Pantry Healers
Home Remedies
Provided by Health.com
Looking for a great skin refresher? How about a surprising remedy for a stuffy nose? Or a cure for blisters? The solutions may be as close as your kitchen pantry. Here are some surprising uses for everything from salt to honey.
How to Solve...
Heat rash
The remedy: Mix regular oatmeal (not instant) or cornstarch with water to make a thick paste. Apply to irritated skin, let it dry, and leave it on until it flakes off on its own (the residue will continue to work). Reapply only if it starts to itch again (otherwise you risk overdrying the area).
Why it works: Both oatmeal and cornstarch help reduce irritation and swelling, and provide itch relief.
Heel blister
The remedy: Carefully apply enough lavender oil (available at health-food stores) to fully cover the blister without popping it; this will help it deflate and dry out faster. Reapply every few hours for three to five days or until the blister heals completely.
Why it works: Lavender is a proven anti-inflammatory that can speed the healing of skin irritations. Bonus benefit: The aroma is incredibly
Sore muscle
The remedy: Saturate a cloth with apple cider vinegar and wrap it around the muscle for 20 minutes; the pain should disappear within a few hours. Reapply every three to four hours for continued relief until the pain is gone for good.
Why it works: Apple cider vinegar is a muscle reliever; it helps to draw lactic acid (the stuff that causes soreness) out of your muscles after exercise.
Athlete's foot
The remedy: Drop a few freshly minced cloves of garlic into a cotton sock, and then wear the sock overnight. (Just be sure to wash your feet in the morning with something that has a more pleasant scent!) Repeat the treatment nightly until the fungus disappears, usually within 7 to 10 days.
Why it works: Garlic kills all sorts of fungi-including the one that
Olive Oil
Earache relief
Warm olive oil can soothe your child's (or your) achy ear, says Rachel Lewis, MD, a pediatrician at Columbia University Medical Center. (Note: Only for kids 2 and up.) Use a syringe to place 2 to 4 drops of warm oil in ear (5 to 10 in your own). Follow up with doctor.
Skin soother
Olive oil's essential fatty acids are a natural Rx for rough elbows, hands, and cuticles, says dermatologist Lisa Donofrio, MD, of the Yale University School of Medicine. Nightly, rub a small amount of the extra-virgin variety into parched skin.
Dry-hair conditioner
Revive damaged hair with this treatment from John Masters of John Masters Organics hair- and skin-care lines: Saturate hair with extra-virgin olive oil, then wrap with a warm towel for 20 minutes. Shampoo, rinse, and condition if needed.
Salt
Sinus remedy
Stuffy? Mix 1/2 cup warm water with 1/2 teaspoon noniodized salt, says Diane Heatley, MD, of the American Academy of Otolaryngology. Using a neti pot, pour the mixture into one nostril; it'll flow out the other. Repeat on the opposite side.
Honey
Cough soother
For a nagging cough or scratchy throat that threatens to keep you or your kids up, try 2 teaspoons of honey. (Don't give it to babies under 1, though.) Honey coats the throat and helps thin mucus, says Ian M. Paul, MD, of Pennsylvania State University in Hershey.
Recent Comments
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10 comments
baseballxgymnast 12:20:44 PM Sep 08 2008
Annoythedonkey, you are very much in the minority here. When I was little I used to have ear infections all the time that caused horrible amounts of pain and my mom gave me olive oil. The doctor OKed this.
Sadiemae1214 01:26:45 PM Sep 06 2008
Olive Oil? Not new. I'm 59 yrs. old and my grandmother used to treat my ear aches with warm olive oil when I was a little kid. Try treating dry hair and scalp with warm olive oil before you shampoo. Wet a tea bag with some warm water, tear it open and put the loose tea on a burn. Takes the sting right out and prevents blisters from forming or keep a small aloe plant on the kitchen windowsill. Home remedies are the safest, best and cheapest. Baking soda kills roaches. Use a capful of Avon Skin-So-Soft in a gallon of water on your pets after their baths. Fleas hate it and its non-toxic.
Rogerbird1 02:09:15 AM Sep 04 2008
My mother always warmed the olive oil bottle on the stove in a pan of water, then put the warm oil on a cotton ball and placed the cotton ball in my ear. She was a RN/LPN and had 5 sons.. It always worked.
sptidguy 01:09:47 AM Sep 04 2008
I am puzzled by the comment about honey for coughs (and cough medicine ads) that say it "coats the throat." When you swallow honey or any other syupy goo, it goes down your esophagus, but you breathe through, and cough from, your trachea. Why would coating one help the other? I'm not surprised that advertisers make nonsensical claims for their products, but this recommendation from a doctor is bizarre.
GRANDMAJOYCE1117 12:49:22 AM Sep 04 2008
FOR GAS...............NOT A TABLESPOON OF BAKING SODA.........1/2 TEASPOON IN A HALF GLASS OF TEPID WATER. A TABLESPOON FULL WOULD MAKE YOU SICK. LOT OF SODIUM ALSO.
MYSPOILEDGRL2 12:45:34 AM Sep 04 2008
To Rann948, I had the same problem in "06", when i was pregnant, if you ever should become pregnant again keep that remedy handy, because when i went to the emergency room, they told me the same however it didnt work, luckily i had some antibiotics handy from a previous cold, and thats what got me through.
gemgrl6581 11:51:40 PM Sep 03 2008
My mom used to use warm oil in my ear for my severe ear aches when I was younger. It worked! Then you take a warm spoon (warm it in water) and place the concave (cupped) side to your ear. It helps!
OneCrazyBassoon 10:52:53 PM Sep 03 2008
Poison ivy spreads with hot water, according to my doctor.The remedy my coworkers use is 4 bags of black tea in one cup, brew, mix with an equal amount of rubbing alcohol.
RANN948 10:37:52 PM Sep 03 2008
When I was pregnant, I caught a bug that gave me a sore throat so badI could barely breathe let alone swallow. I went to the emergencyroom (never have I ever, which tells you how bad it was). The doctorexamined me a said, "sorry, you have a virus and there is nothing Ican do for you" I almost choked him, I said DO NOT tell me you can'thelp me! Then he said, try this, dissolve an aspirin in warm saltedwater and gargle.It tastes terrible, but IT WORKED! I had always known about warmsalt water, but the aspirin is the key. I have used this tip manytimes since then.
Annoythedonkey 09:57:15 PM Sep 03 2008
Who ever wrote this should post a disclaimer DO NOT TRY PUTTING WARM OLIVE OIL IN YOU EAR it can lead to hearing loss or a serious ear infection simply go to the doctor and get the proper medication.
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10 comments
