Natural Cures I Use

Over the years I've learned of some things to do that help my body cope. Just simple things, and they are hard to remember sometimes, but if I can, I am always helped.

Itchy Eyes

When my eyes are watering and itchy, if I keep rubbing them, they just get worse. I like to carry eye drops with me and am careful to never use the "red out" type of eye drops as they are bad to use. They constrict the veins in the eye, and a pharmacist told me about two years ago that they also constrict other veins in our body which can be dangerous. Sometimes my eyes can get so irritated that the lower eyelid is swollen and very puffy and it won't calm down for hours.

My cure: First, stop rubbing my eyes. Next, wash my hands with soap and water, and then rinse my face and eyes with water. Dry with a clean towel. If you can't get to a sink to do this, stop rubbing your eyes and use eye drops to irrigate the eyes and dab with a tissue.

I think what happens is pollen or bacteria gets on my eyelids and around the rims of my eyes and gets into my eyes, causing them to water. My hands and fingers are probably also pollen and germ-laden when I start rubbing. So cleaning face and hands seems to help tremendously.

Sore Throat/Tonsillitis

When I was younger, I had repeated bouts with tonsillitis. Quite severe to the point where my tonsils were swollen with white spots all over them. Very often this infection would move into my ears causing them to fill with fluid. I wouldn't necessarily get earaches, but I would lose hearing. When I was in my twenties, I decided I was going to take care of myself properly, since my mother had never taken us to doctors when we were growing up. I was to learn that I was a foolish young woman (I am now against the use of antibiotics except in extreme cases). I was tested for strep throat and given antibiotics four times in about a two year period. The test results for strep always came back negative, but by then I was already taking the antibiotics, as the doctor had directed, "just in case". I was very faithful to take the full course of antibiotics. At least I knew it was worse to take just a few tablets and stop. The fourth time I had tonsillitis, my doctor told me he was going to remove my tonsils if they became infected again, because they were obviously "bad tonsils". Luckily, I became pregnant with my first son, and all talk of surgery was dismissed. I continued to get tonsillitis, but accepted when it came since I wanted to keep my tonsils.

My cure: I learned my cure back in, oh it must have been about 1995 or so, around the time I first got onto the Internet. I was getting a sore throat. I was in email correspondence with a woman who suggested that I gargle with strong salt water at the first sign of a sore throat. 1 cup of warm water, 1 teaspoon salt. Gargle several times. She told me if the salt water was strong enough, it could kill off strep germs.

I began immediately, and I have been able to stave off the severe infections I had as a young woman. I have had one incident where one tonsil was infected, swollen with white patches, but it happened because I swallowed a piece of pork that was not properly chewed, which had a jagged edge and scratched my tonsil going down. Since using the gargle, I have not experienced infected tonsils.

My mother-in-law has persuaded me to add a new twist to my salt water gargle. She says to add in just a pinch of cayenne pepper, and just the other day, she also suggested some apple cider vinegar. She says to use a straw to suck up the salted cayenne water so that the cayenne doesn't touch your lips. I didn't think I needed to use the straw because I'm not afraid of cayenne pepper, but what ends up happening is apparently the cayenne dust is swirling around in the cup, and when I'd try to draw in a sip of water to gargle, I would get cayenne in my lungs and it would cause me to cough right away. I tried and tried not to breath at the same time, but it kept happening, so finally I succumbed to using the straw and it works very nicely. The apple cider vinegar adds a new twist, I think I might be adding too much as it is pretty sour. I am adding about one teaspoon, so I should try adding less (1/2 teaspoon works perfectly).

What usually ends up happening is the cayenne actually gets down into my Eustachian tubes, I can feel it burning momentarily. My nose starts to run, which I think is a great side effect as I feel I'm moving out toxins.

I always feel much better after gargling with salted cayenne water. If I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm sick, I'll go into the kitchen and make up a cup for myself, as it really helps to clear me out so I can sleep more peacefully.

Oh, and you can also sip tiny amounts of the salted cayenne water. Cayenne heats everything up and helps healing to take place.

Cold Sores

In 1992, I came down with a terrible mouth infection. My gums and the insides of my cheeks were sore and itchy all at once. I actually went to the doctor for that one, and he'd never seen anything like it. A few weeks later, my first cold sore erupted. It was a big bad one. On the side of my mouth, just above my lip. About 1/3 of an inch in diameter and hurt terribly. I ended up reading that sometimes you'll have a severe outbreak and then you'll start getting cold sores after that.

My cure: One of the books I had at the time about natural healing (still own it in fact) said L-Lysine was needed. Gradually I learned over the years to be in tune with what it felt like for a cold sore to come on. I missed the signs a few times, and suffered with a crusty, oozing, painful embarrassing scabby sore on my lip that took days to heal. I learned to be aware of the tingling feeling of a bit of a swollen lump on my lip. If I took the L-Lysine in time, the tingling went away and never manifested into a cold sore. If I didn't notice it, or decided not to bother with it, I would have a cold sore shortly. Sometimes I'd catch it a little bit late, and would only get a small sore. Other times I'd get a really bad one. They are VERY painful. What happens is the nerve ganglia are involved; nerves are very sensitive around the mouth.

Colds

Echinachea: Whenever I am exposed to someone with a cold, to help my immune system I'll take some echinachea/goldenseal. I was given this tip by the lady we bought our mobile home from about 13 years ago (the one we lived in the big city). She said she would take it at the first sign of sickness and it would usually stop her from getting sick. For example, if I feel like my nose is running (not just allergies, but more), I take some. I'm usually able to stop myself from getting sick, but every once in a while it doesn't work.

Carrots/Vitamin A: My mom swears by fresh steamed carrots dabbed with real butter. She says the vitamin A in the carrots will help a person get over a cold sooner. I love steamed carrots, so I will usually have some when I'm sick. Personally, I think a better source of Vitamin A is cod liver oil. Our favorite is Green Pasture's Blue Ice. If you can imagine, the cinnamint actually tastes delicious!

Garlic: Nothing like fresh garlic to aid one's immune system. I will make egg noodles with butter and squeeze in a whole clove of garlic (not a head, silly!), or I'll have garlic bread.

Insect Bites/Itchy Spots

I'm allergic to mosquito bites and get a big itchy bump when I'm bit. If I don't do something about it, I'll just keep scratching until I scratch the skin off the area. Seriously! I've done it. Then the area is burning and hurting from being scratched raw.

My cure: Tea tree oil. You can get a two ounce bottle of it from Walmart for around five dollars. As soon as possible after getting bit, or having an itchy spot crop up, I'll rub on some tea tree oil. I think the way it works is it numbs the skin down through a few layers. It stops the itching immediately. One of my coworkers had an itchy spot on his leg and he kept scratching it again and again. Finally I offered some tea tree oil and after applying it, and seeing how well it worked, he was very grateful. I could see he was about to do just what I do, and scratch the skin right off the area. I think what must be happening is when we scratch and scratch, it numbs the skin for a while, then as it gradually begins to feel again, we start feeling the itchiness.

Did you ever have a sore that was healing and itchy? Use tea tree oil for those, too.

That's all I can think of for now.

Until next time.