My head was first turned toward the remarkable healing potential of wheatgrass extract on May 11, 1995.
I was asked to visit Alan, an ex-bookmaker in his nineties, to "relieve his pain". There was a very painful ulcer above his ankle that he had suffered from for several years. It was covered by a thick, dry crust I thought would probably take a week or so to remove by regular cleansing and dressing. Coupled with other medical problems, such as diabetes, emphysema and heart failure, I advised him to accept hospital treatment, but he feared he would never come out alive!
With my patient-list in my clinic across the road already full, I had to think quickly. There was no way I could relieve his pain except with narcotics which I was not prepared to try. He really needed to be in hospital, but refused admission.
I then recalled a businessman who had tried to sell me a herbal remedy to try. A waste of time from my point of view. After all, I was trained not to use herbal remedies, because they "didn't work". But, he had shown me photographs where it apparently healed fetlock wounds on a very expensive racehorse, after veterinary surgeons had failed after 6 months orthodox treatment, and the animal was about to be put down. That was when I recalled that the "healing cream" was in my bag.
"Look, Alan." I said. "You're an ex-bookmaker - right? Well, I've got this wound-healing cream that works on horses. What say we give it a try?"
"I don't give a damn what you do doc, so long as you stop the pain." he said.
I took a deep breath and gingerly applied a smidgen of the cream over the ulcer's thickly crusted surface, covered it with a bandage and left, promising to return the next morning.
The next morning
After a sleepless night worrying if I had done the wrong thing to Alan's wound, I went directly to his home before going to the clinic. Now, armed with a stronger light, I would be able to get a closer look at the wound surface if I could manage to remove the dressing without causing too much pain. But, quite unexpectedly, the dressing peeled easily off the wound as if it had only just been applied.
"S'good that stuff Doc. That pain went soon after you left yesterday!" said Alan.
I was amazed to say the least. There was nothing that I knew of that could ease the pain of such wounds. Also, venous ulcer dressings are notoriously difficult to remove without causing pain, but this dressing peeled off easily with no resistance - painlessly.
"That's a miracle!" I said.
Clinically, it was. The crust on the ulcer had completely disappeared, and the wound surface was spotlessly clean. When I shone a light obliquely across the surface, I could just make out a very thin layer, like plastic film, covering the entire wound. A new layer of skin cells had apparently grown across the entire wound surface overnight which were completely sealing the wound. No exudate (liquid) could be seen! Which, given the circumstances, was impossible.
Having 22 years as a practising doctor, I was stunned. This was a healing phenomenon I had never seen. No pain, and no leakage. Alan's quality of life had dramatically improved - overnight.
Although the wound failed to heal completely, it didn't matter because the surrounding tissue paper-thin skin, (always a problem in healing leg ulcers) strengthened considerably over the following few weeks, enabling Alan's wife to dress the ulcer herself instead of calling in a domiciliary nurse.
Moving forward with wheatgrass healing
So, I began testing the extract on a broad range of medical conditions and injuries that enter a general practice daily, such as burns, fractures, painful swollen joints, earache in children etc. with remarkable success - sometimes immediately after applying the extract. (View many other wheatgrass extract healing cases.)
Apart from keeping Alan out of hospital and relieving his pain, Alan was relieved not to have to worry about adverse reactions to medicines nor fear the pain of wound-dressing removal.
Since the episode with Alan in 1995, I have used the extract for treating numerous injuries and wounds, including burns, with considerable success - all without adverse side effects.
Dr. Chris Reynolds.