Various Home Remedies

Who knew? 
Did you know that drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately-without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional pain relievers? 

Did you know that Colgate Toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns? 

Before you head to the drugstore for a high-priced inhaler filled with mysterious chemicals, try chewing on a couple of curiously strong Altoids peppermints. They'll clear up your stuffed nose.

Achy muscles from a bout of the flu? Mix 1 tablespoon horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a massage oil for instant relief for aching muscles.

Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.

Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly-even though the product was never advertised for this use.

Honey remedy for skin blemishes... cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.

Listerine therapy for toenail fungus: Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine Mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails looking healthy again.
WARDS OFF MOSQUITO’S TOO!! DOUSE A SOFT CLOTH AND APPLY TO SURROUNDING WINDOW/DOOR FRAMES! Going outdoors? Spray your exposed skin with Listerine. Works for up to 2 hrs safer than DEET

Easy eyeglass protection... to prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear Nail Polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.

Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer... if menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get in your home and you can't find the insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground instantly.

Smart splinter remover: Just pour a drop of Elmer's Glue-All over the splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.

Hunt's Tomato Paste boil cure... cover the boil with Hunt's Tomato Paste as a compress. The acids from the tomatoes soothe the pain and bring the boil to a head.

Balm for broken blisters... to disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few drops of Listerine, a powerful antiseptic.
Vinegar to heal bruises... soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process.

Quaker Oats for fast pain relief... it's not for breakfast any more! Mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave for 1 minute, cool slightly, and apply the mixture to your hands for soothing relief from arthritis pain.

If you send this to one person who doesn't know about this, then it was worth it.

10 Uses For Apple Cider Vinegar

You may not think of apple cider vinegar as something that is a boon to your overall health, but it can be, and here are 10 ways you can use it to help pave the way to a better you.

1. Balance your inner ecosystem: The body constantly strives to achieve a state of homeostasis, or a state of equilibrium. One way is by keeping the body's pH balance (or acid-base balance) within the normal range of 7.35 - 7.45. Apple cider vinegar helps the body maintain a healthy alkaline pH level. Research shows that higher acid levels (lower pH level) leads to a lack of energy, excessive production of mucous and higher incidences of infection, among other things.

2. Detoxes the body: As part of balancing the body's pH, apple cider vinegar is useful in overall detoxification of the body. Research shows that it can help stimulate cardiovascular circulation and help detoxify the liver. It also helps break up mucous throughout the body and helps cleanse the lymph nodes.

3. Weight loss: Tired of the "fad" diets that do more damage to your wallet than your excess fat cells? Try boosting your intake of apple cider vinegar. Data shows some limited, albeit significant, weight loss benefits from sustained daily intake of acetic acid (which is prevalent in apple cider vinegar). In one study published in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry in 2009, it was found that subjects who consumed acetic acid for 12 weeks experienced significant declines in body weight, abdominal fat, waist circumference and triglycerides.

4. Cures: Allergies: Believe it or not, research suggests that apple cider vinegar can help reduce the effect of allergies on your body, mostly by reducing mucous and sinus congestion. A sign of a distressed immune system is an increase and thickening of mucous; apple cider vinegar can help reduce the build-up and congestion, thereby reducing your susceptibility to allergies.

5. Cures: Sinus infections, sore throats, headaches, flu: Reducing the effects of allergies can also reduce the frequency of sinus infections and the symptoms associated with them, such as sore throats and headaches. Boosting the immune system can also curb bouts of the flu.

6. Clears: Acne, dermatitis, warts and other skin problems: Some practitioners recommend mixing one part apple cider vinegar and three parts water. They recommend dabbing the solution on each pimple. For warts, some recommend soaking a cotton ball in an apple cider vinegar solution then place over the wart with a band-aid overnight. The skin will swell some as it reacts with the solution and may throb; it may even turn black after a few days. Once it falls off, though, continue the treatment for a few more days, to make sure the wart doesn't return, according to recommendations.

7. Lower blood pressure and cholesterol: One of the most important "healing" qualities of apple cider vinegar is its ability to lower blood pressure and triglycerides, the bad cholesterol. According to a 2001 animal study published in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, there was some evidence that daily consumption of apple cider vinegar could help reduce both blood pressure and cholesterol. Try 1-2 teaspoons of vinegar in about eight ounces of water; if you want, add a teaspoon of honey to make it more palatable.

8. Kills candida and fungus: This vinegar is rich in natural enzymes that can help rid your body of candida - a genus of yeasts which can cause thrush in humans and is blamed for creating symptoms of fatigue, poor memory, sugar cravings, and yeast infections.

9. Eases arthritis, stiff joints and gout: Regular use of apple cider vinegar can be tied to a decrease in joint pain and gout by reducing inflammation; data suggests the malic acid in the vinegar is able to dissolve the uric acid crystals within the joint and assist in flushing them from the body.

10. Strengthens stomach acid: Though it might seem a little odd to treat stomach acid with an acid-containing vinegar, there is research suggesting that apple cider vinegar works by treating low acid and thereby reducing heartburn. Natural remedy experts say you should begin to feel relief - unless your problem is ulcers - very shortly after taking a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar followed by a glass of water.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/026910_apple_vinegar_cider.html

http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/025452.html

Ten unconventional additions to your emergency medical kit

Ten unconventional additions to your emergency medical kit

Okay, I am sure you all have a medical kit to be proud of, you've got all the bandages, the slings, the ointments and creams, but sometimes, just sometimes, the most mundane items can make life simpler, especially if you need to move fast, or find yourself in a situation where you need to improvise, or, the stuff you have just isn't right for the job in hand. Here are a few ideas, and examples of what to use them for.

AN OLD CREDIT CARD/ATM CARD

These are great for a good deal more than stuffing in a hole in the wall of your bank. Scraping out a sting with the edge of a plastic card is preferable to fingernails or tweezers, both of which, just by the pinching action pump the last bit of venom from the sting into the skin.

Cut into strips they are excellent splints for broken fingers, and the gaps between the strips allow for swelling. Position either side of the finger and tape into place.

Used whole they can help inflate a deflated lung caused by a sucking chest wound. Put over the hole and tape on three sides only, the card acts as a flutter valve, preventing air from entering the wound but allowing air outside of the lung but inside the chest cavity to escape as the lung inflates.

DUCT TAPE

I love duct tape, it needs to be good tape, not a cheapo one that is not very sticky. Use to secure the card to the chest as described above. It can be used to hold splints on limbs in place, to secure pressure dressings,and even to make a makeshift stretcher to carry a casualty if wrapped around two poles and stuck to itself across the gap between them. There are dozens of uses for this stuff.

A DOZEN MIXED SIZE CLEAR PLASTIC BAGS

Clear plastic bags form a great barrier between a wound and the air, preventing pathogens from getting into the body. They are great for wounds and burns on hands and feet and are carried in ambulances for this reason. Duct tape into place and the wound will stay clean until you can deal with it. This is particularly beneficial if you are near water and you want to prevent contamination.

Use as a flutter valve on large sucking chest wounds. Fix on three sides as described for the card method above.

SANITARY PADS

Sanitary pads make really good pressure dressings. Put over the wound and tape tightly down covering the whole pad with tape, extend the tape a good distance from all edges of the pad to make sure the pressure is maintained.

HALF A DOZEN STRONG TEA BAGS

Tea leaves contain tannin which has anti-inflammatory and vaso-constrictor properties. To wash out an eye make as you would tea, leave to cool and lean forward so the liquid in the container reaches the eye and open and close the eye whilst in the liquid. The tea bag can be placed on the eye afterwards, to reduce any swelling and irritation.

Tannin is a vasoconstrictor, it causes blood vessels to contract and therefore slows blood loss. It would be no use at all for anything major, but for nosebleeds, traumatic tooth extractions and minor cuts and abrasions, it works well. Put just enough boiling water on the tea bag to make it swell to its maximum size and show a little liquid leaking from it, then when it has cooled sufficiently apply it to the tooth socket, cut etc. for nose bleeds roll the bag as small as you can and plug the nostril with as much of it as you can, you can cut it in half if need be and roll so as the cut edge is on the inside of the roll. There is no worry about sterility with a nose bleed.

STRONG SMELLING VAPOUR RUB

There are times when the smells around you are almost too much to bear. Infected wounds, corpses, human waste all give off gut-wrenching odours and dabbing vapour rub under your nose helps a great deal.

I have heard occasionally that a dab under the nose of someone having an asthma attack, who does not have an inhaler with them, helps open the airways a little making breathing somewhat easier. I have no experience of this and therefore cannot vouch for it. Having said that an asthma sufferer without an inhaler will not come to any harm by trying this.

A SECTION OF BICYCLE TYRE INNER TUBE

The inner tube from a bicycle tyre is very stretchy and it makes an excellent tourniquet. It is also possible to use it as a fire starter, and it will burn even when it is pouring with rain, and it burns for a long while, often long enough to dry out a little damp tinder placed very near it.

A SUPER ABSORBANT DRYING CLOTH

These microfibre cloths are very light weight and take up almost no space. They are excellent for drying around wounds so that dressings and tapes stick more easily. As they hold a good amount of liquid, one dunked in water and lightly squeezed out is useful for giving a casualty that cannot sit properly sips of water, they just suck on the cloth.

AN EMPTY SODA BOTTLE

Cut off the top and bottom and then cut it along it's length. This gives you a sheet of strong plastic that rolls back into a tube when you let it go. These make great splints, keeping clothing etc away from a wound or helping to immobilise a broken bone. Unroll, place around the limb and gently let it go back into its tube shape. Then, very gently, close the plastic up, one edge will slide under the other with little effort. Fix in place with a piece of tape. To store, roll it up tight and secure with a rubber band. We used this method in hospitals to stop babies and toddlers ripping off their dressings, works very well.

A PAIR OF ADULT OVER THE KNEE SOCKS

Get an adult pair of knee high socks and force them over a large, full soda bottle to stretch them. When stretched for a couple of days, roll them down the bottle so what you end up with resembles a donut, store them in this shape so that they can be rolled onto a limb rather than forced up over it causing pain and possibly more injury. They are great for holding a leg dressing in place, and make a good sling for arm injuries. Roll onto the arm, position the arm comfortably and safety pin to the patients clothing in a couple of places, beats messing about with a triangular bandage if you are in a hurry. If they have long sleeves, position the arm and pin the sleeve to the body of their clothing.

Well there you have it, a few coventional items with a few unconventional uses.