20 Instant At-Home Health Fixes

Learn about quick fixes for conditions ranging from burns to taking pills

Burn Relief

Chest Pain

Colds/Flu

Coughs

• Ice cubes. An easy way to stop coughing without the use of cough syrups or medication is to keep some ice cubes in your mouth. The cold numbs the nerves in the throat. If you want to re-mineralize your body at the same time, or make the technique more acceptable to children, consider freezing one of the sports drinks into ice cubes.
• Onion cough syrup. Place three large chopped white onions in a double boiler along with 1/4 cup of honey. Cook slowly for a couple of hours, strain off the liquid and dispose of the onions. The liquid can be taken as often as needed.

Cuts

Dandruff

• Baking soda. When taking a shower, wet your hair and using baking soda instead of shampoo.
• Selenium. Selenium can reduce the incidence of dandruff, psoriasis and eczema. Certain companies have already taken advantage of selenium’s Back to Topical healing powers. For example, the selenium-containing shampoo Selsun Blue has been effective in helping to eliminate dandruff for many people.

Diarrhea

Hangovers

• Evening primrose. This oil contains gamma linoleic acid (GLA) which your body eventually converts to prostaglandins (PG1, the good kind), which can help prevent liver damage and even hangovers from alcohol. Alcohol (and aspirin), by the way, block the formation of PG1. Oil of evening primrose is sold under a variety of labels in health food stores. The brand Efamol is probably your best choice. Almost all clinical studies proving this oil’s effectiveness have used this type.
• L-cysteine. This amino acid can also be used to prevent or often greatly reduce “hangovers” from alcohol poisoning. It helps neutralize toxins in the liver by increasing glutathione levels, which is one of the body’s most powerful detoxifying compounds.

Hiccups

• Put your hiccups on ice. A Texas reader recommends holding something cold (ice cubes, a couple cold cans of beer or soda, etc.) on both sides of your Adam’s apple on your throat. Do this for about a minute and the hiccups will stop completely.
• Press on your ear canals. You’ve probably heard that drinking a glass of water helps get rid of hiccups, but Cindy C. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin suggests this extra step. While drinking a glass of water, get someone to close your ear canals by pressing inward on each of the small skin flaps just in front of the ear canal. Pressure should be continued on these flaps for at least 10 seconds after the entire glass of water has been drunk.
• Peanut butter. Another Texas reader says that taking one heaping teaspoon of peanut butter hasn’t failed once in 16 years to cure a case of hiccups.

Indigestion

Motion Sickness

1. Drink 12 ounces of either ginger ale or 7-Up mixed with the juice of one lime and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.
2. Drink the juice of one coconut and two limes mixed together.
3. If available, grind and eat the seeds of a papaya.

Runny Nose

1. In a clean sink or large saucer add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of salt to a quart of fairly hot water.
2. Once the salt has dissolved, immerse your face in the water for five to ten seconds; repeat this three or four times. Allow the water to run into your nose, but keep your mouth and eyes closed.
3. Follow the facial with a quick nasal rinse by adding a few drops of Citricidal (NutriBiotic’s grapefruit seed extract) to 1/2 cup of warm water. Cup a small amount of the water in the palm of your hand, and then lean over and gently “inhale” the water into your nasal passages.

Pet Poisoning

Poison Ivy

• Vitamin C paste applied directly to the skin. Mix vitamin C powder with water to form a paste that can be applied to sites where the skin has been exposed to poison ivy or poison oak, and the problem will completely resolve within 24 hours. Thanks to Dr. Karen Davis for contributing this Health Hint. Dr. Davis also suggests that you take 2 grams of vitamin C orally for a few days following the episode. The vitamin C helps to strengthen your immune system against the poisonous sap (urushiol) in poison ivy.
• Lavender or camphor oil. These essential oils can help stop the itching and pain and speed healing. Look specifically for “White Flower Oil,” as some oils can exacerbate the problem. It can be found in larger health food stores and practically all Chinese medicine shops. (In Chinese it’s called Pak Fah Yeow.) White Flower Oil is a blend of the natural oils of eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender, wintergreen, and camphor. Apply a couple of drops and rub it gently into the skin lesions. The oils have a drying effect, so as soon as the lesions have stopped oozing you can stop using the White Flower Oil and instead apply your favorite moisturizing lotion.

Posture (Dowager’s Hump)

Exercise #1

1. While standing, raise the elbows to shoulder level with the arms bent and touch the thumbs to the chest.
2. Now, while you keep the elbows level with the floor, push the elbows back as far as possible (slowly, no jerking motions). Hold the elbows back and count to five
3. Now return the elbows to the starting position and straighten the arms out to the sides. While keeping them level with the floor, push the hands back as far as possible and hold them back to the count of five.

Exercise #2

1. Stand about two feet out from the corner with your nose pointing directly into the corner.
2. Now place your hands, with your palms flat, against the wall on each side of you (it is very important to always have the fingers pointing toward the corner!).
3. Keep your body as straight as you can (like a board), and slowly lean into the corner.
4. As you lean toward the corner, you should feel a definite stretch and burning between the shoulders as well as some stretching in the front part of the chest.
5. Hold yourself in this stretching position for a count of five, then return to the starting position and count to five before starting another repetition. Start with five repetitions twice a day and work up to about 20 repetitions twice a day.

Safe Sun Exposure

Sleep

1. Arrange your sleeping quarters so that you have as close to complete darkness as possible. Some studies have shown that body temperature and melatonin levels were altered when light was shined on the back of the knee. This seemingly inconsequential light exposure had the very same effect as shining the light directly in the eye.
2. After you’ve made your sleeping area as dark as possible, there should be a rule in the house that nobody turns on a light in the room while someone is sleeping. Even though it might not wake the sleeping person, it shuts down their production of melatonin.
3. If you have to go to the bathroom during the night, it would be best not to turn on the light. Turning on the light even for just a second shuts down melatonin production and can contribute to fatigue, insomnia, and all of the other problems.
4. If you have trouble falling asleep, you might want to try a hot bath just before bedtime. About an hour before we feel the need to sleep, our body temperature begins to drop about 1 degree. This is one of the key signals from the brain to slow down and start the sleep process. By taking a hot bath, your body will naturally start to lower its core temperature in an effort to cool itself off. This temperature drop will start the same physiological processes that naturally brings on the desire for sleep.
5. If a hot bath still isn’t enough to promote sleep, then the best suggestion I have for you is to start a regular exercise program. Study after study has shown that regular exercise enhances sleep in almost everyone with sleep disturbances. Something as simple as regular walking can make a big difference in the quality of your sleep—not to mention the dozens of other positive changes it will bring about.
6. Finally, as soon as you wake up in the morning, either turn on the lights or open the blinds and let the sunlight in. Opening the window is preferred, as it imprints on the brain the many sights, sounds and smells associated with awakening. This is the proper way to reset your body clock, and will ensure that your melatonin levels will stay set on “awake” until that evening.

Stiff Neck

• Around the clock. Start this exercise by first tilting the head forward, and slowly stretch the muscles of the back of the neck. Relax and then tilt the head back and slowly stretch the muscles at the front of the neck. Now, by tilting the head slowly to either side, all of the muscles of the neck have been stretched. Don’t rotate the head in a circular motion. Also be sure to keep looking straight ahead when tilting the head to one side or the other (sometimes it is easier to watch yourself in front of a mirror until you are sure you are doing it right).
• The shrug. Draw your shoulders up toward your ears slowly. Breathe deeply and return to the original position. Relax and repeat. A slight variation of this exercise would be to slowly rotate your shoulders forward and backward.
• The trapezius stretch. While standing with a straight back, lock your hands behind your head. Slowly bring your elbows together in front of your face. Reverse the exercise by again locking your hands behind your head and slowly pulling your elbows back. Then repeat.

Styes

• Potato poultice. This is an old but highly effective remedy for styes, bloodshot eyes, a “gritty feeling” in the eyes, or eye irritation from strain or too much sun. To make a potato pack or poultice, select white potatoes that are free of sprays or chemicals and grate the potato whole (peels and pulp). Place a large spoonful directly on the eyelid, covering the whole eye. This can then be covered with a small towel or wash cloth. The potato poultice should be left in place for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
• Vitamin A. Another solution involves vitamin A. Put one or two drops of a high-quality vitamin A solution directly into the affected eye. (The contents of a vitamin A capsule can also be used.) This works especially well when used right before bedtime.

Swallowing Pills

• Tilt your head. Swallowing capsules can sometimes be difficult since they have a tendency to float. Most of us tilt our heads back when trying to swallow one, but this allows it to “float” to the top, which is at the front of your mouth. This makes the capsule even more difficult to get down your throat. Next time, after placing a capsule in your mouth and taking a small sip of water, try tilting your head slightly forward and then swallow.
• Eat a banana. For those pesky pills that get caught in your throat, eat a banana. Bananas have just the right mushy, smooth consistency to dislodge and carry it into the stomach.
• Trick your gag reflex. Pill swallowing problems usually stem from an over-sensitive gag reflex, but there is one way to “fool” the reflex.Next time you take your vitamins, try drinking the water you wash them down with from a soda bottle. Keeping your lips in contact with the bottle, use a sucking action to drink from the bottle. The swallowing reflex is triggered automatically by pursing the lips and sucking. Distilled water works fine, but carbonated water works even better.

2012-11-19 16:00:13

Source: http://nesaranews.blogspot.com/2012/11/20-instant-at-home-health-fixes.html