Stop staph infections from coming back

About 2 years ago I noticed a small bump on my daughter's stomach. At first we thought it was a spider bite, but when it began to grow and looked infected we decided to take her to the doctor. It turned out to be a staph infection boil. A few months before that she had been on antibiotics for a staph diaper rash. At first it seemed like a simple problem. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and within a few days the boil was shrinking. Unfortunately that wasn't the end. A month or so later, she developed another infection and over the course of the next year and a half she had them one after another. I found that the doctors had very little help to offer other than the antibiotics and instructions to keep our house very clean. I tripled the amount of laundry we did each week and spent hours sterilizing everything in our house. Eventually I realized that there had to be more to the problem. Clearly my daughter was more sensitive to the staph bacteria than other people. I was able to find bits and pieces of information online that eventually helped me to restore her body's balance of healthy bacteria and I am happy to say she has not had any infections for the last 9 months. The solution for us was to increase the amount of healthy bacteria, to decrease the bad bacteria in her system and environment, and to minimize the use of antibiotics.

Ways to increase healthy bacteria intake
1. Eat yogurt, but avoid varieties with sugar. We sweetened plain yogurt with applesauce or fruit. I found that whole milk yogurt tasted the best, so if you don't have a problem with the extra fat, you or your child may find it more enjoyable.
2. Take a probiotic supplement. These are generally very safe and there are some specifically designed for kids. I don't know the best dose, but you can definitely take more than is recommended on the label.
3. Drink raw milk if you have a safe source. Raw milk contains many healthy bacteria that are killed by the pasteurization process, but you do need to be careful that the milk isn't contaminated by bad bacteria.
4. Drink keifer or kombucha. These are beverages you make by formenting milk or tea. You need a starter culture. I'll find some links to put in a later post, but you can find them online.

Ways to decrease the bad bacteria
1. Eliminate all or at least most sugar from your diet. Sugar feeds bacteria and hinders your immune system.
2. Minimize the amount of grains & high starch food that you eat. These are quickly turned into sugar by your body. Eat plenty of vegetables, meat and nuts. If you do eat grains, whole grains are better.
3. Keep your house clean, wash sheets frequently and towels & clothes every time you use them.

Ways to minimize the needs for antibiotics
1. Use topical antibiotics rather than oral antibiotics when possible. Staph can be very dangerous, so you don't want to let infections get out of control. Sometimes oral antibiotics are needed to beat an existing infection, but if you can convince your doctor to try topical antibiotics first, you might be able to kill the infection that way. Oral antibiotics kill all the bacteria in your system both good in bad, so they actually weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to staph or other dangerous bacteria the next time you come in contact with them.
2. Use heat. Hot baths and compresses can help open boils to allow the infection to drain and allow topical antibiotics to enter the infected area.

We were fortunate to have regular staph rather than MRSA the antibiotic resistant strain of staph. Both look similar and require simlar treatment, so even if you have MRSA, these suggestions should be useful.

Staph seemed to take over my life for the year we were fighting it. I hope having this information in one place will be helpful to others who are dealing with this same issue. I will try to add more detail in all of these areas as I have time.

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