Allergy to comfrey?

[farendwoman]

Have lost three nails, but new growth underneath looks ok, so no lasting damage.
Thanks for your concern.
it was more than a bit stupid to dip my hand in such a festering mess.
lesson learned!,,

[lottie dolly]

happy you got it sorted,we all do things without thinking,most of the time we ok,another we not as you found out,so a lesson for us all

[Snadger]

Strange that a herb that was used for healing (nickname 'Knitbone') can have such devastating effects Glad that its all sorted now and you are on the mend Farendwoman..

[Nicos]

I was thinking that too.
Many moons ago we jam pack filled a 1litre jar with comphrey leaves and left it in a dark place for a couple of years..or maybe longer as per instructions somewhere....

What was left was a slimy liquid which we used on sprains etc with no problem at all. but the skin was intact.
It does sound more of an allergy then infection situation here doesn't it?

Really sorry you ended up losing your nails farendwoman - I wonder if mine was ok cos it was in a sealed container????

Lesson learned for all of us eh?

[ameno]

I was thinking that too.
Many moons ago we jam pack filled a 1litre jar with comphrey leaves and left it in a dark place for a couple of years..or maybe longer as per instructions somewhere....

What was left was a slimy liquid which we used on sprains etc with no problem at all. but the skin was intact.
It does sound more of an allergy then infection situation here doesn't it?

Really sorry you ended up losing your nails farendwoman - I wonder if mine was ok cos it was in a sealed container????

Lesson learned for all of us eh?

You didn't use that liquid on broken skin and, perhaps most importantly, it had been left for a couple of years. By that time, all bacterial activity should have ceased and the bacteria would have died off.
A batch of recently fermented comfrey "tea", however, would be packed with bacteria, so if it got in any slight cut then an infection is quite possible. And seeing as the antibiotics cleared it up, there can be no doubt it was an infection.