Remedies

From Antivist

Revision as of 17:12, 20 August 2007

Insect Bites

• Use a cotton ball to dab mosquito and other bug bites with white vinegar straight from the bottle.
• Rub some onion juice on the bite. Smells, but works!

Bee Stings

• Combine a little baking soda and water to form a paste...dab on bite.

Insect Repellents

• Tie a sheet of dryer sheets through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.
• Make a solution of mint oil and rubbing alcohol, place in a spray bottle and spray yourself before any outings, the mint acts as a natural deterrent for most insects.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Dilute one part to five parts and use an effective antiseptic wash to heal sores. For bad wounds, soak a gauze bandage in the solution and leave overnight.

Burnt Toast

Burnt toast contains charcoal, which is useful to relieving intestinal wind pain.

Fresh Ginger Root

For very tired and aching muscles and joints, grate some fresh Ginger root, then place in a clean handkerchief or muslin cloth and squeeze out the juice. Add the same amount of vegetable oil and massage into the sore areas until the skin is warm and pink. Applying before bed will help prevent disturbed sleep.

Gingernut Biscuits

Because these contain ginger, they are ideal to munch on before or during a long car or boat trip to help prevent nausea. Also good for dogs that get carsick. If you make your own, add extra Ginger.

Grated Apple

This is said to be great for relieving constipation, nausea and diarrhea.

Potatoes

Grate up a raw potato and apply the juice to soothe sunburn, cysts, inflammation, and swellings.

Cabbage Leaves

To treat sprains and bruises, crush dry cabbage leaves with a rolling pin or bottle. Put them in position over affected area and secure with a bandage. Replace with fresh crushed leaves every two hours and watch the swelling and redness disappear.

Aloe Vera Plants

Snap off a piece of an Aloe Vera plant, open up and use the gel inside as an effective cooler and healer of nappy rash. It's also good for helping to heal wounds, cuts, scraps, dry skin, sunburn and acne in teenagers. The older outer leaves are the most potent.

Baking Soda

Throw a handful into your a bath regularly to help prevent thrush. Baking Soda in the bath is also helpful to help ease itchy or hot sunburn, insect bites or hives, as well as chicken pox and measles.

A teaspoon full can be added to a glass of lemonade or warm water and drunk as a quick anti-acid.

Add a small amount to your shampoo and it will help strip your hair of build-up leaving you with shiny hair.

For smelly shoes, place a teaspoon full inside their shoes and leave overnight. Next morning, shake it out, and the smell should leave with the baking soda.

Peppermint Essence

This is good for reliving itchy bites in children as it smells better than commercial products, doesn't sting and really works.

Cornflour

This is useful for more than just making your own gravies. It is a great cure for diaper rash. Just sprinkle some on and you should notice an improvement by the next diaper change.

Honey

Spread a small amount of honey on a little piece of bread and put 'honey side down' onto an infected wound, ulcer or a boil. The honey acts as a drawing ointment helping to clean it out.

Honey is good for your skin (especially your neck area) when it becomes dry. Apply, leave for half an hour, and then rinse off in the shower.

Tea Tree Oil

Add a small amount to your bottle of family conditioner, and this is said to prevent head lice being contacted, as the lice are repelled by it.

White Vinegar

White Vinegar is another one of those products that has many different uses. One use is helping to heal the pain of a burn. Put some white vinegar liberally on a piece of cotton wool and dab the burnt area. The same can be done for sunburn.

Some vinegar added to a bath with no other oils or bubble bath added, can be valuable in providing relief from eczema, psoriasis or dermatitis. To make your hair soft and shiny, add a glass of vinegar to your final hair rinse.