Olive Leaf and Staph. infection

by Nancy DeVega
(Tampa, Florida USA)

Question:
My mom has a staph. infection on the scar area where a hip replacement was done a few years back.
The doctor cleaned up the abcess, closed it and it's still draining a month later. The doctor wants to remove the hip prosthesis because it seems her body is rejecting it due to that staph infection. That surgery is a very bad surgery, she has been through it once before, and she is 84 years old and I don't believe she'll survive the surgery. I have been giving her Olive Leaf Extract for a month now but I have not seen any improvement.
Can you please tell me how long it takes to see any results from OLE on a staph. infection.

Answer:
In my experience, if taking a good OLE product, any infection against which it is active should show a change within about a week, either a worsening (Herxheimer reaction) or an improvement. Olive leaf extract is listed in Dr. Morton Walker's book for staphylococcal food poisoning so I assume it should work here, however one cannot guarantee this.
After a month with no results I would say it is either not getting to the infection in sufficient quantities, or the product is not strong enough or it is missing sufficient quantities of certain active constituents.
By taking olive leaf tea as well as a strong ethanolic tincture or capsules you may get a better result.
If possible, get a qualified herbalist to look at the problem and tailor a combination herbal medicine for her. OLE may not be enough by itself and there may be other issues involved.
Finally, is it possible her body is rejecting the material of the prosthesis and the infection is a result rather than a cause? I hope not, but if this were the case an antimicrobial medicine would be the wrong approach.