I’M JUST CURIOUS: Old time remedies

by Debbie Walker

Wow! Guess what! I was reading a Reader’s Digest article by Jen McCaffery and Tina Dovito titled Old Time Doctor Remedies That Work. I love it! It seems the old time docs and grandmothers may have been on the ball after all! In at least the past five years, researchers have done studies on the realities of the old time remedies actually working.

I have to tell you if you decide to try any of these, DON’T do it without first talking to your doctor or pharmacist They can warn you of possible interactions with any of your medications.

I will admit to having a lot of faith in the intuitions of many of our older generations. Read the information and see how you “feel” about what you read.

You can imagine as reading this information such as:

We don’t need expensive skin creams to lighten age spots. You can apply BUTTERMILK to a cotton ball to your age spot for 20 minutes and then rinse off. Bet that upset the beauty product companies!

Blisters are painful. Clean the blister put PETROLEUM JELLY on the sore and keep covered with bandages. The jelly reduces irritating friction.

To ease the pain of canker sores rinse your mouth with Milk of Magnesia or apply it to sores three or four times a day.

Diarrhea: Make Blackberry Tea by boiling one to 2 tablespoons of blackberries in 1-1/2 cups of water for 10 minutes then strain. Drink several cups a day.

Gout: Those who eat about 20 Cheerios every day are less likely to experience flare-ups.

Hiccups: A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down…. Oh wait, wrong one! Right one: It resets your diaphragm to stop spasms.

Indigestion: Fennel are tiny seeds. Chewing a pinch of fennel will help prevent after meal belching.

Insomnia: Valerian helps folks fall asleep. Take one to two teaspoons of Valerian tincture or two Valerian root capsules 30 minutes before bed.

Kidney stones: Lemon juice, at least 4 oz. per day could help prevent those stones.

Nausea: Chew some candied ginger root or sip some ginger ale or tea.

Tooth and gum pain: We always had cloves (clove oil) handy and knew it would help with mouth pain. Mix a few drops with olive oil, swish in your mouth. Spit.

Wounds: Apply honey directly to a wound every 12 to 24 hours and cover with gauze.

Zits: Try tea tree oil, 5 percent tea tree oil gel. I have also read honey is effective as well.

I’m just curious what your family’s old time remedies are. Oh, one more T-shirt saying: This is for Barbara D. Barb is a wordologist (my own word). This is it: “English is weird. It can be understood through tough, thorough, thought though.” Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com. Don’t forget to share your remedies with me!!!

God bless all the people devastated by the weather attacks and those who are there to assist in their needs. Prayers are needed.