The Benefits of Topical and Colloidal Silver

O.K. I have to be candid and honest! Don't imbibe that stuff! Allegedly, it won't kill you but it can give you some interesting color if you're into that sort of perpetual zombie make up thing. Ingestion of large amounts of silver may result in argyria. Here is a nice informative link:
_http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2012/11/chemistry-blue-man-argyria-colloidal-silver
Silver does have microbicidal properties and was once utilized in the form of silver nitrate as a neonate occular infection preventative. This treatment has mostly been abandoned since newer safer remedies are now available. Here's what the CDC has to say about it: _ http://www.cdc.gov/conjunctivitis/newborns.html 
So, if silver might not be such a good idea when taken internally, how safe is it when regularly applied to the skin? That depends on several factors. I would suggest avoiding mucous membranes because the potential for absorption into the body is definitely there! I don't think I would go for applying any silver containing cream and just leaving it there. I haven't found hard evidence to suggest that such applications will definitely result in localized argyria for everyone, but I'd rather be on the safe side. I think wash off silver is fairly safe based on my own experience. When I made my first silver containing soap, I washed with my own personal sample of the batch for over a month with no ill effects. I consider any soap that I make that contains silver to be a just for fun type of ingredient thing that does it's job of cleansing.