Man has hole in head from black salve
A 55-year-old man was left with an inch-wide hole in his head after trying to treat what he thought was cancer. (Photo: Supplied)
A Queensland man has been left with an inch-wide hole on his face after trying to treat what he thought was cancer with an alternative medicine.
The 55-year-old man presented to a Brisbane hospital in September with the burnt hole in his temple after applying "black salve" to treat a lesion on his face.
Doctors from the Princess Alexandra Hospital wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia that the man had been applying the unlicensed product for four months.
The product, which is sold online as an alternative skin cancer treatment, often contains bloodroot and zinc chloride which can eat away at tissue.
The doctors, Natalie Ong, Eric Sham and Brandon Adams, wrote that the man was sent home to treat the wound with proper medication and it healed within three months.
Black salves have been listed as a fake cancer treatment in the US since 2004.
The ointment has been condemned by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration since 2012 but it's not yet banned here.
Source: MailOnline
Author: Emily Crane, Approving editor: Kieran Campbell
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