Home remedies even doctors love
Beer
For dry hair: “Beer is a wonderful setting lotion. It gives a crisp, healthy, shiny look, even to dry hair,” says Steven Docherty, senior art director at New York’s Vidal Sassoon Salon. “The trick is to spray the brew onto your hair using a pump bottle after you’ve shampooed and towel-dried just before you blow-dry or style. And don’t worry about the smell-the odor of beer will quickly disappear, assures Docherty.
Carrots/carrot juice
For arthritis: A vegetable-juice fast significantly reduces pain for many patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to Dr. Art Mollen, founder and director of the Southwest Health Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. “I started prescribing this type of fast several years ago and have found it very beneficial,” says the doctor who emphasizes proper nutrition and exercise to improve health, physical and mental fitness, and weight loss. He suggest fasting on nothing but the carrot juice for one day during the next week (e.g. Monday and Wednesday ) and three days during the third week (e.g. Monday, Wednesday , and Friday). He has one warning though: Don’t attempt any type of fasting without a doctor’s supervision.
For diarrhea: “Some people think strained carrots are the greatest thing in the world for a child with diarrhea,” says Dr. Lorraine Stern, a private practitioner in California. “You can include this in the diet if you wish.” Carrots may also help enhance recovery by replacing “electrolytes” and minerals lost during diarrhea.
Com-starch
For sunburn: Add enough water to cornstarch to make a paste, says Dr. Frederic Haberman, author of Your Skin” A Dermatologist’s Guide to a Lifetime of Beauty and Health. Apply directly to the sunburn. On the other hand, some people get relief thin slices of raw cucumber or potato, he adds. They feel cool and may help reduce inflammation on small areas. Apple slices may also work.
Cherries
For gout: Although there is no hard scientific evidence that cherries help relieve gout, many people find them beneficial. It doesn’t seem to matter whether they use sweet or sour varieties or whether the cherries are canned or fresh. Reported amounts vary from a handful (about ten cherries) a day up to one-half pound. People have also reported success with one tablespoon of cherry concentrate a day.
Garlic
For acne: Minnesota physician Harold Simons recommends treating problem skin with a mixture of eight ounces of rubbing alcohol and one-and-a-half ounces of garlic paste. “ Simply dab the solution on troubled areas as needed,” he advises.
For asthma and bronchitis: Herbalist Mary Quelch, author of Herbs for Daily Use, recommends that you place wafer-thin slices of garlic around the bottom of a large soup bowl. Cover with maple syrup, and let stand for five hours. Take one teaspoon several times a day to ease breathing.
Cold compress or bath
For hives: Both are about the best and only topical treatment for hives, according to Dr. Leonard Grayson, a skin allergy specialist and dermatologist from Illinois. Another cool way: Rub an ice cube over the hives. The cold shrinks the blood vessels and keeps them from opening, swelling, and allowing too much histamine to be released. “ But it’s only temporary,” he reminds. “And if you get hives from cold weather and water, you’re out of luck.” Hot water only makes the itching worse.
Ginger
For motion sickness: Although use of this method dates back to hundreds of years, eating a bit of ginger to alleviate motion sickness recently passed scientific scrutiny when a experiment showed that two powdered ginger capsules were more effective than a dose of drugs in preventing motion sickness. Ginger works, researchers theorize, by absorbing acids in your gastrointestinal tract and blocking nausea.
Ice
For backache: The best way to cool down an acute flare-up is with ice, says Canadian pain researcher Ronald Melzack. It will help reduce swelling and the strain on your back muscles. For best results, try ice massage. “Put an ice pack on the site of the seven to eight minutes.” Do this for a day or two.
For bruises: Use an ice pack to treat any injury that might lead to a bruise, advises emergency room physician Hugh Macaulay. The ice pack mist be applied as quickly as possible following the injury and treatment continued for 24 hours if you suspect that the bump will likely progress into a severe bruise. Apply the ice pack at 15-minutes intervals. Don’t apply heat between ice packs; instead allow your skin to warm naturally, “ Cooling constricts the blood vessels, and that means less blood spills into the tissues to cause that big black explain. “A cold pack also minimizes the swelling and numbs the area, so it won’t hurt as mush as a bruise left unchilled. “After 24 hours. However, use heat to dilate the blood vessels and improve circulation in the area.
For foot aches: One way to refresh tired feet is to wrap a few ice cubes in a wet washcloth, then rub it over your feet and ankles for a few minutes, “Ice acts to relieve any inflammation and it also serves as a mild anesthetic,” says podiatrist Neal Kramer, “Then, dry your feet and swab them with cologne, alcohol, or vinegar for cooling and drying effect.”
Hot/cold compress
For sinusitis: A hot compress applied to the face is often effective in opening up nasal passages, says Dr. Agana Trash of the Yuchi Pines Institute. “Squeeze a towel from hot water and apply to a painful area for five minutes, then squeeze another towel from ice water and apply it for 30 seconds. Repeat three times, ending with the cold compress.”
Salt
For flu: A sore or scratchy throat tends to accompany the flu. Get some relief-and wash out any secretions that are collecting in your throat-by gargling with a salt-water solution, says Mary Ann Pane, a nurse clinician. Dissolve one teaspoon of salt in one pint of warm water. This concentration approximates the pH level of body tissues and is very soothing. Use as often as needed, but try not to swallow the liquid because it’s so high in sodium.
Sugar
For hiccups: “One cure that I find effective is a teaspoon of sugar, swallowed dry,” says Dr. Andre Dubois, a gastroenterologist. “ That quite often stops the hiccups in minutes. The sugar is probably acting in the mouth to modify the nervous impulses that would otherwise tell the muscles in the diaphragm to contract spasmodically he explains.
Tea
For eyestrain: Don’t drink it, but rather, put in on your eyes. “Take a towel and soak it in eyebright tea,” advises Dr. Meir Schneider, author of My Life and Vision. “Lie down and place the warm towel over your closed eyes and leave it there for 10 to 15 minutes. It will make your eyestrain go away,” he claims.
Tomato juice
For body odor: An old folk remedy for a dog that’’ been skunked is to deodorize the poor pup with tomato juice. Guess what? It works for humans, too, according to Dr. Alice Kilpatrick. She tried it first on her dog and then on a particularly odoriferous patient. And then another. “ It works 100 percent of the time,” claims the doctor. You don’t need to fill your tub with tomato juice-just pour a couple of cups in water and spray on yourself.
