Alternative remedies

[preppingsu]

When GP Dr Rob Hicks was growing up, his family often used natural remedies from the garden or kitchen. ‘It wasn’t because they were particularly passionate about them, or against other kinds of medicine, but they believed that you didn’t trouble the doctor unless something was serious,’ he says. At work, he offers patients natural remedies and complementary therapies as well as conventional treatments. And now, so we can safely treat ourselves, Dr Hicks has put them in a book, called Old-Fashioned Remedies: From Arsenic to Gin (£14.99, Remember When*) – here are his tips for spring.

Hay fever: to relieve sore eyes, brew camomile herb tea, allow to cool, and apply to closed eyes as a compress. Leave for five minutes, or for as long as you have.

Insect bites and stings: break a leaf from an aloe vera plant in half and apply the gooey gel to the bite; this works with any skin problem, including rashes and cuts.

Verrucas: tape a piece of banana peel over the verruca and leave overnight. Repeat each night until the verruca has gone. Banana peel contains mucilage, which is thought to be anti-viral.

Dry skin: put a handful of uncooked oats in a muslin bag (or tie in a cloth), and pop the bag in the bath water, or hang under a running showerhead.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS): for breast soreness or lower abdominal pain, place chilled or warmed cabbage leaves in the bra or against the abdomen for a
few minutes as often as you like. Heating cabbage releases anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids and glutamine.

Cold sores: infuse lemon balm (melissa) tea, then cool and apply on cotton wool to the sore. Lemon balm contains polyphenols thought to have anti-viral effects. Also try Organic Lemon Balm Cream by Granary Herbs, £7.79 for 60ml, from Victoria Health, tel: 0800 3898 195; victoriahealth.com.
Bad breath: eat two or three tomatoes each day. Tomatoes contain ionones, which are believed to neutralise the odour-causing sulphur compounds in the mouth. Eating mint leaves, or drinking mint or lemon balm tea, also sweetens the breath.

Athlete’s foot: crush a clove of garlic and rub it on the affected area three or four times a day. Garlic’s anti-fungal properties can help treat this infection.
Joint pains: apply a paste of the anti-inflammatory spice turmeric (mix a few pinches with a little boiling water) to the sore joint and keep in place with clingfilm for up to half an hour once or twice a day. Also use 1-2 teaspoonfuls in cooking every day. (Available in tablets – Turmeric by Lamberts, £12.77 for 60, from Victoria Health.)

Toothache: apply grated fresh horseradish to the gums near the aching tooth. Horseradish contains allyl isothiocyanate, which acts as a topical anaesthetic.

Bloating: drink one or two cups of peppermint or fennel tea after each meal.

NB The advice given here is for general information only and not a substitute for the advice of your own doctor or other healthcare professional.


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[luxor]

Toothache: apply grated fresh horseradish to the gums near the aching tooth. Horseradish contains allyl isothiocyanate, which acts as a topical anaesthetic.

this is one i didn't know. thanks for sharing.

[itsybitsy]

Insect bites and stings: break a leaf from an aloe vera plant in half and apply the gooey gel to the bite; this works with any skin problem, including rashes and cuts.

And burns.

[hazmat]

Natural cure for stress for me is a nice long drink of BRANDY!
When I was in Ireland, sore throats, tooth ache, and stress was poitín (that's distilled potato plonk).
And in Germany, Slivovitz (plum brandy rocket fuel!). Useful for cleaning clothes stains too!

[buttystella]

lots of good info thankyou i too like brandy or scotch

[Bladerunner]

Some great tips there.

I will take a shufty at that book.

Thanks

[lisaloolibell]

Does it have anything in it about treating asthma Su, thats a bit of a worry for me at the moment. Really need to find out how it used to be dealt with prior to the use of inhalers.

[Carrot Cruncher]

There's quite a bit of info here lisa http://www.natural-homeremedies.com/hom ... asthma.htm

I cant vouch for any of them but at least there seem to be some alternatives....how good they are is anyones guess

[lisaloolibell]

thanks cc

[ro2935]

Does it have anything in it about treating asthma Su, thats a bit of a worry for me at the moment. Really need to find out how it used to be dealt with prior to the use of inhalers.

When my daughter was very young she was in hospital more than she was at home with breathing problems and needed nebulising, as she got older and more able to use Inhalers I found I could deflect a crissis by using her inhalers and putting her into a warm bath with 5 drops of clarysage aromatherapy oil in.

Menthol crystals [you can get them at most chemists] add 2 or 3 crystals into a old cup [you can never get rid of the smell afterwards] of boiling water and inhale the steam, great for colds and coughs and awakens the sinuses.

During the cold snap we had early this year daughter got very breathless after she had been outside, her inhalers were taking a lot longer to work so the moment she came home she would use inhalers, I would make her a strong cup of coffee [espresso is the best] then a hot bath with clarysage oil in it. the 3 prong attack seemed to keep things under control