Colloidal Silver Will Turn Your Skin Blue
That has been a fear ever since Paul Karason came into the public eye in 2008. It all started when he made an appearance on The Today Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show. This exposure made a lasting impression on all those who saw him. Word spread quickly.
The Blue Man Story
The story began when Paul Karason from Madera, California, decided to play doctor—making his own “medicine” to treat several health conditions.
Paul decided to make his own colloidal silver at home. He consumed a high concentration of silver in large doses daily. (He reportedly drank about 10 ounces of his homemade concoction every day!) His approach to making this solution was not to just drop a pure silver coin into a glass of water (which was historically a common practice to keep milk from spoiling, or water safe to drink).
To make his colloidal silver drink, he took advantage of the conductive properties of silver. He attached electrodes to a strand of silver wire and then sent an electrical current into distilled water. This process extracted the silver from the wire and suspended it in the water—resulting in colloidal silver.
He stated that his colloidal silver remedy solved some of the health issues he had suffered from for years, such as arthritis and acid reflux, as well as an inflammatory skin condition.
Turning Blue
But with all the benefits he was getting from his colloidal silver consumption, he encountered one drawback—it eventually turned his skin blue. Even after realizing what was happening, he didn’t consult a medical professional or change his “prescription.”
His skin didn’t turn blue right away, or all at once. It happened gradually over many months. This side effect is termed Argyria or argyrosis.
What Causes Colloidal Silver to Turn Your Skin Blue?
When you ingest silver, it goes through a process of breaking down and entering your bloodstream. Most of this silver leaves the body within half a day. But if your body is overburdened with too much, it can’t excrete it fast enough. That is when the body will begin to store the excess in your cells and tissues, including your skin.
Argyria is rare and is not dangerous, but it is irreversible.
Is Colloidal Silver Safe?
Silver isn’t inherently bad. It’s a natural element present all around us and has many benefits and applications. It has been used for its anti-microbial properties since ancient times and more recently, NASA has used silver in its water purification systems.
Traces of silver are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. We wear it as jewelry and invest in silver coins. It’s in dental fillings, surgical sutures, bandages, and is used in medical devices such as catheters.
Various formulations of colloidal silver are available as natural health supplements and used by many who sing its praises. But considering what happened to Paul Karason, is it safe?
As with most things, no matter how healthy they are, more is not always better. Eating excessive amounts of carrots, for example, can turn your skin a yellowish-orange.
Argyria becomes a risk after exposure to very large doses of ingested silver or exposure to smaller amounts of inhaled silver over a prolonged period of time, such as for those working in the silver industry.
The more significant risk comes when silver is formulated incorrectly by amateurs or used incorrectly, without expertise or scientific knowledge. Such was the case with Paul Karason.
The internet is filled with DIY articles and videos on how to make colloidal silver at home. Some show a simple process with limited supplies and others advocate a more complex approach with more specialized components. The primary purpose of 'doing it yourself is to save money.
Unlike colloidal silver products manufactured in a laboratory, using a precise formula, with controlled energetic frequency and particle size, colloidal silver made at home is filled with uncertainty, inconsistency, and risk.
When it comes to your health, why would anyone want to jeopardize it to save a few bucks?
Safe Products
If you want to experience the benefits of colloidal silver, leave it to the professionals instead of playing amateur chemist and leaving your health to chance. Colloidal silver is found in an increasing number and variety of products—from liquid supplements to topical gels to skincare products and more.
Finding safe silver products comes down to finding a manufacturer you can trust and following their recommended doses, applications, etc. If you want to find out what to look for in a colloidal silver supplement or other silver products, take a look at this article.
In case you’re wondering about what happened to Paul Karason, he died in 2013 at the age of 62 from causes unrelated to Argyria. He was a heavy smoker and had a long history of heart problems. He died of pneumonia after being hospitalized for a heart attack.