Oxygen

This scene makes me want to breathe deeply

Today's natural remedy is oxygen. Yes. You read correctly.
Oxygen.
Have you ever been lost in thought and suddenly found yourself out of breath from lack of...breathing? I think we all experience this in times of stress, and I want to send a friendly reminder.

Breathe.

Lack of oxygen causes all kinds of health issues: Stroke, heart attack, muscle tension, it has even been linked to cancer. Read HERE for more info on the importance of oxygen to our bodies and our minds.
Take a moment right now...
"Try an experiment suggested by Swami Vishnudevananda. Focus attention upon the ticks of a clock placed at a distance of about twelve feet. If you get distracted, try concentrating harder until you experience the ticking with undivided attention. If you fail at first, you should try again and again until you succeed in keeping the ticking clearly in mind for at least a few seconds. What happened? The majority of persons who took part in this experiment reported that they have completely suspended the breath. The others, who had less concentration, reported that they experienced very slow breathing. This experiment shows clearly that where there is concentration of the mind, the breathing becomes very slow or even get suspended temporarily."~holisticonline.com

Whooping Cough -Natural Remedy Thursday

As a teenager, I was vaccinated for Pertussis (Whooping Cough). I contracted it 4 years later. I was misdiagnosed at first because of my vaccination record. If I had a proper diagnosis earlier, I could have treated and possibly eliminated the worst part of the virus.*** The only upside in having the virus was that I will never get it again because I now have the natural antibodies against it.
I will not talk more about vaccines today. I've already done that HERE. But I do want to reiterate a few things that every parent should know, regardless of if you choose to vaccinate or not, regardless of if you believe they are effective or not. If you vaccinate your child for a disease, contracting that disease is still possible. Please be aware that in outbreaks, up to 90% of the affected persons have been vaccinated. Many times, a disease will be wrongly ruled out by the doctors because a person has been vaccinated (as in my case). Everyone needs to have a plan and know of options if you or your child contract a disease.

WHOOPING COUGH (Pertussis) SYMPTOMS—
A week or two after exposure, the catarrhal stage begins. The eyes may be red, and the child seems to have a cold in the head. There is sneezing and watering of the eyes. Then a persistent cough develops, especially bad at night. This coughing continues a week, and keeps getting worse—and is the most significant indication that the problem may be whooping cough. If the cough is not treated, in about 2 weeks, the typical whoop begins. At first, only 1-2 times a day, it degrades to every time there is coughing. It is a deep breath at the end of a series of deep coughs. The child's face may be reddish or bluish from the effort and lack of air. Vomiting may also occur. This whooping stage lasts 3-6 weeks, and the cough may not entirely disappear for several months.

CAUSES—
Whooping cough is a contagious bacterial disease, which usually attacks children between 6 months and 5 years of age. But newborns and adults can also be affected. The disease is not highly contagious after the first few weeks. The most contagious phase is before a definite diagnosis is possible. Whooping cough occurs more frequently, and seriously, in overcrowded and unhygienic quarters and cold weather. Vaccine?--You should weigh the fact that pertussis vaccine is one of the most dangerous of the shots in its occasional side effects.

TREATMENT—
• Treat the cough! When a cough first develops, treat the cough. If you do so, the whooping cough phase can be entirely prevented.
• Wild cherry bark tea is excellent. Here are other herbs useful for coughs; select from those you have on hand or can most easily obtain. They can be mixed: black cohosh, flaxseed, rosemary, comfrey, horehound, hyssop, myrrh, white pine, bloodroot, red sage, blue violet, ginseng, coltsfoot. Prepare a tea and give a teaspoonful every hour until the cough is better.
• Be sure and include other worthwhile practices, such as partial or complete fasting on fruit and vegetable juices until the cough is past.
• When the cough is severe, as in whooping cough, drinking warm water, one cup after another, followed by induced vomiting can expectorate sputum (mucus or phlegm).
• A light diet is essential. Overfeeding during the whooping cough prolongs the disease and leads to complications. In case it is a breast-fed infant, do not overfeed either. The child is thirsty, not hungry.
• As soon as it is perceived that the problem is whooping cough, place him on a full fruit juice fast. First, give citrus juices. This can be followed by other fruit juices; then carrot and other vegetable juices, and clear vegetable broth soup. Later still, fruit can be added.
• Give vitamins A and C in large doses.
• It is good to soak the feet in hot water, with a little mustard and salt added to it.
• Steam inhalations are often very helpful. They can be given every 2-4 hours, according to the severity of the case.
• Thick slippery elm tea is very good in whooping cough; mix in a little lemon juice and drink it freely.
• Keep him isolated from other children.
• If the weather is warm, sunny, and not too damp or dusty, keep him out of doors most of the day. But he should not exert himself in play.
• Air and sun his bedding every day, if there is sunshine.
• Sodium Ascorbat Powder (pure, filler free). You can get it in your health food store. 375 mg / per kg body weight or until they have one lose stool. Then cut it back but just a little bit. Put into some diluted juice and let the child sip it all day long.

***"The disease [Pertussis] is difficult to diagnose. Currently,to be completely sure of the diagnosis of pertussis, you have to take a culture, which is a catch-22 because the cultures are only positive at the very beginning of the illness in the first week or two. At this time, the cough is very mild and neither the patient nor the doctor is thinking about the diagnosis. By the time they do think of pertussis because the cough has become more severe or lasted for a couple of weeks, the culture—which is taken from the nose—is often negative."
-Dr. Pichichero at PulmonaryReviews.com

Peeling Skin--Natural Remedy Thursday

No sun protection? Didn't attend to your sunburn?
Now you have peeling skin. Here are some helpful remedies to provide immediate relief or prevent skin from further peeling.

Home Remedies to cure peeling skin
-For all-over peeling, soak in a cool oatmeal bath.
-Drink plenty of water about 10-12 glasses a day.
-Use mild soaps instead of strong, harsh soaps. Take cool showers.
-Grated cucumber applied over the affected areas for 15-20 minutes has been found to be effective especially for the skin on the face. Regular application prevents dryness of the skin.
-Applying the juice of fresh mint every night on affected areas of the skin can help prevent dryness.
-Honey, olive oil and a mixture of turmeric and sandalwood paste are very effective in rejuvenating dry, parched skin.

Sunburn--Natural Remedy Thursday

For my dear friends living in Arizona, this is a no-brainer.
The gel inside the Aloe Vera plant is anti inflammatory, antiviral, antifungal and also antibacterial---making it the number one cure for sunburns.
There are a few very important things to remember when treating a sunburn.

#1--Do NOT apply lotion. Even if it says it contains Aloe Vera. Lotions actually trap the heat into the skin causing the skin to continue burning even when out of the sun!

#2--Take a cold shower before applying the aloe vera gel. Use no soap. This helps stop the burn process and prepares the skin for treatment.

#3(optional)--Mix white vinegar with ice water, about 40 - 60 to further take the heat out of the burn. Soak a few washcloths or hand towels in the mixture, wring them so they don't drip, then leave them on the burns until they become warm to the touch. Repeat until the ice has melted in the vinegar mixture.

#4--Apply 100% aloe vera gel. If using the actual plant, Cut a few plump leaves from an Aloe Vera plant. Take your knife and cut up the length of the sides of the leaves. Try not to waste the gel that will ooze out. Apply to skin and keep uncovered. Thanks to Kara (the Good Looking Cook) of Taste is Trump for her advice to add a few drop of lavender oil to the mix of aloe vera. It has healing properties and makes the aloe smell nice: )

Below is a video demonstrating how to best cut the plant to extract the gel. I'm just not quite sure why the latex gloves and the lab coat. It's certainly not a dangerous substance...

More about the Aloe Vera: Aloe Vera contains lignins. Lignins are a chemical compound that is an integral part of the skin’s cell walls. Lignins help the skin to heal much faster. Aloe Vera also works as an effective pain reliever. It acts as a cooling agent on the surface and contains salicylic acid, the same pain killing agent found in aspirin. Aloe Vera contains two anti-inflammatory agents, gibberellins and glycans. These are very effective at decreasing inflammation, which in turn promotes healing. Aloe Vera has the ability to prevent blistering and scarring. source

Apple Cider Vinegar. The Mother of Natural Remedies.

When I was 18, I was introduced to the benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar in cleansing and nourishing the internal organs. Never since then have I needed any drug or pain medication for stomach pains and cramps.

Apple Cider Vinegar. Who knew?

For centuries, people have been using Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) for everything from encouraging weight loss and healing aches and pains, to improving hair/skin condition and treating dandruff. ACV contains all of the nutritional value of apples, as well as additional enzymes and acids produced in the fermentation process.
Not all Apple Cider Vinegars are created equal. Make sure yours is unpasteurized and unfiltered. This extra processing negates many of the benefits and enzymes that were in the product in the first place.

A few of my favorite uses for

Apple Cider Vinegar:

http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com/ shares so many benefits of ACV. Go bookmark their page right now!

For overall health: kill germs, aid in vitamin deficiency and cleanse the internal organs, drink a tonic of ACV 2 times a day before or during meals.
Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic-- Mix 2-3 tablespoons in 8 oz. of water. Note: If you take ACV between meals or before going to bed, always rinse your mouth or brush your teeth to avoid any prolonged vinegar contact with the enamel on your teeth.
ACNE BLEMISHES: Apply ACV tonic with a cotton ball several times a day. This will help reduce infection and dry out inflammation.
ATHLETE'S FOOT: Athlete's foot is a fungal infection which is quite difficult to get rid of. One of the best home remedies involves soaking the feet twice a day in a 50/50 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water. Or, you can apply pure apple cider vinegar to the affected areas several times a day and before bedtime.
BODY ODOR: Drinking the ACV tonic helps reduce body odor as does applying with a cotton ball directly to underarms and feet.
BRUISES: Dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in ½ cup (125 ml) of warm apple cider vinegar and apply it to the bruise as a compress.
COLDS: At the first sign of a cold, take 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in half a cup of water several times a day. The body becomes more alkaline during a cold and the vinegar will help to rebalance the body's acid level. If you have a chest cold, a long-standing home remedy calls for soaking a piece of brown paper in vinegar then sprinkling one side of it with black pepper. Place the peppered side of the paper on the chest, cover with a towel, and relax for 20 minutes.
DANDRUFF: Apply pure apple cider vinegar to the scalp and work it into the roots of the hair; allow the vinegar to stand for a half hour or a full hour before washing your hair. This will help to destroy the bacteria and fungus that cause dandruff and itchy scalp. Click here for information on how apple cider vinegar can be combined with certain herbs to make an extra strength natural hair care product for combating dandruff and soothing itchy scalp.
DIAPER RASH: Use a 50/50 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water to eliminate the bacteria and fungus that cause diaper rash.
DIARRHEA: Pectin, the water soluble fiber in apple cider vinegar, will help to absorb water in the intestines and provide more bulk for the stool. Also, intestinal bacteria transforms pectin into a protective coating which soothes the irritated lining. The well known over the counter diarrhea preparation, Kaopectate contains pectin. So take the natural healing apple cider vinegar tonic (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) to help eliminate diarrhea.
DIGESTION: Due to aging and bad diet, it is common for people to produce less stomach acid (hydrochloric acid) which can lead to digestive problems. Taking the apple cider vinegar tonic home remedy (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) before a meal will enhance the action of your stomach's acid and digestive enzymes.
EAR INFECTIONS: Use an ear syringe (found at drug stores) to squirt a vinegar solution into the ear and let it sit for a minute or so, then turn your head and let the liquid drain out.The vinegar solution can be a 50/50 mixture of ACV and pure water, a 50/50 mixture of ACV and rubbing alcohol or a solution consisting of one-third vinegar, one-third pure water, and one-third rubbing alcohol.
HEADACHES: Research has shown that people have slightly more alkaline urine when they have a headache. An apple cider vinegar tonic will help restore your body's acid/alkaline balance. According to one home remedy, inhaling the vapors from a small bottle of apple cider vinegar can also help or if you have a vaporizer, add about 2 tablespoons cider vinegar to the water and inhale the vapors for five minutes.
HEARTBURN (ACID REFLUX): To relieve occasional heartburn, try drinking the general apple cider vinegar tonic (2 or 3 teaspoons to 8 ounces of water) before each meal.
HEMORRHOIDS: Apply the natural healing abilities of pure apple cider vinegar directly to hemorrhoids to help reduce stinging and promote shrinking. Use a cotton ball to apply the vinegar every few hours until symptoms are relieved.
LEG CRAMPS: Take the ACV tonic regularly to help the body's absorption of calcium and magnesium and thus protect against painful leg cramps.
MENSTRUAL PROBLEMS: A glass of apple cider tonic in the morning has been reported to help reduce the flow of a heavy period.
MORNING SICKNESS: Many women experience nausea and vomiting, often in the morning, during the first three months of pregnancy. A home remedy reported to help keep morning sickness at bay involves simply drinking, as soon as you get up, a glass of water containing a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.
NIGHT SWEATS & HOT FLASHES: ACV tonic has helped reduce hot flashes and night sweats for some menopausal women who for various reasons can't take hormones.
SORE THROAT: One of many natural healing home remedies for a sore throat involves gargling with a mixture of 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to half a cup of water, using 3 mouthfuls of mixture each hour. As P. Bragg warns in her book "Apple Cider Vinegar-Miracle Health System", don't swallow the gargled mixture, because ACV acts like a sponge drawing out throat and mouth germs and toxins.
SUN BURNS: If the sunburn is localized, apply full strength apple cider vinegar on the affected skin to obtain relief. Do this by soaking a thin towel in apple cider vinegar and placing it over the burn. Leave it on to help prevent peeling and itching.If the sunburn covers a large part of the body then try this home remedy recommended by Patricia Bragg in her book called Apple Cider Vinegar-Miracle Health System:Take a cool bath in which one cup of ACV has been added. After soaking in the bath, gently dry the body and pat ACV directly onto the needed areas. Wait 5 minutes, then pat on aloe vera gel.
WEIGHT LOSS: The use of apple cider vinegar as a home remedy for weight loss is centuries old. Naturalists maintain that an overweight person can lose weight gradually by taking 2 teaspoons of ACV in a glass of water at each meal. No change in the daily food intake is required except to avoid high fat containing foods.
This is by no means a complete list of natural healing home remedies that use apple cider vinegar. For more, visit http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com/

Asthma--Natural Remedy Thursday

Image from HERE

When I was 18 years old, my doctor thought (for about 5 minutes) that I had asthma.

I didn't.

It turned out to be something else completely and was taken care of.

However, that does not change the fact that on my medical report it contains the word ASTHMA. If you are not aware, asthma is a scary word when it comes to insurance companies because it's costly --

"the estimated total cost for asthma care in the United States is $6.21 billion ... An estimated $2.5 billion is spent per year on medications"

10 years later, I'm married to an entrepreneur, I'm a mom, (feeling GREAT I might add) and have been nearly uninsurable for much of these last 10 years--all thanks to the word asthma. I was finally accepted last month by a company that has their heads on straight. But seriously---denied 4 times over the years because they all thought I had asthma.

I'm not bitter or anything...

So, if you think you have asthma, but haven't visited a doctor yet---Please! Try something else first! Down the road you may find yourself off group insurance and will suddenly become obsessed with your medical history.

Natural Remedies for Asthma

THIS website has proven quite useful. I retrieved much of my information from it.

Asthma is divided into two categories: intrinsic (meaning inside or within), for which there is no identifiable cause for the attacks and extrinsic, which is caused by something (external factors usually inhaled) that triggers an attack.

To keep this concise, minimize your intake of coffee and dairy as well as exposure to dust and chemicals. Now would be a great time to switch to all natural cleaning products, which I will talk about in depth tomorrow.

Nettle Tincture-If you live in the Phoenix area, my favorite place to purchase herbs, tinctures and such is Chakra 4.

For centuries, cultures around the world have used this herb to treat nasal and respiratory troubles: coughs, runny nose, chest congestion, asthma, whooping cough and even tuberculosis.

Nettle is a potent antihistamine. The leaves of the young plant, best harvested from May to June and before flowering begins, can be used fresh or dried, as a tea. They can even be eaten as a vegetable, lightly steamed they have a similar texture to spinach.

Cayenne Pepper- Also know as Capsicum, the botanical name being Capsicum frutescens.
Cayenne is the species of capsicum that is used for its stimulant and antiseptic actions, as well as its antispasmodic properties, which makes it perfect in treating constricted lungs. It will get the blood pumped around your body, strengthen your heart as well as clear your arteries.

Liquorice herb- Liquorice is another expectorant and anti-inflammatory herb making it excellent for lung infections. Also very soothing on the throat. As a syrup or tincture it could reduce the incidence of asthma attacks.
A few cautions on liquorice - do not use large doses and/or long term use as it can cause sodium and water retention, headaches, lethargy and high blood pressure. Avoid in pregnancy.

I'm back... NRT

We are finally moved and unpacked---I can almost hear choirs of angels singing.
In celebration of having one on one time with my computer again, I am returning to Natural Remedy Thursday.
I thought it appropriate to address back pain, seeing as how we have become reacquainted this past week.

I found this page interesting, as I have probably been doing some of my lifting incorrectly.

In my days as a dancer, I often sought the advice of my muscle therapist. He is an encyclopedia of curing just about any ache and pain. The obvious (and most important) ones are listed first. In the words of Ed...

-deep massage followed by drinking LOTS of water

-Include foods that have rich Vitamin C content, such as citrus fruit, tomatoes, blueberries and strawberries, in your diet.

-Eat two to three cloves of garlic in a day. Garlic oil can also be effective in curing backache. To prepare garlic oil, fry ten cloves of garlic in 60 ml of oil (mustard oil, sesame oil or coconut oil). Strain the oil, let it cool down a bit and massage the back with it.

-Apply potato, in the poultice form. Peel a potato and cut into cubes. Boil the cubes and mash them. After they cool down a bit, apply on the back and hold it there with a bandage, for an hour.

Hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids.

There. I said it.

If you've ever been pregnant, you are most likely acquainted with their joys although there are several causes of hemorrhoids, including:

Constipation

Overeating of a low-fiber diet

Heavy lifting

Chronic diarrhea

and even consuming excessive spicy food

Eliminating hemorrhoids will involve stopping whatever behavior caused them, but there are some things to speed up the process as well.

Here are some of the easiest home natural remedies for Hemorrhoids.

-High fiber diet: at least 30 grams or (minimum) 5 fruits/veggies and whole grains per day

-Cold compress soaked in black tea

-Sit in a cool bath twice daily (the colder you can stand, the better)

-Keep a bottle of witch hazel in the Fridge--apply with cotton.

-Apple Cider Vinegar--apply with cotton

-Drink one ounce of Apple Cider Vinegar, twice daily

-Homeopathy:Taking five tablets of Aesculus twice daily

-Accupressure

Eczema--Natural Remedies Thursday

Up to 10 percent of children under the age of five develop eczema.

The disease in a child calls for special attention.

Last March it began. Morris started getting a little rash. I already knew he had extremely sensitive skin as he was allergic to most laundry detergents, soaps with fragrance, harsh cleaner residue, and even disposable diapers. Because of these sensitivities I had already made sure none of of these factors were present in our home. I also tried to keep his skin moisturized with a good fragrance-free lotion.

His rash worsened. I exhausted nearly every natural remedy and by April it was bad enough I considered using a steroid cream. This concerned me greatly because steroid creams are known to thin the skin and are linked to creating long term allergies. They are only to be used once in a great while and only for 10 days (max) at a time. The safety still seems sketchy to me.

By May, I felt I had no choice. I am not against modern medicine and know that it has it's place, so we gave it a go.

10 days. The steroid did nothing. Didn't even touch it. In fact, from there on out Mo's eczema went downhill. What was I to do? I thought I had tried the Natural route and then 3 different MDs--(one was a specialist). The rash only worsened.

Morris' case was turning into extreme eczema--textbook. When you google childhood eczema, you will find photos of kids completely wrapped in gauze and believe me when I say he was almost there.

It is so sad to look back on this---It was a dark time. You don't immediately think, "Eczema= Extremely difficult life trial", but I tell you it was one of the most stressful things I've ever dealt with. I was on the verge of tears at any moment.

Other than the one up top, I could never bring myself to take pictures. 4 months of his life is virtually undocumented. This condition occupied my every thought, every moment. He was so uncomfortable and his skin just looked painful. It had spread all over his back, both calves and onto the upper thighs. Both arms and hands were raw and the final straw was his face and ears. Just thinking about his whimper as a 7 month old makes me cry.

It was oozing and bleeding and his only relief was if I held him completely naked in my arms-skin to skin and rocked him to sleep.

.

.

.

Then he got a staph infection.

This almost completely broke me.

What does a parent do when all that doctors can give is the hope that he might grow out of it?

My gut kept telling me to go back to the Homeopathic route. His case turned severe so quickly that I didn't feel I spent enough effort searching for natural cures. Sure I did all the obvious ones--Oatmeal bath, humidifier, vaseline, 100% cotton clothing, Omega 3 oils, kept him away from pets, moisturize, moisturize, moisturize, etc. etc. etc.! I was reading constantly, searching for the cure. But because it was so bad, social pressure caused me to turn away from alternative medicine quicker than I should have. I knew there was a balance that had to be struck---all the factors had to be in perfect harmony.

I decided to start over.

Homeopathic medicine sometimes takes longer to have an affect on the body, but the cure is long lasting with no side effects. When a condition gets severe so fast, it can be scary to go the slow route. We are a society that wants quick results. But It is my feeling that the steroids disrupted his system and put him on overload. The necessary antibiotic for the Staph only added to it. From there on out his little body just couldn't handle anything it seemed. At this point, what did I have to lose? The steroids didn't work and there seemed to be nothing else to try.
We eventually worked out the balance.

Heat and dryness are the main triggers for him.

We live in Arizona.

A Hot Desert.

Not conducive to his condition.

It's March, and it has started again, although so much better than last year. We know how to manage now. Basically we just can't leave the house in the day and humidifiers are on constantly.

Here are some natural tips for helping your child to manage their eczema:
Moisturize - bathe your child in room temp water (even a bit on the cold side if they can take it) for no longer than five minutes. Use very little mild soap or non-soap fragrance-free cleanser from a health food store. Sprouts and Whole Foods have a good selection.

We like Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild Pure-Castile soap. (Can be found at most health food groceries--Sprouts, Whole Foods, etc.)

After bathing your child, pat the skin dry and apply a moisturizing cream or ointment within three minutes.

Eczederm Rescue is an ointment by Peaceful Mountain and it is awesome. It contains healing ingredients like comfrey, calendula, olive oil, avocado oil, and arnica. Very effective. (Found at Whole Foods)

We tried about 20 different lotions and found Alba very emollient body lotion--unscented, to be the best. When Mo gets the urge to scratch,

Wise Woman herbal salve does the trick. (Online)

Only use all natural soaps, laundry detergents and lotions. Avoid anything perfumed.

I swear by Biokleen Free & Clear. The last 2 factors that really helped were the use of a homeopathic remedy of sulphur and adding Omega 3 fish oils to Mo's diet.

A spoonful of fish oils mixed into their food is so helpful to help rebuild the skin.

Boiron is a product line that both Sprouts and Whole Foods carry.

3 Sulphur tablets- twice a day, made all the difference. (30c dose)

A few more tips:

Keep your child's fingernails short to prevent their scratching from breaking the skin.
Dress them in 100 per cent cotton clothing to reduce sweating, which can be an irritant. After purchasing new clothing, wash them before dressing your child to make them softer and remove any tags to avoid irritating the skin.
Avoid wool and other coarse or rough-textured clothing or blankets and if possible, remove wool carpets. If you are wearing woollen clothing, put a cotton diaper over your shoulder when holding your child.
Keep your child's room at an even temperature.
Use a cool mist humidifier in dry or heated rooms to keep the air moist.
If your child is allergic to dust or dust mites, use protective coverings for pillows and mattresses and wash bedclothes frequently in hot water.
Keep pets off beds and other furniture, or outside.
If night-time itching is a problem, use a cold, damp washcloth to soothe your child's skin, followed by a moisturizer.

Children, like adults, experience emotional stress which can exacerbate their eczema. To help your child cope with their illness, it's important to develop and maintain a routine. Anyone who cares for your child should also keep to this routine. Talk to your child about eczema and inform him/her about what triggers the disease. Explain the importance of treatment and how necessary it is to use moisturizer and avoid triggers.

Earache, cold, diaper rash, cradle cap-- Natural Remedy Thursday

One of the things I love most about living a naturally inclined life are the health benefits.
While I was not exactly "granola" growing up, my mother was very much into using herbs and homeopathy for healing ailments of all kinds. To this day my body responds better to things of the earth than to western medicine's interpretation of healing. Nature is wise.

Homeopathic and Naturopathic medicine have played a huge part in my parenting philosophy and I find that mindset has helped inform a lot of my parenting decisions.

I want to share a few of my favorite Natural Remedies, and will continue this series every Thursday. Enjoy! Doesn't it seem that kids are more prone these days to earaches (medically termed otitis media)? Factors that contribute to Otitis Media are a blockage of the Eustachian tube from a cold, allergy or some foreign particles in the ear as well as nutritional deficiency and other infections. Polluted air and smoke can exacerbate an ear infection.

Here are a few things I have found to work well in treating an earache.

-A few drops of garlic extract into the infected ear. (Studies show that garlic is nature's antimicrobial).

-Use blow dryer from about 12 to 15 inches from your head, this will remove any water trapped in the Eustachian tube.

-Put some olive oil on the warm spoon; put 2 to 3 drops of this in each ear.

-Put few drops of lobelia extract (found in most health food stores like Sprouts or Whole Foods) into the infected ear and rub it gently.

-Wash your ear using colloidal silver--another natural antibiotic.

-If you are nursing, a bit of breast milk in the ear does wonders-- for adults and children alike!

The Common Cold and Cough can surely dampen your and your baby's spirits. Because it is a virus, it pretty much has to run it's course. There are however treatments that will help shorten the duration and decrease the intensity.

Ginger is an excellent remedy for colds and coughs. To make a fresh ginger tea, about ten grams of ginger is cut into small pieces and boiled in a cup of water. It should then be strained and honey added to taste. This should be drunk while still warm and may be taken twice daily.

I also love a ginger bath. Draw a hot bath and use fresh cut ginger or 2 Tbs ginger power. It soothes aching muscles and sore throats.

Ginger is fabulous for aiding in so many ailments (nausea and diarrhea to name a few), so I purchase it in bulk from an online store but you can find this spice at most health food stores.

Garlic extract on the back of the throat helps as well as lemon tea.

While battling with a cold it is best to avoid meat, fish, eggs, cheese, and starchy foods.

Ahh the diaper rash. There are several factors that contribute to rash. One is diet. The child may have an allergy to something he has eaten. Feeding baby one new thing at a time can help pin point the culprit. Wet diapers that chafe the skin are another cause of rash and the plastics used in Disposable Diapers do not allow skin to breathe.
The best thing for diaper rash is air and sunlight. Let baby run diaper less in the yard and make sure skin is completely dry before replacing a diaper at changes. Cod liver oil or Udo's Oil (flax oil) taken orally can aid in repairing the skin and corn starch patted on the affected area will absorb excess moisture.

Cradle Cap is caused by oil glands making excess oil.

The first thing to check is that your baby shampoo/wash does not have harsh detergents which can strip the skin of the natural oils, thereby encouraging excess oil production. My favorite for baby is Burt's Bees Baby Bee Wash. It contains no parabens and is gentle enough for extremely sensitive skin. After washing, it helps to apply a little olive oil and comb through to remove the dry flakes.

I hope you found some value in the first installment of the Natural Remedy series. Join me every Thursday and feel free to make requests! email me at yournaturalbabyandmore@gmail.com.