This is just a collection of simple solutions to common home ailments. Please post any you know of (but check to see if anyone else has them already), and I'll periodically add new ones to this post (with due credit to those who posted them) for convenience.
Headaches:Before you reach for the Tylenol or Advil, try a few of these.
* First of all, turn down the music. Loud noises are a huge cause of headaches, and trying to get rid of one while blasting your ears is about as productive as pointing a firehose and a flamethrower at the exact same spot.
* Headaches are often caused by pressure in the muscles surrounding the brain, so lighten the blood flow with a cloth around your head. Tie it like a tourniquet; tight enough to exert pressure, but loose enough to slip two fingers under. Also, a cool pack on your forehead may help. This will reduce blood to throbbing vessels and thus ease your pain considerably.
* When you’re stressed or anxious, you subconsciously clench your jaw and teeth; this strains the muscle that connects your jaw to your temples and can trigger a tension headache. A solution: “Put a pencil between your teeth but don’t bite,” says Fred Sheftell, M.D., director of the New England Center for Headache in Stamford, Conn. You automatically relax your jaw muscle to do this, which can prevent the pain.
Courtesy of MSN.
* Lie down and rest.
* See also "Aches and Pains."
Sore Throat* Mix equal amounts of honey and lemon juice in a small microwaveable dish, then nuke it for about a minute. Drink it. The hot honey will coat your esophagus and, together with the lemon juice, act as a disinfectant to slow the growth of germs. Tea with plenty of honey is also a good idea.
* Cough drops, although recommended, are more along the lines of pharmeceuticals (you can buy them in any drug store), so they're not really home remedies. Nonetheless, they are recommended if you have them. Sucking on hard candy such as lollipops or peppermints can also help.
Stuffy Nose* Hot tea is a good way to go for this one. Inhale the steam as well; this will help clear your sinuses.
* Do not sniffle. That just backs up the mucus and ultimately nakes it worse. Plus, if fluid gets into your ears it can cause an infection way worse than having to blow your nose.
* Go easy on dairy products. It's supposedly one of the worst things when you have congestion.
* Take some moist paper (clean toilet paper, kleenex, or paper towels work well), roll the end to a point, put in your nose, and take several breaths through your nose. This moistens your sinuses, much the same way as nasal spray. Courtesy of the campus nurse.
Cuts:Quote:
* Honey works wonders for cuts.
If you or even a pet get a cut, provided there is no deeper, more serious damage (E.g. Internal injuries) just wash out the wound with clean, cold water. Smear set honey on an antiseptic pad, place it on the cut and wrap it up in bandage.
Don't take it off for about 10 days.
After that, when you've taken it off the wound will be completely healed.
As a type of "proof" of that; My mum had one of her horses at a livery yard and the person there let it out into a paddock which wasn't suitable and had a nasty, sharp iron bar in it. The horse cut it's leg pretty badly so she did what I just explained, cleaned it and bandaged it with honey and left it on for 10 days.
When she took the bandage off the wound had healed completely and the fur had mostly grown back. It'd healed so well that when she came to sell that horse a few years later she couldn't tell which leg had been cut.
- Credit to UK teh white wolfer for supplying this remedy (Cuts Inside the Mouth) :Quote:
* Fill a cup with warm water and add table salt to it. Then swish the saltwater around in your mouth for about 10 seconds. Do this for a couple days and the cut should be healed. My great-grandma made this up- and it really works
- Credit to Funky_Dog_63 for supplying this remedyThis remedy also works on canker sores.
Colds:* Rest. Your body can't fight off an infection if you're running around like a chicken with its head cut off, because all your energy will go to that instead of getting well.
* Plenty of liquids. This is what I call "Mother Wisdom," and I know from experience that if it weren't for my mother's wisdom I'd be dead. People involved in the health community say that orange juice works especially well. I've heard extra pulp is a bonus, although I can't remember the source and therefore won't attest its validity. But if you believe it will work, there's a good chance it will. At the worst, it will do you no harm.
* Chicken soup. Again, I plead guilty to not having done any exhaustive research on this (my college education focused more on angels than chickens). But time honors this classic antidote, and chances are if you believe it will help, it will.
* Again, steer clear of dairy.
Aches and pains:* Squeeze the part of your hand between your thumb and forefinger. This releases a natural chemical into your brain which alleviates most kinds of pain to a limited degree.
* For a foot ache, run your foot back and forth over a tennis ball, golf ball, or soup can for a free, easy massage. To cool throbbing feet, use a bottle of frozen water.
Mouth sores:Quote:
* Sores/cuts in the mouth --> mix warm water & salt and gently swish it around in your mouth, over the wound. Alleviates the pain & helps prevent infection.
Had to use this one just last week. I had this terrible cut high up on my gums, and it kept getting torn open again when I ate and such... gargled warm salt water, and it started to feel better almost immediately... healed up completely within the next couple of days.
- Credit to Kiche for supplying this remedy.Upset Stomach/nausea:Quote:
* Ginger Ale. It's made from the ginger root which, in addition to being a good seasoning, is also used in many anti-nausea medications. It's often cheaper to buy a few cans of ginger ale than to go to the drug store and buy some pills.
- Credit to iWolf231 for supplying this remedy.* If it’s a case of motion sickness, pop some olives or suck a lemon (literally). Compunds in both can reduce the queasiness.
Traffic Tension* Chew some gum, particularly peppermint or cinnamon. Believe it or not, NASA actually funded a study on this.
Mosquito BitesQuote:
* With the permision of parents or someone doing it for you, Cut in half a small green or yellow lemon and squirt it on the mosquito bite, You can also gently press the lemon on it and leave it there for a while (Just don't scratch it, I know it'll feel a bit stingy)
- Credit to Scarpaw for supplying this remedy.* Press your fingernail into your skin to leave a dent running across the center of the bite. Then press it in again, crossing the first dent at the center. This should eliminate the itching.
Bee StingsQuote:
* If you ever have been stung by a bee, get 4tbs of apple cider and vinegar and put it on the sting.
My Mom did this when my step grandpa got stung by a bee.
- Credit to Mightybalto1925 for supplying this remedy. According to Togo, various other base chemicals (anything that neutralizes acid) will help: ammonia, milk, even urine (this last only as a last resort, in my opinion).
*I have it from various survival guides that a bee's stinger will often stay in the skin after the bee's gone. Pulling it out with tweezers is a bad idea, because sometimes the stinger takes the poison sack with it. To loosen the stinger, slide your fingernail back and forth (sideways, not as if you're scratching) across the sting.
Blisters:* Use Listerine. The classic breath freshener—and powerful antiseptic—can also do a number on blisters. Moisten a cotton ball with Listerine and dab it on your blister three times a day until the area dries out and no longer hurts, says Janet Maccaro, Ph.D., CNC, a holistic nutritionist and certified nutrition consultant in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Cold hands or feet:Quote:
Whenever your hands and feet are cold, simply move your fingers and toes around to get blood into them faster.
- Credit to Joker for supplying this remedy.Acne:* Do not pop most kinds of zits. The ones it's OK to pop are certain pimples, but only if they have a white lump at the top, and blackheads (only visible up-close, these are basically pores clogged with stuff). Popping these kinds speeds up the healing process, but others may only be aggravated.
* Wash the area gently with warm water before tackling acne (I find a hot shower works nicely). According to my doctor, this draws the pus nearer to the surface.
Bad Breath:* Eat some yogurt, Preliminary research shows that the live bacteria in yogurt can suppress levels of bad breath–causing bacteria. “Good” microbes in yogurt may crowd out the “bad” stink-causing bacteria or create an unhealthy environment for it, says John C. Moon, DDS, a cosmetic and general dentist in Half Moon Bay, Calif.
* Go suck a lemon - literally. Suck on the wedge or nibble the rind - easy to do in a restaurant, as lemon garnishes are often available. Failing that, sparkling water with lemon or a lemon-flavored hard candy will be effective as well.
* Parsley and other green garnishes such as basil and rosemary contain natural, breath-freshening oils that do wonders for your breath when chewed on (cultural note: in Italy, Basil is considered a very romantic plant because of this; girls traditionally keep a basil plant on the windowsill and chew one of the leaves they see their boyfriends coming).
* Apples and other crisp, fresh fruits (firm pears, carrots) are high in fiber, and the chewing stimulates saliva production. Together, the two function as a sort of scrubbing mouth rinse.
* Spice it up. Crunchy spices, that is. For a more exotic solution, pick up some anise, cardamom, coriander, and fennel seeds, available in the spice aisle of most grocery stores. Mix equal parts in a small covered bowl, and keep it on the dining room table next to the salt and pepper. Chewing on a few seeds will release enough oil to sweeten after-dinner curry or coffee breath. And your mouth will taste amazing.
- Credit to MSN Health & Fitness for supplying this remedy.Teeth Stains:* Apples. Once again, modern science backs Grandma’s wisdom. And they’re good for keeping you awake, too.
Dry Nails::* In order to really fix dry nails, you have to address the problem of too little moisture. In addition to using hand lotion regularly, try this nighttime treatment from dermatologist Dee Anna Glaser, M.D.: Before you go to bed, apply vegetable oil to your hands, then put on vinyl gloves or wrap your hands in plastic wrap to keep the oil off your bedding. The hand coverings force the oil to penetrate your skin, preventing your hands and nails from getting too dry.
Courtesy of MSN.
Hiccups::* A spoonful of sugar can stop them in minutes. No lie, this is backed by a guy with a Ph. D.
* Drink a glass of water with your head between your knees.
If anyone finds these useful, please leave a comment thanking those who posted them!
I actually did something similar after reading about it in a Pioneer Sampler. I'll add that one to the list.
