# The healing power of gold (?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 20, 2000, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228 "2000-07-20T12:37:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darqangelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@Darqangelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darqangelle)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/1 "2000-07-20T12:37:32Z")
A friend of mine walked in the door and mentioned that he needed to use my gold ring for about two minutes. “Use…my gold ring. Right. Why?” Turns out that if he doesn’t take a sauna at least once a week, he gets this swelling happening on his lower eyelid, and he’s learned (from what witchdoctor or ol’ wive’s tale, I don’t know) that if he puts some gold on it for two minutes, the swelling goes down and he doesn’t have to worry about it again. My first instinct was to jump up and look through the indexes of all of my SD books to prove him wrong. No dice. “No problem,” I thought, “I’ll check the website.” It was one of those I’ve-heard-something-about-this-before bells in my head, but I also knew it was a little to rediculous to be real. However, there was no reference to this phenomenon. I know I’ve heard tales of the healing powers of gold (being a heat distributer-this I’ll buy. Drinking that Goldschlager stuff? As long as I’m not walking, okay. Metallic aspirin? Uhhh), but… well I’m 99% certain this isn’t based on fact. Help me out with the facts, here. Help me show my friend the Straight Dope about the “healing powers” of gold. Thanks, all, in advance ---
**Author:** ![Moonshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Moonshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonshine)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/2 "2000-07-20T13:53:17Z")
First cross my palm with silver… ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/3 "2000-07-20T14:04:33Z")
Water contains trace amounts of it, thus, drink some water. hey, do you think it works? If so, then all married people wouldn’t get arthritis. ---
**Author:** ![Darqangelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@Darqangelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darqangelle)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/4 "2000-07-20T14:10:10Z")
So… Rap artists and Monte Carlo mistresses are also immune? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/5 "2000-07-20T14:17:21Z")
Well, just watch what you say about gold when speaking around the [Gold Institute](http://www.goldinstitute.com/story9.html). Looking at part of their site, they mention numerous uses for gold in modern medicine, most of which sound pretty legit to my untrained ear. However, one can’t help but think that there’s a difference between using colloidal gold to treat ovarian cancers and rubbing a ring on your eye to reduce swelling. So I’d say “Yes, gold has some medical uses” and “no, your friend’s eye was not going to get better by use of gold.” Of course you never mention if you _did_ let him use the ring and if the swelling _did_ go down or not. ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/6 "2000-07-20T14:59:32Z")
It seems unlikely that gold can have any affect on the body. It is, for all intents and purposes, inert and therefore cannot react with any biological system. You could eat a ton of gold flakes and they would come out unchanged, i.e., unreacted. 'Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/7 "2000-07-20T19:26:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by galen \* > \*\*It seems unlikely that gold can have any affect on the body. It is, for all intents and purposes, inert and therefore cannot react with any biological system. You could eat a ton of gold flakes and they would come out unchanged, i.e., unreacted. 'Nuff said. \*\* Sorry, but I don’t think we can dismiss this out of hand. As a swind…er…SCIENTIST, I propose an experiment. Everyone please collect all the gold you can find, in whatever form…but it needs to be a pure as possible, so .999 coins and bars in mint condition would be best. I will TRY the experiment if I get enough 14k gold, but no guarantees. No need to pop out the diamonds if you are sending rings and jewelry but, to keep the experiment uncontaminated, IF or VVS1 stones of at least 1 carat in weight and graded no lower than ‘D’ color should be forwarded. When I collect a sufficient amount, I will sleep with it under the bed; put in the shower and wear it daily until I see an improvement in my general well-being. I calculate that this should begin almost immediately after the gold starts arriving. ---
**Author:** ![Needs2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5e925/32.png) [@Needs2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Needs2know)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/8 "2000-07-20T19:58:46Z")
When I was a child an old remedy for getting rid of sty on your eye was to rub it with a gold wedding band. I used to get them all the time. My Nanny would take off her ring and rub the sty with it and by the next morning the sty would be gone. I don’t know how this works, but it did. Sounds like your friend is doing the same thing. Can tell you of a couple of other old time remedies that seem to work. Don’t know why but they do. Needs2know ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/9 "2000-07-20T23:21:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Needs2know \* > \*\*When I was a child an old remedy for getting rid of sty on your eye was to rub it with a gold wedding band. I used to get them all the time. My Nanny would take off her ring and rub the sty with it and by the next morning the sty would be gone. I don’t know how this works, but it did. Sounds like your friend is doing the same thing. > Needs2know \*\* I was told by a physician that it is the heat generated by rubbing the ring that causes the swollen sty to go away. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/10 "2000-07-20T23:23:39Z")
Sure it works. Try this: Go get a nugget of gold. Give it to a doctor and ask him to treat you. Voila! All better. ---
**Author:** ![Sassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/11 "2000-07-20T23:25:12Z")
I know of people who have had gold therapy for treatment of autoimmune diseases. It is not used as much as it was, because the results are extremely varied. It is something done in a hospital, not something you can administer yourself. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/12 "2000-07-20T23:28:59Z")
**Needs2know** While many folk remedies are based on sound medical principal, the gold wedding band on a sty is not. There is absolutely _no_ possible way that could cause a sty to disappear the next day or any day. While I know nothing of your stys(sp), I would suggest that, if they went away the next day, rubbing them with a teaspoon would have had just as much effect. I find that if I drink heavily for seven days, it cures my cold. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/13 "2000-07-21T02:16:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samclem \* > \*\*I find that if I drink heavily for seven days, it cures my cold. 😃 \*\* Whereas without drinking, it takes a whole week for it to go away. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-healing-power-of-gold/26228/14 "2000-07-21T12:54:42Z")
I can’t speak for anyone else, but the acquisition of gold sure makes me feel better…