Herbal Household Remedies

Via: NaturalNews

It’s summer time and not only is the sun out in abundance, so are the bugs — and some of them come with a bite (or a sting). The good news is that there is plenty of natural relief for such annoying bites and stings.

First, however, a bit of caution is in order: make sure that the person bitten/stung does not have abnormal swelling or otherwise show signs of a serious allergic reaction. If they do, call 9-1-1, because some people can die from bites/stings if they are not treated immediately.

For most common insect bites or stings, the following suggestions should do the trick and provide fast relief and healing:

* Tea tree oil or tobacco. If you are stung, remove stinger if there is one. apply tea tree oil liberally in a circular motion surrounding the entry point — be gentle touching the point of entry! Let dry and the pain and swelling should ease in two to three minutes. Re-apply if needed. As a last resort, use some wet chewing tobacco, or wet cigarette tobacco and apply the same way to the affected area. Make sure the tobacco is juicy before you rub it on. Tobacco contains a mild analgesic and should ease the pain.

* Baking soda. Mix baking soda with water to form a paste. Apply the paste and cover with a gauze bandage or paper towel and tape. Leave on for one half hour or more until pain is gone.

* Relieve the itch from bug bites with an onion. The sulfur in onions neutralizes the chemicals that cause the itch. Simply slice a yellow onion in half and rub one of the cut sides on the bite. The itching should stop immediately. Refrigerate the onion in a sealed container to use again if the itching resumes. Make a fresh slice before reapplying it.

* Vinegar. Good for spider bites too. Soak a cotton ball in vinegar and place it over the spider/bug bite. If you get bites on your hand or foot, put the soaked cotton ball in a bag and put your infected hand/foot in the bag over night. Make sure that the bag is not tight around the wrist/ankle. As an alternative, you may hold the soaked cotton ball in place by a band aid. By morning, the swelling and/or soreness should be gone as if you had hardly been bitten at all.

* Other insect bite/sting remedies include mustard, ammonia, tomato slices, potato slices, and fresh garlic pieces or minced.

Brown recluse bites

Brown recluse bites are not your ordinary bite and can be very dangerous. If you get a bite that swells like a boil, with a red center that quickly hardens over, Do Not try to squeeze or press on the swollen area or pick at it — you will only end up spreading the poison.

* For such bites, mix ground bromelain (or pineapple pulp), fresh garlic juice, tea tree oil and MSM together into a paste and apply to bite area and surrounding area liberally. Cover with a bandage and keep covered all day, changing as often as needed to keep the medicine on the area.

* Also take 250 mg bromelain capsules two to three times per day, drink plenty of water, and eat plenty of raw garlic.

* A good homeopathic/herbal medicine to use is ledum pallustre. Continue all treatments until redness and swelling are gone. If swelling and redness continue to grow, seek medical attention.

The above regimen was used successfully twice by the author with superior results to the mainstream medical treatment he received with a previous brown recluse bite.

To help keep pesky bugs at bay, here is an all natural insect repellent recipe from herbalist Debra Nuzzi-St. Claire:

* 1/2 ounce citronella oil

* 1/4 ounce lavender oil

* 1/8 ounce pennyroyal oil

* 1/8 ounce tea tree oil

* 1/8 ounce jojoba oil

Do not use this blend undiluted on your skin. For use on the skin, follow these instructions for diluting:

* To make an insect repellent oil that can be used on your body, add 16 ounces of jojoba or almond oil to the base oil mixture and blend thoroughly.

* For an insect repellent spray, add 16 ounces of vodka to the base oil mixture, pour into a spray bottle, and shake before using.

For more natural and home remedies, see: (http://www.tbyil.com/remedies.htm)

Live long, live healthy, live happy!

It is not exactly rocket science to grow your own herbs, but to grow them from scratch, preserve them properly and use them for your family’s benefit is more complex than it might seem at first glance. There are very good guides out there that help you with all of these, such as Growing 101 Herbs that Heal: Gardening Techniques, Recipes, and Remedies.  And here is a little article that helps you with the seasonal tasks at hand.

Via: The Newark Advocate

Herbs can be harvested anytime they have sufficient growth throughout the growing season. Never cut more than a third of the plant, giving it a little time to recuperate between cuttings.
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Now that the air is cooling and winter looms ahead, it is a good time — before the first frost — to gather in the herbal harvest for use later in cooking and crafting.

Start your harvest on a dry, clear day in the morning after the dew has dried on the plants, before the heat of the day can wilt them. Cut the herbs, and clear the last 2 inches of the stem. Bundle them in small bunches, wrap a rubber band tightly around the bare stem end and hang upside down in a dry, dark, cool place. A portable wooden clothes dryer is inexpensive, lightweight and easy to set up for this purpose.

Be sure to label each bundle with name and date; this will avoid confusion later, when all the dried herbs look alike. Use string tags from the office supply store or labels made out of craft foam sheets, cut into strips. Attach to the rubber band holding the bunch together. When the herbs are dry, put them as whole as possible into airtight food storage bags. Store in a dry, cool, dark place.

Some herbs — such as basil, parsley, chives, dill and fennel — retain their flavor much better if frozen, rather than dried. Strip the leaves from the herbs, lay on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, and freeze until brittle. When ready, pour into freezer bags, label and date.

Another freezer method is to put 2 cups of fresh herbs, free of moisture, into a food processor with 1⁄2 cup of high-quality oil (canola or olive) or water and blend into a thick paste. Freeze in ice cube trays. When frozen, pop the cubes out, package in freezer bags, and label. These can be popped into stews and soups or added thawed to recipes.

Enjoy the essences of your herb garden in the midst of winter!

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Via: foodconsumer.org

The routine knee surgery neither provides any pain relief nor improves knee function in patients with knee osteoarthritis, according to a new study published in the Sep. 11th issue of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

“This study provides definitive evidence that arthroscopic surgery provides no additional therapeutic value when added to physical therapy and medication for patients with moderate osteoarthritis of the knee,” said study co-author Dr. Brian Feagan, Clinical Trials Director at the Robarts Research Institute and professor of Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario.

Osteoarthritis affects an estimated 27 million Americans and one in every ten Canadians. Knee osteoarthritis leads to 418,000 knee replacement procedures annually and in 2006 accounted for 496,000 hospital discharges and spent $19 billion in hospital charges, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study followed for two years 178 men and women at an average of 60 who lived in London, Canada and had moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee. All patients received physical therapy and medications such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen and 86 percent of them also received surgery consisting of lavage and arthroscopic debridement.

The researchers found all patients improved their condition with regard to joint pain, stiffness, and function. But surgery did not offer any additional benefit.

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