ingested internally, but an even more effective way to utilize it? Simply breathe it into your lungs.
This way, the silver directly contacts the germs residing in the lungs, which are causing bronchitis or pneumonia. It’s basically the same thing as using respiratory support, and it works speedily, clearing it up within a couple of days.
Now, the most effective method to get the colloidal silver into the lungs is to use a nebulizer. Generally, use one teaspoon approximately three times a day for 10 to 15 minutes.
Colloidal Silver Side Effects
Although the National Center for Complimentary and Integrative Health reports that colloidal silver may cause poor absorption of some drugs, there is limited research proving that side effects of colloidal silver use even exist . Nonetheless, you may come across many warnings about it causing an irreversible condition called argyria (when people turn blue). However, this is caused by misuse not of true colloidal silver, but through poorly made products marketed as colloidal silver or by using other silver chemical compounds.
One point to consider is that, because colloidal silver is such a potent antibacterial agent, you should be sure to supplement with probiotics during use to be sure that you maintain a proper balance of microflora.
Application & Dosage of Colloidal Silver
Colloidal silver needs to be applied differently for each condition. To experience colloidal silver benefits, it may be taken as follows, always keeping in mind to never use it for more than 14 days in a row.
- 2–5 drops applied directly to the skin
- 1 eyedropper taken orally for immune support
- 1–2 drops into the eyes for pink eye
- 1–2 drops can help disinfect any wound or sore by applying to a Band-Aid
- If prepared properly, it can be injected into a muscle, a cancerous tumor, or into the bloodstream
- 5–10 drops can be applied vaginally or anally
- 5 drops are added into a neti pot or directly sprayed into the nose
Summary & Conclusion
Overall, colloidal silver is a powerful and versatile tool that can be used to treat a variety of conditions. From the common cold to more serious infections, colloidal silver can help fight against bacteria and viruses. It is also safe for most people with few side effects reported. When used properly, colloidal silver can be a helpful addition to your natural health arsenal.