Herbal Household Remedies

Well, I guess “not drinking beer” is the first “natural cure for summer ailments” and many other ailments too, but other than that flaw, I think this article is interesting and informative. Enjoy.

Via: The Daily Times

ADVICE FROM THE DOCTOR By Dr. Victor Gong • August 13, 2008 Thinking of summer joys: Sun tans, sand castles, beer and crabs on the boardwalk. You may also recall the health calamities of sunburn, mosquito bites and ear infections. Fortunately, you can minimize the season’s downside with natural treatments. You probably have most of them in your kitchen or medicine cabinet; the others are easy to find in health-food stores.

Bee stings. Slice an onion in half (it doesn’t matter what kind), and rub it over the bite. Onions contain an enzyme that breaks down prostaglandins, compounds that cause pain and inflammation.

Insect bites. Don’t scratch, try baking soda. Mix one tablespoon of baking soda with enough water to make a paste and apply it to the bites. Keep mosquitoes and other hungry pests away by dabbing lemon-scented citronella oil on your skin and clothing.

Motion sickness. Ginger, taken as tea or in capsules, relieves nausea in kids and adults. Unlike over-the-counter drugs for motion sickness, it doesn’t cause drowsiness. To make the tea, slice a two-inch piece of fresh ginger root. In a large covered pot, bring a quart of water to a boil. Add the ginger; simmer for l5 minutes. Sweeten the tea with sugar or honey, if desired. Drink one cup about a half-hour before you set off on your trip. Take the rest with you in a water bottle in case you need it. Prefer pills? Take two, 250-milligram ginger capsules before you leave, then two capsules every four hours if queasiness persists.

Athlete’s foot. The fungus that causes this condition thrives when feet are warm and sweaty. Kill the culprit and soothe the itch with tea-tree oil, derived from the leaves of a tree that grows only in Australia. Some people are allergic to this, so test your sensitivity. Put a drop of the oil on your forearm; if there’s no redness or inflammation after a few minutes, it’s safe to apply a small amount of the oil to the affected areas twice a day. Don’t use it if your skin is severely broken.

Poison ivy. Relax in an oatmeal bath. You can buy Aveeno, a special colloidal oatmeal, at the drugstore, but the rolled oats you have in your kitchen work just as well. One cup of uncooked oats in a pair of panty hose; knot the top. Add this to a bathtub filled with warm water; soak in the tub for 20 minutes.

Sunburn. Help skin heal with aloe vera. The best products contain l00 percent aloe; buy a gel or a cream with it at the top of the ingredient list. Mix it with the oil from a vitamin-E capsule, which eases inflammation and promotes healing. Don’t use anything on a blistering sunburn; it might make things worse.

Indigestion. If that hot dog you ate at the baseball game didn’t agree with you, drink one cup of chamomile or fennel tea to calm your stomach. Chamomile tea bags are widely available. To make fennel tea, steep one-half teaspoon of crushed funnel seed in one cup of boiled water for l0 minutes.

Swimmer’s ear. Prevent this painful bacterial infection by wearing earplugs when swimming. But if your ears do get wet, don’t fret. Place a few drops of diluted vinegar (one-part vinegar to one-part rubbing alcohol) in each ear. Keep your head tilted for a few seconds so the solution stays in the ear canal.

Via: Best Syndication

Submitted by Wong Darren

Nail fungus may not pose great danger to your health, but it may be indeed bothersome. More often than not, the initial reaction of people who find out that they have nail fungus is to make an appointment with their doctor. There are also others who choose to ignore their ailment and just let it manifest and worsen. Little do they know that the cure for their ailment could be found right in their own homes. Natural remedies and herbal cures are fast increasing in popularity because their ingredients are inexpensive, easy to procure, and simple to make. For the more health-conscious, they pose no side effects having no added chemicals that could be harmful to one’s health.

Like other health disorders such as dandruff, acne, and stomach ache, nail fungus has several alternative cures that can be concocted at home. Why pay a lot of money for commercial medication when you can make one just by yourself?
drugstore.com, inc.

1. Vinegar

Vinegar has been proven to be one of the best cures for nail fungus. A good remedy is a mixture of equal parts of apple cider vinegar and lukewarm water. Soak your feet in a basin filled with the said mixture for 15 to 20 minutes a day. Doing so will expose the fungi thriving in the nails to an acidic environment, which they cannot tolerate. Make sure to dry your feet thoroughly since moisture would only encourage fungal growth.

2. Natural Oils

Natural oils are also a popular form of alternative remedies. The antiseptic and antifungal properties of tea tree oil, combined with the soothing properties of lavender oil, aids in combating nail fungus. Combine equal parts of tea tree and lavender oil. Apply the oil mixture to both the surrounding and affected parts of the nail using a cotton swab. This must be done at least three times a day until the nail fungus is completely gone. Another combination of natural oils that works against nail fungus is a mixture of one teaspoon of olive oil and two drops of oregano oil. Both are natural fungicides which makes them effective against nail fungus. Note, however, tea tree oil and oregano oil may cause some irritation to the skin when used in great amounts. They may bring about a little reddening and peeling of the skin.

3. Mouthwash

Many people who have been affected with nail fungus have testified that mint-flavored mouthwash can be used to treat nail fungus. They claim that the antiseptic property of mouthwash that gets rid of bacteria residing in the mouth also works against fungus thriving on the nails. Soak your feet in undiluted mouthwash for a few minutes a day.

A few weeks of using the aforementioned home remedies should result to some improvement in the condition of your nails. However, discontinuing the treatment before the infection clears would only make matters worse since it could spread on to your other nails. Home remedies won’t instantly produce the results that you want. Hence, one must be patient and be religious in applying the treatment to the infected nails.

Darren is an online medical researcher and webmaster of Toenail Fungus. Must read: The Science of Nail Fungus Infection and How to Treat Fingernail Fungus Infection.