My Natural First Aid

Prior to industrial times, when production shifted to factories and experts, virtually all of the functions of life were done at home. This included caring for the body when it was ill or injured. In contrast to today, where doctors and other health practitioners expect us to run to them at the first sign of a sniffle, doctors were often few and far away and only called for the greatest of emergencies.

Generally, too, it was the woman of the house who cared for the healing needs of the family--using natural methods, for there were no others available before industrialization. As the woman in my household, I've taken responsibility for learning basic natural remedies for the minor illnesses and injuries we most commenly need to treat in our home.

More often than not, we will choose to allow the symptom to run its course, instead of supress it with a drug or natural remedy. Symptoms are signs something is wrong in the body that needs attention, so we are more inclined to do something that will aid the body in restoration, rather than try to eliminate the symptom. So we put up with a certain amount of discomfort and only do something for relief when the discomfort is too much to bear.

I am smiling as I write this, because I am realizing that my husband Larry and I actually use very few of these remedies now--because we no longer need them! Both Larry and I are experiencing such improved health these days that we are rarely ill or even injured with minor complaints.

But if we did need some first aid, here is what we would do.

Muscle Pain

Larry has had a back injury, so if he overdoes it, he gets muscle aches. Most of the time he either massages his own back with a long-handled electric massager or I massage his back. He likes me to use a herbal muscle-relaxing oil called BackBetter that I get from Evan's Garden.

Mosquito Bites

Mosquito and other bug bites are a fact of life here in Florida. No matter what I do, I seem to still get a few bites. I've learned that salt water works well to reduce the itch, and specifically I make it with Himalayan Crystal Salt that I get from Himalayan Living Salt (this salt, by the way, can be used for a lot of other healing applications as well). Directions: Just dissolve some salt in water (as much salt as the water will take) and dab the salt water on the bite. The itch will vanish is about a minute.

Splinters

Splinters are probably the number two most common occurance around our house. We found the easiest way to remove them is with a Tweezerman Stainless Steel Ingrown Hair Splintertweeze. I don't know why they just don't call it a Splintertweeze, but regardless of the name, that's what it is. I remember before we had the Splintertweeze fussing around with a needle and tweezer--the Splintertweeze has very sharp points that allow you to penetrate the skin as needed to remove the splinter and pull it out. This tool has made life with woodworking and construction much easier!

Cuts

For years we have only used honey on cuts, because it works so well. Any variety of honey is fine and even the cheap refined honey you buy at the grocery store will work. I prefer to use raw honey, as it has more active healing factors. Honey has natural antibacterial qualities that prevent infection. Directions: After rinsing the cut with clean water, remove about 1/4 teaspoon of honey from the jar with a spoon (don't stick your finger in the jar). Spread the honey over the cut and apply a bandage. Remove bandage and reapply honey daily until the cut heals, which should only be a day or two.

Burns

The first thing we do for burns is run the burned skin under cold water and then apply ice wrapped in a towel. Then we apply fresh aloe vera. We have an aloe vera plant on our back porch, just outside the kitchen door. It was easy to find in a local nursery. The gel from the aloe vera plant provides instant pain relief, speeds healing time, and prevents blisters and scarring. Although there are good gels are sold at natural food stores, I think it is better to use the live aloe plant, as natural substances always lose something in processing to be packaged, and the fresh plant costs less. Directions: break off one dagger-shaped leaf and split it open. Apply the gel directly to your burn once or twice a day and cover it lightly with a bandage until the burn heals.

Intestinal problems (constipation, diarrhea)

We rarely have these problems because we eat well, but when we do, Larry and I each handle it in a different way.

Larry takes hydrogen peroxide to kill the micro-organisms that are upsetting his intestines. Directions: Put two drops standard hydrogen peroxide in an 8-ounce glass of water and drink it. Usually one dose is enough.

I view intestinal problems as a sign that the micro-organisms in my intestines need some help. So I take a probiotic products full of beneficial micro-organisms called Cultured Molasses from Go Beyond Organic. Directions: Mix a couple tablespoons with yogurt or buttermilk or even just plain water.

Cough and Sore Throat

I have only one remedy for sore throats and coughs that I continue to use because it works better than anything else I've tried. My parents used to give me this as a child. I don't know where they learned it from. I call it simply "Honey and Onions." Directions: Peel a yellow onion, then cut it in half from top to bottom. Laying each half cut-side down, cut slices from top to bottom, and place them in a shallow bowl, such as a soup bowl. Squiggle a liberal amount of honey over the onions, then place a plate over the bowl, large enough to completely cover it. Let stand several hours to allow the onion ot "sweat" and release it's juices. Then take a couple of tablespoons of the honey/onion juice. It tastes terrible, but don't drink right afterwards. It needs time to coat your throat. Usually one or two doses is all that is needed. By the next day, my throat is usually fine.

Fever

We never do anything to try to reduce fever because we want the natural healing systems in our bodies to do their jobs. If anything, we will accelerate the fever with hot tea or a hot bath to help burn up the bad bacteria or virus our bodies are fighting. If the fever got dangerously high, we would use cold washcloths and ice to bring it down.

Nausea

My favorite remedy for nausea is ginger ale. I had a medical doctor once who was very old and knew a lot of folk remedies. He told me to drink ginger ale specifically and not other carbonated beverages (my mother always gave me 7-Up thinking it would help) because the ginger helps nausea. Later I learned that ginger is known to increase digestive fluids, neutralize stomach acid, and reduce stomach spasms. Directions: I make my own ginger ale with stevia now because I don't want to drink ginger ale made with refined sugars. While it doesn't take long to make, the concentrate could be made and frozen in ice cube trays, then melted and diluted as needed.

Just in general, both Larry and I have noticed that our bodies are much healthier since we stopped eating refined sugar and other refined carbohydrates. Sugar in particular suppresses the immune system, and our lack of colds and flus since we stopped eating it has been quite dramatic!