Alternative Medicine Turns Man's Skin Blue

A man's skin turned blue after he used a colloidal silver topical solution to cure severe dermatitis. He's now finding it hard to live a normal life, as people stare at him whenever he leaves the house. It got so bad he finally moved to a different state.

According to FoxNews.com, Paul Karason, from Oregon, once had fair skin and freckles. He developed a case of dermatitis 14 years ago - one so severe his facial skin started to peel and crack - so he began using a remedy called colloidal silver. He used it has a topical solution, rubbing it into his skin and, over time, his face began to change color.

"The change was so gradual that I didn't perceive it and for people around me, likewise," Karason said, according to KVAL.com, the website of an Oregon television station. He didn't realize there was a problem until a friend he hadn't seen in months came to visit. The friend said to Karason, "What did you do?"

Other people started noticing too, and Karason found he was being stared at whenever he went out. After a while he began avoiding public places whenever he could. Six months ago he left Oregon and moved to Medera, California. He relocated because people weren't nice to him, Karason said, and he thought people in Medera would be different.

"I hope that they just accept me and learn to like me. And I think that will happen here," he told ABC News (KFSN in Fresno, California). "Where I was, I rather doubt it would have. This is a different kind of community here," he said.

Described as "the blue man" by news organizations and "Papa Smurf" by some bloggers, Paul Karason looks more like a blue Santa Claus, with a bushy mustache and beard, and has the bearing of a kind, gentle and sensitive man. Click here to view his interview with ABC News.

Dangers of Colloidal Silver

Colloidal silver products are often marketed as an alternative medicine with a wide range of health benefits, including the ability to boost the immune system, kill bacteria, viruses and fungi. They are also promoted as an alternative to prescription antibiotics and a remedy for cancer, HIV/AIDS, syphilis, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, shingles, pneumonia, herpes, and prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate).

Silver has been used as a curative for centuries, but has been replaced by more modern and less toxic drugs for most uses, according to the National Institutes of Health (nccam.nih.gov). Ingesting colloidal silver or rubbing it on the skin can result in a condition called argyria, a bluish-gray discoloration of the skin, other organs, nails, gums and deep tissues. Argyria cannot be treated or reversed, and it is permanent, the website states.

Other side effects from using colloidal silver include neurologic problems (like seizures), kidney damage, headaches, stomach distress, skin irritation and fatigue. Colloidal silver may also interfere with the body's ability to absorb the following drugs: quinolones, penacillamine, tetracyclines and thyroxine. For more information, see the following website.