Suggestions for your medicine chest

writer lady — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:55:12 GMT

It has taken me a long time to do it, but I finally have the rest of my family on board with these natural remedies. Both of these are now essentials at our house and are used frequently on my little boy.

Arnica is the stuff you want to have on hand for bruises and sore muscles. I was introduced to Arnica after a bike crash that onlookers described as spectacular. I landed on blacktop, and took the full force of the fall on my hip and upper thigh. A neighbor rushed to my rescue with a tube of the cool gel. I had very little bruising or swelling afterwards, which is really amazing because I bruise badly and easily.

The other remedy is ear candles, a remedy my grandmother used on her kids early in the 20th century. These are linen cones, coated with beeswax. They're maybe 12" long, and taper from 2" at one end to maybe 1/2" at the other. You lie down on your side, place the narrower end of the candle in your ear and then light the wider end. To avoid setting your head on fire, cut a small hole in the center of a tin pie plate or a sheet of foil, and put the narrow tip of the candle through it and into your ear. NEVER try to do this all by yourself! Remove the candle and douse it when it has burnt down about 2/3 of the way.

The ear candle works like a chimney, and the heat creates a draw that sucks all the nastiness out of your ears. The heat reaches way down inside your ear canal and soothes and relieves pressure. The candles have been a real blessing for family members who have allergies or frequent sinus inrections.

One more thing: The build up of disgusting stuff deep in your ears happens so gradually that you might not notice the resulting hearing loss, but I promise you'll hear better afterward!

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Suggestions for your medicine chest