Bread & Milk Poultice

by Cindy
(Paynesville, MN USA)

When I was a young girl I stepped on a rake & it almost went all the way thru my foot. I went to the ER that day & they cleaned it & dressed it. I did not get a tetanus shot because I had had one recently. When I went to see the family physician 2 or 3 days later, I had blood poisoning halfway up my leg. The Dr. told me to soak the foot in hot hot water & take antibiotics. My grandmother happened to be visiting at the time & she scalded some milk, put a slice of bread in it until it soaked up the milk, then put it on some cloth to make a poultice. We applied the poultice to my wounds & it drew out a lot of the infection each time we applied it. The blood poisoning was gone in a few days.

Comments for Bread & Milk Poultice

Click here to add your own comments

Great bread and milk poultice story, Cindy!
by: Jodi

You mentioned something about antibiotics. Were you taking them also?

It's great to have stories like this passed down from our elders continued. That's what these forums are all about!

Thank you!

Bread and Milk home remedy
by: meilander

My mother (90 years old) swears by bread and milk for almost any injury that creates swelling or pain in general. Boils, sprained ankles, or other joint ailments. Bruises, you name it. I don't believe it a cure for everything, but I know it worked on a boil within one day when I was younger. I was amazed. Is there any science to this? I suspected the yeast draws out infection, but not sure? Does anyone know?

bread and milk poultice
by: Anonymous

I sustained a very bad burn in my youth. My parents did not believe in medicine and neglected to have me seen by a doctor. Within a few days, my arm was purplish with infection. A native healer who stopped by to visit my family saw the infection and immediately put on a bread and milk poultice. He stated I would feel pain but by morning it would be healing. The next morning the infection was gone and a healthy scab covered the burn.

Many uses over the years
by: my riah

I've known of the bread/milk poultice since I was 5 yrs old & have seen it done several times. Living on a dairy farm we'd put it on cattle that had bad cuts. One instance the cow had dark puss for several days, Grandma used it and the next day the cow was walking with the leg.

I cut my finger tip off near the knuckle, the scab from the cauterizing was inside the finger after being sewn on. The bread n milk pulled the scab out and a new one formed on the outside.

My roommate used it on an infection of the underarm that wouldn't open. The next morning it had pulled the puss to the surface and the skin opened to let it out.
ETC ETC..
It will not hurt to at least try it!

Bread and Milk
by: Anonymous

I know that part of it has to do with bread mold. The hot bread left over night will form at least a little mold which will put a penicillin like substance into the wound. And heat from the warm milk will calm the inflamed nerves.

Like magic
by: Steve Weste

Years ago I stabbed myself in the foot with a fish spear. It got infected and I could feel my heartbeat in the infected area. I told my father about it and he put milk on a slice of bread and applied it to the wound wrapping it so it would stay in place. I recall asking if he was going to say some magic words--not having much confidence in it. By morning there was nastiness on the bread and the infection was gone. I've used it a number of times since and know how well it works.

Bread and Milk Poultice Works Great!
by: Cherie

My family has used this old remedy for generations. When I was young my Mum applied it to a nasty, hot, green pussy colored cut I had on my leg. Being young, I hadn't thought to tell her about it until it was quite greenish in color.

She heated the milk. Added bite-sized pieces of the bread to make a moist mash. Then as hot as I could stand it on my leg, she wrapped it in cheese cloth and applied it directly to my wound. She also wrapped it with plastic, a towel and ace bandage to hold it in place. I slept with it overnight and by morning my leg was normal temp to touch, no longer red and all the green goo had been drawn out and was now on the cheese cloth.

I've used it on all my kids. Worked every time. I too have often wondered HOW it works. It is suspected the yeast, which becomes active in warm water/milk, draws bacteria towards it, thus out of the wound.

I asked a Dr. once, the Pediatrician, after he saw an open wound we had already nursed with it. I told him it looked great now. Infection was gone, just healing closed. When I told him about this remedy he was quite surprised--and didn't believe it would work.

The proof is in the puddin' folks...it's worked on farms and in family homes for many generations. Wonder if it would cure that nasty flesh eating disease?

It works!
by: Anonymous

When I was a youngster a large fork tine pierced the back of my leg--it became a pusy mess. Fortunately I was staying at grandma's and she put a milk and bread poultice on it--it cleared up overnight. Today I am trying it on a area of my face that seems to have become abcessed/inflamed--my squeezing it didn't help! I am expecting great results.

BELIEVER !
by: Anonymous

In my first year of university I was upset to find that I suddenly was getting some acne on my face. I had just started a new job too and was chalking it up to stress. I ended up getting a very large zit quite deep under the skin on my chin.. it seemed like it was never going to go away and got bigger and bigger... I had it for about a month when I decided enough was enough and consulted with my esthetician. She pierced through the skin with a needle (which felt awful) then told me to use the bread and milk taped on my chin over night... I was skeptical but desperate at this point. When I got up for work the next morning and took the bandaid off I couldn't believe it actually worked! Four weeks of that and all it took was one night! I am a believer in milk and bread poultices!

It really works!
by: Ada

As a child growing up on a farm stepping on a rusty nail seemed to be a right of passage every summer. My father would make a bread and milk poultice, wrap my foot (or that of one of my sibblings) in a cloth holding the poultice in place and by morning the throbbing and painful nail puncture would be infection and pain free. I don't know how it worked but it really did. Try telling that to the modern parents of today and they'd probably laugh at you. There was no rush to the doctor for a tetnus shot just back to play as usual. Thanks Dad, I miss you!

another success story
by: Anonymous

I was 18 years old and had just taken a large pot of boiling water off the stove. I carried in about 10 feet and dropped it all over both my upper legs. I had jeans on. I ran to the shower and immediately started flushing cold water over it. The jeans kept the heat in, probably helped save my skin. We peeled the jeans off, the legs were red and top layer of skin was peeling. There were some boils.

I was attending a wedding that night. My mother wrapped both legs in poultice dressing, tied it up and off I went to the wedding. I spent most of the night sitting, with ice packs. Next morning I woke up, removed the dressings to find the redness and boils gone. Within a week you couldn't tell anything had happened.

It is magic!

toe infection...
by: Anonymous

I have a very bad infection in my toe...the toenail has grown about a half inch into my toe..it is so painful...i just remembered about the bread poultice my father used to use...now i am going to try it...will post my comment in a few days...susan

My Grandmothers Used This, too!
by: Nancy

When I was a child, home remedies were always tried before a trip to the doctor or the ER. The bread and milk poltice was used frequently for any type of infection of the skin from slivers and stepping on a nail to ingrown toenails. It was easy to make, the ingredients were always accessable, and all it cost was a little time. I have used this same remedy on my own children and have passed it on to them. It is painless, which is another plus. When I have applied this to some of my grandchildren, they were very pleased to hear, "This won't hurt, I promise." The infections disappeared withing two days. Sometimes, the old ways are best.
Thanks, Grams'!!

Blotched Circumcision
by: G. Bags

My hippie parents didn't believe in circumcision. their free-love ways included worship of the flesh in its natural form. as such, I was not circumcised as an infant like almost all other boys of my era. in middle school, I was teased in the locker room by the other boys for my 'deformity'...little did they (or I) know that they were the mutilated ones. By high school I was interested in the ladies, but after a few attempts with the gals which ended in my humiliation (each time the young woman ran screaming from my one-eyed snake peeking out at them like the grim reaper from behind his hoodie), I decided to take matters into my own hands. I 'borrowed' a scalpel from the biology lab and took it home. I iced my turtlenecked trouser mouse to numb the pain and then I crudely sliced off the offending foreskin through a waterfall of painful tears. there was so much bleeding... I nearly fainted. afterwards, i bandaged my bloody member up as best I could and awaited the healing. Three days later the scabbed gland was swollen and oozing puss from all directions. I was too embarrassed to tell my parents, but by the fourth day, I couldn't stand the pain and could no longer pee. I finally told my grammy because as a child of the depression, she was always suspect of my parents hippie beliefs. She immediately heated a cup of milk and soaked it up in slices of bread, which she bandaged to my abused stump. then she made me swallow several aspirin and sent me off to bed. I thought she was crazy and sending me off to die, but I was delirious at that point and no longer cared...next morning I awoke to find the swelling down and puss drained. we changed out the milky bread dressing many times over the next several days. and within a week I was mostly healed. only regret is that I didn't use a pair of scissors as my cut wasn't very even. Although the remaining bits of jagged foreskin now look like a crown. which I'm proud to report is worshiped by the ladies today. My penis is king of the world...thanks grammy! Got Milk? (and bread)?

infections
by: Anonymous

I'm a 64 year old lady that knows about the bread and milk it truely works. I've used it for boild and infections on my children for years. My son recently had an infection from a sore and we appplied the poltice overnight and it drew out all the poison . When you use the old methods it helps to stop overuse of anti-biotics.

Bread Poultice works great
by: Lorraine

I had a very nasty boil on my arm but no way would it pop, my Moms friend came by and made a bread poultice which she put over my boil with the bread as hot as i could stand, i kept it on overnight and next morning all the puss and core had come by the next day you could not even tell that a boil had been there.

Need to know more about MILK & BREAD POLTICE
by: Anonymous

Hi all,
Thank you all so much for sharing your amazing stories about home-rembedies. I have heard lots of diff ways of dealing with these and I tell you (I have had surgery) for the past cluster of boils I recently had.
I now have a new boil and I REALLY need to know if you drain the milk OUT of the bread OR do you simply apply it and start dressing / bandaging it up saturated with milk? I really want to try this remedy please can someone post a comment and help answer my question FAST :)
I sooo dont want to relive this awful AWFUL boil crap again its horrible.
You guys inspire me to try real things rather than spends lots at the doctors. BUT I must say I am also trying out the Dry Leaf and Dry Grated Soap remedy tonight too. I will post and let you all know how that goes too...Watch this space :)

How to make bread and milk poultice
by: HFHR

First heat some preferable whole milk on the stove almost to scalding. As soon as it's cool enough but still warm dip in your white bread. You can squeeze out the extreme excess but leave it as saturated as possible. Bandage as completely as possible with something that will hold in the moisture. Leave on overnight and repeat if necessary.

Good luck with that boil, annonymous!

Tumeric is also supposed to be very good at clearing up boils. You can use it both internally and externally!

oh yea this works!
by: Dexter

I am writing this in bed, with one on my extremly infected thumb. A few days ago i got an ingrown that started to ooze so I'm now on an iodine and bread poultice as per my dads orders. This has been used for centuries for absolutly anything that needs to be drawn out of the skin. glass or pus or corns or boils. Works everytime. The trick is to add boiling water(or milk) and apply it when its still really really hot. dont scald yourself but it should feel uncomfortable. When i wake tommorrow i expect a glob of pus in my bread. wish me luck with this one!

Milk and bread to the rescue
by: Adam

I was around 11 or 12 years old when I ended up cutting off the tip of my big toy. I was kicking a bottle on the way to school and by doing so the mouth of the bottle ended up chipping and when I kicked it for the last time it cut the end of my toe off. Well long story short my toe got infected and my mother ended up putting a milk and bread wrap on my toe. Within 2 - 3 days the infection had cleared up and the toe healed quickly and cleanly. Works for sure...

Miracle for Blind Pimples
by: Anonymous

I'm 16 and used to frequently get those nasty big blind pimples that seemed as if they would never go away. In desperation i searched the net for blind pimple remedies and stumbled upon this gem. After being a bit skeptical I tried it. To my surprise, it worked amazingly. Whenever I feel one popping up I just make a bread poultice. However, I use bread and boiling water instead of bread and warm milk. It works perfectly though.

Anyway. I love this ok remedy and will use it forever.

My Kitty and I
by: Amy from Ontario

Wow! My cat is 8 yrs old and my vet told me she has cancer even though they did no test. 3 days later the tumor ruptured and it got infected..have been giving kitty antibiotics from jan till may 1st. I started to read up on natural remedies since she lost alot of weight and isn't doing so good including getting sick. I was going to put her down but she's my best friend. I am now using a natural product called TumorX and also started the budwig diet and she seems to be getting a little better and is now starting to eat. I give her distilled water to drink but I read here how people are doing the bread and milk poultice so I really want to thank everyone here as a large piece of it came out...I cried so hard as I know have some faith that this will work.

Bread and Milk Poultice
by: Margaret

I am now 63 years old and as a youngster I was hanging from the clothes line pole swinging back and forth. When I let myself go and landed on the ground..I landed on a board with a large rusty nail in it which went all the way through my foot..through tne bottom and came out the top. My older brother had to hold me down while my mama pulled on the board to pull the nail out of my foot. she had me soak my foot in hot soapy water but the next day there was that red streak running up my legging showing blood poisoning so she make up that bread and milk poultice and put some on the bottom of my foot and also the top of my foot..wrapped it up good and by the next day the red streak was gone from my leg..she still did this a couple more days to be sure all the poisoning was gone.

I also want to add that my husband was out raking the neighbors leaves and he had a big pile in the corner of his fence with a pile he had been piling up for years..My husband ended up standing in the middle of this old pile to rake up the leaves and something bit his leg in the calf area and it became infected and looking awful and black and blue. He did go into the doctor and had antibiotics and it wasn't healing with what the doctor gave him to put on it so I did this bread and milk poultice and it was showing signs of healing the next day..

messy but wonderful
by: Michele

You don't even have to heat the milk, just soak a bit of bread in it and fasten the soggy bread to the wound. Body heat is enough. The bread can be perfectly fresh. I'm a natural skeptic, but this has worked for my family for generations! We are genetically inclined to ingrown toenails and sweaty feet--real infection farms! With the poultice, the pus moves to the surface of the skin and the inflammation shrinks overnight. From the stink of night-old bread, I'd guess that the infection actually moves into the bread.

It worked for me!
by: Anonymous

As a young boy l was bitten by a spider on my thumb.It really swole up. My old English Granny made a bread poultice with gauze,bread,and poured boiling water slowly onto it so as to keep it hot and moist.The puss came out and the swelling came down but I lost the nail which did grow back in time.

Warm milk and bread poultice.
by: Ron D.

When I was a child (in the 60's) I had many sore/swollen throats. My mother would heat some milk and soak bread in it and then wrap it in a wash cloth. Then she would place it on the swollen area on my throat while I was lying down. It would drain out the infection and the swelling would go away. It worked like a charm.

Boils and going gluten free
by: Anonymous

This is for the lady who has the boils.
If you continue to get them, which is what it sounds like, remove all gluten from your diet. I had bad boils under my left arm last year, I went to a doctor and he just told me to soak, and gave me an antibiotic. I kept getting them and so I did a search and found a blog by a large number of people who had the same problem and going gluten free cleared it up. It did for me, and when I did eat some gluten I got more boils and also a very nasty itchy rash. Needless to say I stay away form gluten!

question
by: Monica

I used the remedy a long time ago but I can not remember...Does it make a difference if you use white or wheat bread and does it matter if it is whole milk or skim?

Poultice Ingredients
by: Anonymous

Monica, use white bread and whole milk for the poultice. The consensus is this is what works best.

Hoorah, for bread and milk poultices !
by: Anonymous

I am now 85 years old, and my earliest memories include the healing "goodness" of bread and milk poultices ! My dad had "fellens" (sp) on his thumbs, very often....and mother always prepared the poultices for their healing qualities. And, I, too, was subjected to the same treatment, although I don't remember why. I am about to prepare one, right now, for my infected toe !

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to POULTICE page!.