[AbiDrew85]

So I'm going to be needing to do permanent hair removal, electrolysis, to my face. This is supposed to be EXTREMELY painful... I've been holding off on really looking into getting started on it partially because of the cost of the procedure itself when done professionally, and partially because of the added cost of getting myself anesthetized beforehand.

There are products out there for around $20 that can do at-home galvanic electrolysis, so that's not really a big problem if I can just get up the gumption to DIY it...

But anesthesia would still be a problem... And is a LARGE part of what's keeping back the gumption to DIY it.

Mocha, however, turned me on to a new research project when she commented over on a thread about making your own PM cream using DMSO as the carrier through the skin barrier.

That's a large part of why effective topical anesthesia would be so costly, getting it through the skin barrier...

I did a little research on DMSO and found that in addition to being an excellent carrier for other dissolved chemicals mixed with it, it has analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. That's two parts of the pain from electrolysis taken care of. Just need to find a reasonable anesthetic as well and I'd be set.

So I set to looking for herbs that when used topically act as an anesthetic and eventually found cloves. Actually, the clove oil. Apparently clove oil's primary constituent is a powerful anesthetic known as eugenol. And if you take the oil from the stems, you can get up to 95% eugenol! And to make things even more interesting, eugenol also tends to carry through the skin barrier easier than other drugs. Eugenol in fact has seen a lot of use by some dentists in place of the 'caine's. For people who are allergic to the 'caine family of drugs, but not allergic to cloves, it's a safer alternative than some of the other choices.

The bad part of this combination? Bad breath. But I have found out that apparently, just a small amount of aloe gel can cancel that.

So I'm going to be mixing a 99% pure DMSO liquid found here: http://www.petstruly.com/1871.html

With a 100% pure from-the-stem clove oil found here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clove-Stem-Essential-Oil-100-Pure-50ml-/320934388354?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Natural_AlternativeTherapies&hash=item4ab92e2282

And some pure aloe gel extracted myself from plants bought at the local market.

I'll be mixing it in an approximately 7/2/1 combination. Seven parts DMSO, two parts clove oil, and 1 part aloe gel. 16 oz DMSO, 4 oz clove oil, and 2 oz aloe gel. If you divide by two that's actually 8/2/1, but if you recalculate based on parts of the 22oz whole, it's about 72%, 18%, 10%. Multiplied by their respective strengths you get about 71%, 17%, and 5% of active ingredients and 7% inactive.

Why that combination? For one thing, 70% is the minimum required DMSO strength to completely penetrate the skin barrier and carry things with it. Even just 15% eugenol when being carried directly to the local blood stream should be more than sufficient for quite a bit of numbing, and the aloe is only meant to help the odor. I was unable to find any specific quantity to use, but figured since DMSO is used by itself in up to 90% formulas, 5% active aloe constituents should be sufficient.

Now I just need money to buy the ingredients and an at-home electrolysis machine.

This mixture would probably be pretty darned effective for waxing too btw, if anyone would like to try it for that.

The potential dangers? Don't try this if you have an allergy to aloe or cloves. As far as I could find, there are no known adverse reactions to DMSO itself, only any chemicals carried with it. I am not myself allergic to either, I use both quite often for other uses. Cloves are one of my favorite food spices and aloe is an excellent moisturizer for someone who already produces more sebum than she needs anything to do with. It returns JUST moisture, with no oils. Aloe also tends to be a great enhancement for...

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other moisture needs...

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Think of a certain word beginning with L, and yes, it's kind of dirty, but true...

[AbiDrew85]

Some concerns raised on another site:

Dimethylsulfoxide isn't some inert body cream to play with. One effect I have noticed, from personal use, is greatly increased blood flow to the area it is used. Also heavy use can burn the skin. This isn't something to experiment with unless you have a lab full of guinea pigs and methods to apply it to them without getting it on your own skin before you have tested it THOROUGHLY.

there was an article that I remember having read a few years ago and the incident had also been on a medical mystery show about dmso. If used in a certain quantity it can react with some people to form a deadly nerve gas within their bodies. They woman who had entered the ER for chronic pain and problems succumbed to that and when they pierced her with a needle for a blood draw, the gas emitted from the puncture and several of the emergency room crew died and many others hospitalized later for nerve gas exposure.

To which I replied with facts from the said article, which I'd also found while researching the chemical, though it took some digging, because there was only ever one case and it wasn't quite as she described it.

And she was using it in crazy high amounts. The problem wasn't the DMSO itself, but a chain of events that led to the DMSO eventually becoming dimethyl sulfate.

When she used way too much DMSO it caused her system to go into arrest, and when they put an oxygen mask on her the DMSO was completely converted to dimethyl sulfone, with 2 oxygen atoms on it instead of one. This chemical, though generally inert, was unstable and broke down in her system. The scientists who claimed that the gas produced was dimethyl sulfate then hypothesize that it reformed into dimethyl sulfate when her blood left her body and started to cool down, allowing the chemical enough stability to form in quantity.

In short... Definitely wear gloves while preparing this if you choose to do so. And be extremely careful not to use too much at once or use it too often.

I may have inadvertently made it seem like DMSO was "COMPLETELY SAFE!", when the reality is that it can be extremely dangerous if used improperly.

By all rights if this works, it should be a controlled entity requiring prescription, but the US government, at least, chooses not to control DMSO or clove oil, which can also be dangerous in its own ways.

EDIT: Also, if you do try it, try it somewhere easily concealed first, just to be sure if it does burn or anything that the damage isn't visible... I don't think it would. But I can't help but wonder with the one person actually being in a trade that would certainly make use of it as a solvent. Granted, their experience will be of it at full industrial strength. The 99% product I'm starting with. Which makes me wonder why the 99% product would be being sold as a vet topical...

EDIT2: I will be updating this thread with my results when I have had a chance to prepare it and try it myself.

EDIT3: And yes, I have no problems with using myself as my own guinea pig. This should be obvious by now...

[mochaccino]

Ive used it many times by now, and Ive never gotten burn or irritation. I don't reallt get any feelings from it at all. It's definitely not numbing on it's own, but Im sure it can carry numbing agents through the skin. It's my personal opinion that some people (actually lots of people) are sensitive to it. There are many people who get redness and a feeling similar to a mild sunburn even at low concentrations. A lot if them go on using it anyway and are apparently none the worse for wear. Most of them say that the mild burning sensation and itritation is normal and happen to everyone who uses it, but I know from my own experience that that's not true. At least not at 70% concentration. For me it feels exactly like normal gel. It honestly feels no different from aloe gel to me. I must not be sensitive to it. Spot testing is definitely a good idea. You might even want to start out by using it several times in gradually increasing amounts to get used to it, but for me that was not necessary.