A visit to the pharmacy can be a pricey experience. Aisle after aisle of remedies for every ailment imaginable promise relief from what ails us. Is there any way to cut your pharmacy expenses?
When you are really, truly ill, the wisest idea is to visit your doctor for treatment and advice — but what about the everyday irritations and pains that are more inconvenient than health-threatening? Remedies for many common ailments can be concocted from ingredients you most likely have in your home right now, saving you a lot of money at the pharmacy.
Here’s a list of 18 common health ailments and some homemade remedies for them:
(Note that some ailments have several treatments, which are separately bulleted.)
- Abrasions (minor): first, clean the area thoroughly with mild soap and dry gently
- sprinkle pepper over the area
- crush cloves into a paste, apply to area and bandage
- rub the juice of an onion on the area
- sprinkle powdered turmeric over the area
- Bee sting:
- apply a paste of baking soda and water
- rub with a cut green onion, banana peel or hemorrhoid cream
- Canker sore: apply a black tea bag which has been soaked in sugar water
- Chapped skin: apply a mixture of glycerin and lemon juice and leave overnight
- Diaper rash: sprinkle on the baby’s dry bottom, or apply over a layer of petroleum jelly or Milk of Magnesia
- Dry skin: apply mashed avocado and leave on skin for 15 minutes; wash off with a cool washcloth
- Ingrown nail: soak nail in warm water with Epsom Salts
- Itchy rash: apply a paste made of a small amount of turmeric powder with aloe vera or water for at least 30 minutes; rinse with water
- Gas: mix 1 teaspoon grated ginger and 1 teaspoon lime juice into 6 ounces of water: sweeten with honey if desired and drink
- Heartburn: chew a clove of garlic or store a few cloves of garlic in apple cider vinegar and drink a sip of the liquid
- Mosquito bites:
- apply vinegar with a cotton ball
- apply meat tenderizer mixed with 1-2 tablespoons of water
- Muscle cramps / sore feet: soak for 30 minutes in a warm bath with 1 cup of Epsom Salts
- Nausea:
- drink ginger tea (Recipe: Steep 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger in one cup boiling water. Strain; sweeten with honey if desired.)
- eat food containing ginger
- Pimples: apply a mixture of 1 cup lemon juice or hot water with ¼ teaspoon salt with a cotton ball
- Poison ivy: rub with a banana peel
- Sore throat:
- drink ginger tea (see recipe under Nausea) 2-3 times per day
- gargle with salt water (1 teaspoon salt and 1 cup warm water) 2-3 times per day, altering the pitch of your gargle from low, to medium, to high to allow the salt water to reach all areas of your throat
- eat honey slowly by itself, or mixed with a small amount of lemon juice
- Sunburn: soak in a warm bath with a handful of baking soda added
- Swelling: apply a cold pack made by freezing a mixture of 1 part rubbing alcohol and 2 parts water in a plastic zipper bag
These remedies may be as effective as the ones on the pharmacy shelf. After all, many packaged remedies contain these same ingredients. Use your common sense: if your symptoms persist or get worse, see your physician. For everyday aches and annoyances, however, making a homemade remedy may save you a pain in the pocketbook.
What homemade remedies keep you and your family out of the pharmacy?
This article was compiled from various sources, including GrannyMed.com and Haley’s Hints, by Graham and Rosemary Haley.
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