Friday, April 10, 2009 11:06 PM CDT
Many items around the house can help alleviate pain and discomfort
BY DAWN SCHABBING, Features Writer
dschabbing@jg-tc.com
When health issues crop up at home, folks might find that help is in the kitchen, the bathroom or even the garage.
Plenty of books, both on store shelves and at numerous medical Web sites, are available that claim to have the cure or the means to aid in healing what ails a person.
Some believe that knowing some of these tips could result in savings from a doctor’s office visit, come without harsh side-effects of some medications, and often are simple to use.
For example, some household items such as uncooked rice, epsom salts, frozen vegetables, milk, anti-perspirant spray, duct tape, chicken soup, table salt, willow bark, vinegar, small paper bag, honey, mayonnaise, new toothbrushes, small jelly jar, potato, onion and lemon could be used as remedies for common ailments.
However, all of these suggestions are simply that — suggestions, and they shouldn’t be used unless it has been researched carefully first. All methods should be considered for possible allergy reactions to the products, as well.
A primary care physician should be contacted regarding any method of treatment. This information is not intended to replace a person’s regular medical care.
“Home remedy is a treatment to cure a disease or ailment that employs certain spices, vegetables or other common items,” said Dr. Manoj Mathew, chief, Department of Family Practice, Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. “I only recommend home remedies that (have been) studied. But I will not discourage patients to try home remedies they want to try — unless it is harmful. They may have a placebo effect.”
The placebo effect is an observable improvement in health or behavior that is not attributable to a medication or a treatment that has been administered. In other words, people believe the home remedy will work, and therefore it does.
Mathew said home remedies may or may not have medicinal properties that treat or cure the disease or ailment in question, as they are typically passed along by laypersons, in recent years by the Internet.
“Many are merely used as a result of tradition or habit, because they are effective in inducing the placebo effect. A significant number, however, have been demonstrated to effectively treat ailments, such as sprains, minor lacerations, headaches, fevers and even the common cold,” Mathew said.
A popular home remedy is to use chicken soup to treat respiratory infections, such as a cold or mild flu.
“According to recent studies, this may actually be effective. Other medically successful home remedies are using willow bark tea to cure headaches and fevers,” he said.
But, it is important to know that this remedy includes an ingredient that is actually aspirin.
“Willow bark contains a form of acetylsalicylic acid, also known as aspirin,” Mathew said.
Web sites such as http://health.howstuffworks.com/home-remedies.htm, http://www.
mothernature.com/Library/bookshelf/Books/47/1.cfm; and http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/home_remedies/index.php all offer many suggestions that reportedly offer relief.
Some of those suggestions follow:
Duct tape, which has hundreds of uses around the home, also can be used for medical wonders including helping to treat plantar warts, with a regimen carefully followed for several days.
While not necessarily a medical emergency, but often annoying, hiccups can reportedly be cured with home remedies including blowing into a paper bag or swallowing a teaspoon of sugar.
A slice of an onion can relieve a wasp sting pain, honey can be used as an ointment for a cut or wound, and a “cocktail” of hot water, lemon and honey reportedly helps cure a hangover.
Some people use a sliced potato to treat a boil, which reportedly brings it to a head, and baking soda or vinegar on a bee sting or sunburn, to soothe the pain.
When it comes to bee stings it is important to know that bees leave behind a stinger attached to a venom sac, Mathew said.
“Do not try to pull it out, as this may release more venom; instead, gently scrape it out with a blunt-edged object — a credit card or dull knife,” he said. “Wash the area carefully with soap and water. This should be continued several times a day until the skin is healed.”
Other bee sting remedies suggested at the Web sites include applying a cold or ice pack wrapped in a cloth to the area for a few minutes; or, applying a paste made of baking soda and water to the area for 15 to 20 minutes.
Rice placed in a thick, clean tube sock and warmed up for 30-60 seconds on medium in a microwave can act as a warm compress for back or neck pain.
Also, epsom salts in a bath are believed to ease back pain by reducing swelling.
Some believe that a home remedy is prayer.
Other tips reportedly found to help are these:
n Cold compresses applied to a strain or injury because it reduces inflammation and helps to numb. A bag of frozen vegetables can serve as a cold pack.
n Cold, fresh milk can store a knocked-out tooth for about an hour.
n Teaspoon of honey can help a cough.
n Chew Tums or Rolaids for canker sores. Ditch a toothbrush for a new one to reduce new canker sores.
n Heating up a small jelly jar and “cupping” a boil helps bring it to a head. It can’t be too hot, but there needs to be some suction between the jar and the skin.
n Say “no” to naps if you have trouble sleeping at night. Maintain the bedroom is only for sleeping and romance. So television viewing and other activities should be eliminated to alleviate insomnia.
Contact Dawn Schabbing at dschabbing@jg-tc.com or 238-6864.
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TigerRose wrote on Apr 12, 2009 11:50 PM:
Sure works for me!
All the other advice is well & good.
Did you know that natural vanilla extract works to kill a toothache as good as chewing cloves? "