The Yellow Stuff

I’ve never been more of what the reaction will be, as I start this thread. Many readers will be disgusted—urrgghh!—but bear with me, as there’s food for thought to come.

I’ll break you in gently, with a story:

Back in 1999, I acquired a Jaguar XJS for a bargain price, considering it was a low mileage car with only two previous owners. The couple I bought it off had doted on the car, only driving a few hundred miles a year, and storing it in a heated garage with fitted carpet. Unfortunately, the lack of use and warmth harmed the braking and cooling system by perishing the rubber hoses. Not being able to rely on stopping a heavy V12-engined car, which had become incontinent, meant rebuilding the hydraulic braking system with new lines and replacing all the water hoses.

I’m a competent mechanic, so did the work myself. Access in the engine bay was tight, with some hoses impossible to see, so some unfastening of clamps was done by feel with bare hands. I then replaced the hydraulic hoses, bleeding the system of air. I’d normally wear disposable vinyl gloves for this work, but protected my skin with a barrier cream called Rozalex, cleaning them afterwards with Swarfega.

Antifreeze fluid and hydraulic fluid are dangerous if swallowed, potentially lethal, and they can cause skin irritation. I’d never been troubled before, but this time, a really aggravating postage stamp-sized rash developed on the back of my left hand above the wrist. It was difficult to resist scratching it during the day, as it felt like a dozen ants were biting me. I tried various medicated skin creams and tea tree oil, which provided temporary relief, but the itching soon came back. One morning, I woke with the back of my hand stuck to the sheet with blood from where I’d been digging my nails into the rash.

I’d just acquired my first home computer, so went online to look for remedies, checking the active ingredients of skin creams. Most of them contain urea:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urea-containing_cream

Urea is the main nitrogen-containing substance in mammal urine. Colourless, odourless, highly soluble in water, it’s practically non-toxic. Urea in skin creams is mostly synthetically made, but I had a ready source of fresh and natural urea—me! :D

I dabbed the rash a few times daily with pee on cotton wool, and in three days it was completely healed! I was flabbergasted.

Think about it: would you rather use your own pee or processed cow urine (used in some formulations) or artificial urea containing who knows what? :(Urine is sterile, containing fewer bacteria than tap water.

Urine therapy has a long and rather secretive history, as mention of it produces hilarity and revulsion. It’s one of the facts commonly trotted out about Gandhi and actress Sarah Miles, but rock musicians Keith Richards, John Lennon and Jim Morrison all said they used it.

Urine therapy – Wikipedia

Image result for SARAH MILES ACTRESS
Sarah Miles

As for drinking it, which some swear by, I tried twice, mixing it with orange juice for palatability, but it was still rather rich! At the time, I was in the throes of giving up booze, after 27 years of alcoholism, so my body may well have been releasing all sorts of toxins that affected the taste. I decided I could be doing more harm than good by drinking it. 

After 23 years clean and sober, If I had serious health issues, I’d try it again, for, after all, the Bible says ‘Physician, heal thyself.’

I was reminded of this episode of self-healing by several recent newspaper articles on the benefits of using urine to wash hair:

Mother washes hair in pee after being inspired by woman on Ben Fogle programme | Daily Mail Online

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a urine therapy fanatic, I don’t gargle the stuff, but I do like things that work for free and which are natural.

If you’ve got an annoying rash, it could be worth a try….

(I promise I won’t tell.) ;)

(Thinks: I’d better leave this bit out of my author bio…) 

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