Medicinal Uses for Activated Charcoal

Many preppers swear by activated charcoal. Well, why not? It’s an incredibly versatile substance. You can make chemical warfare filters with it, use it to purify water and put it on your toothbrush to whiten your teeth. Most of all, though, it’s a great addition to any home medical kit.

Here are seven of its top medical uses:

Diarrhea

Diarrhea is unpleasant, and even at the best of times about of it will make it hard to get on with your life. If it’s not the best of times, diarrhea can kill. In fact, it’s one of the biggest killers in the world – the UN estimate that about 1.5 million people, mostly children, die from it every year. Diarrhea causes dehydration, and if you can’t rehydrate fast enough it can end with kidney or heart failure.

 

In a survival situation, there are many things that can cause diarrhea, from dirty water to radiation, and it’s often going to be hard to tackle the underlying cause. You can deal with the symptoms, though. Six times a day, mix a tablespoon of powdered activated charcoal into a glass of water and drink it. This will reduce or stop diarrhea, preventing dangerous fluid loss.

 

Some people will suggest a charcoal poultice applied to the stomach. Don’t do this; it’s magical thinking and won’t have any effect. Charcoal is a well-proven remedy for diarrhea, but it needs to be taken internally.

 

Poisoning

The secret to activated charcoal’s effectiveness is its ability to soak up huge quantities of other chemicals. That makes it an obvious choice for treating cases of poisoning, and it can be very good at this. Poisoning is always a danger, especially if you have young children – no matter how careful you are, there’s always a risk they’ll manage to get at something toxic and drink it. Adults are at risk too, though, especially in an emergency situation. What if an industrial accident contaminates your water, and you realize the problem right after drinking a big glass of it

 

Charcoal can’t do anything about the poison that’s already been absorbed into your body, but it can soak up any that’s still in your stomach. If you do that, the poisoning won’t get any worse and you can get started on treating the existing symptoms. If you start the treatment as soon as you realize someone’s drunk poison you might even prevent symptoms altogether.

To treat poisoning, take four to six activated charcoal capsules or a tablespoon of charcoal as soon as possible, then repeat the dose every ten minutes until you can get medical help or the symptoms start to disappear. Capsules are better for treating poisoning, as all the charcoal will get to the stomach quickly. If the patient swallowed a corrosive liquid, like bleach, the powder is best.

Insect bites and stings

You don’t have to swallow poison for it to get into your body; there are plenty of insects and spiders that will be quite happy to inject some for you. Most of the time that’s just irritating,  but some insect stings can be incredibly painful – anyone who’s had a run-in with yellowjackets knows this – and there are a few spiders whose bite can be lethal. Any pharmacy will sell you a range of products designed to reduce the pain of bites and stings – but only activated charcoal will actually remove poison from the bite. If you apply it to the affected area, its natural absorbency will draw the poison out through the puncture; you won’t get all of it, but the more you remove, the less the effects of the sting will be.

It’s easy to make your own charcoal-based anti-sting balm, but if you don’t have any, plain powdered charcoal will also work. Just place about half a teaspoon on the bite, then cover it with a Band-Aid to hold it in place. It doesn’t take much charcoal; the important thing is that it’s in direct contact with the site of the sting.