Goodness, there just seems to be so much sickness going around!! It always makes me wish I used the seasons when we are healthy to learn more about natural, herbal, or homeopathic remedies. It seems that if you aren't prepared with knowledge BEFORE sickness strikes, then you are in a reactive mode that grabs the first over-the-counter medicine from your cabinet that promises any kind of relief.
As wise mamas, a bit of natural-nursing knowledge would be a good idea to investigate and learn during times of wellness... and when we have good knowledge, we feel very empowered as mothers. Nurturing and mothering are particularly delightful when we have a sense of how to do something ourselves instead of looking helplessly to the first person who will give us any kind of reasonable-sounding answer!
There is a wealth of practical knowledge out there for us mamas to glean from...websites, blogs, library books, magazine articles, Holistic Moms Network. We just need to be a bit more intentional to search those resources out. I speak to myself here. When times are good, I don't particularly feel the need to go learn about healing bruises, cold remedies, or how to deal with a child's fever...in fact, I don't want to even think about those things! But we all know that sickness is inevitable (especially around February!) even if we are taking proactive, preventative measures by healthy diets and supplements.
Here are a few items that I keep on hand in my personal medicine-arsenal...this is a simple list because I am just beginning my journey to learn more. I just ordered these books to give me a better understanding of herbs, and I really would love to order this book soon because it seems very practical, balanced, and written from a Christian perspective. I have had an interest in aromatherapy for a while and can't wait to explore that further too!
- Burt's Bees Res-Q Ointment. This stuff is awesome. Any time my children (or I!) have bumps, bruises, scrapes, bites, etc., I reach for this. It is so healing and soothing.
- Hyland's Homeopathics. I have bought many of their products from our local pharmacy and have had total success. I would love to buy this "remedy chest" so that I have everything I could possibly need in one place! I always took Ibuprofen or Tylenol for menstrual cramp relief, but using Hyland's Menstrual Cramp formula has worked great!
- Wally's Ear Oil. Anytime I sense the children have an earache (or even if the dog keeps scratching at her ears!), they get a drop or two of this ear oil. It brings instant relief and heals so well! If you do an internet search of this product, you will read many glowing reviews.
- Emergen-C. I drink one packet of this daily and my husband Mike recently starting drinking 2 packets a day when a bad cold started coming on. Within 2 days, Mike felt totally better. I hear over and over again that it really helps knock colds in half, and if you drink it daily, then you may not get the cold to begin with! You can find it at your local grocery store.
- Lemon Juice/Water. I continually hear (and have experienced!) how this simple drink can stop a migraine or even nausea associated with morning sickness. It also helps digestive problems, skin problems, and allergies.
Enchanted Garlic Syrup (from A Kid's Herb Book)
1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 cup water
5 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated or 1/4 tsp. powdered
1/2 cup honey
Dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
Mix thoroughly in a blender. Take 1 tsp. every two hours as needed. Lasts in frig for one week.
**This syrup is good for stubborn coughs, bronchitis, pneumonia, mucus and lung congestion due to a cold.**
Allergy Relief
5 drops lavender oil
2 drops peppermint oil
Organic olive or almond oil.
Mix peppermint and lavender in your palm with the olive or almond oil and then apply to the sinus areas of the face, neck, and forehead to help with most allergy symptoms. This is also a wonderful blend for reducing a fever. It may also be applied to the feet and the back of the neck.
Please do share your natural, herbal, or homeopathic remedy in the comments! We all need to learn from each other and help each other by sharing great resources and our unique experiences with products or homemade recipes or trial/error!
Here's to being an empowered mama-nurse to our dear little ones!
Happy Health and Healing! :)
16 comments:
Garlic is a wonder cure in our house! We keep fresh garlic in the house as often as we can. Taking it at the onset of a cold or illness can greatly cut down the duration. It loses some of the healing properties when cooked, so we peel a clove and swallow it like a pill. If it's a big clove, I cut it in half to make it easier. I'm prone to sinus infections, and garlic has helped me avoid antibiotics this season.
I also squeeze garlic juice onto cuts or infected areas (we get infections around the cuticles here a lot!).
If you have access to it, breastmilk is a great cure for ear infections. Just a couple drops in the ear.
Tea Tree oil is great for bug bites, takes the swelling and sting out. Also, peppermint oil mixed with eucyliptis oil and olive oil can be rubbed on the chest for a cough or simply put in the vaporizer to run at night.
I find that lavender oil is pretty incredible stuff. I've used it on cuts and scrapes to clean and heal without leaving a scar - the nice thing is that if you are careful you can use the essential oil straight from the bottle without diluting. Tea Tree Oil is also an effective anti- everything, but you need to dilute it before using on your skin. Honey is also really good for healing. At the first sign of a sore throat I make Red Zinger tea extra strong with a dash of cayenne, a good spoonful of honey and a large wedge of lemon. I find that this will ease the sore throat pretty quickly.
What a great post!!
Thanks for the book recommendations and the recipes!
I, too, love Hyland's and Burt's Bees and emergen-C, and I've just started drinking lemon water. What a great article you found..tnanks!
Have you heard of http://www.learningherbs.com/? I've recently been thinking of ordering from there to start learning.
OOh...can't want to learn more from others' comments!
Thanks, Aimee!!
Thanks Aimee that is great! I have done lavendar oil with olive oil. You will have to let me know how you like the books, I have been looking into a few similar books that I would like to have around. I agree, I think between this stuff, Chiropractic, and Breastmilk us mamas have more magic over any of that heavy medical stuff.:)
For colds/coughing, we drink apple cider vinegar (preferably with the mother, like Braggs) with honey in hot water.
I put extra honey for the kiddos, and voila, they even ask for it before going to bed. Good stuff.
This is great timing. We are currently sick in our household.
I love Shonda Parker and highly recommend her books.
I love Emergen-C too.
And have recently fallen in love with elderberry syrup. My husband is a teacher and whenever he feels slightly off he takes a couple of teaspoons and immediately feels better. It has def. shortened recovery time during illness as well. I use the Sambucol brand. Great tips in the comments too.
Thanks.
New fan of Zicam!
Wonderful post, Aimee and so timely. :) Sorry to hear of your little ones be down and out.
I feel exactly as you do about forgetting - and needing to - research remedies while all is well. I've kicked myself more than a few times for forgetting to do just that!
I JUST posted a link to an online homeopathy resource that I really like. Hop on over there and have a look; I think you'll like having it in your arsenal as well.
And thanks for the resources you listed. I'm going to add these to my own info file. :)
I had the Mommy Diagnostics book from our local library. I am now keeping an eye out at the used book stores/sales for my personal library. I have a major interest in aromatherapy and have done tons of personal research for my soap and skincare products. Tea tree (or lavender) oil is my go to for most skin issues- bug bites, athletes foot and the like. It can be diluted in a carrier oil, but it is safe to use full strength on most skin types. A peppermint and lavender combo diluted in a carrier oil such as sweet almond and rubbed on the temples also helps me with migraines. I too am an emergen-c fan (raspberry especially). I'll definitely need to try the Highland's menstrual cramp relief whenever I may get my cycle back after delivery and nursing. I prefer to keep things as natural as possible, but one day a month I would mega dose on tylenol just to function through the cramps. Neat post.
Whenever one of our kids has a cold, we us Umcka (found with the vitamins/holistic treatments at our Sprouts grocery) and Vit. C. It is best to use when you first feel like you are getting a cold. It has helped us SO much. I hope you are much better soon! My cousin who is a family practice doctor actually told us about it! --Tracye Woodfin
Thanks for sharing these recipes -- I can't wait to try that last one. I love natural healing remedies. I just found your blog through Sara's (Walk Slowly, Live Wildly). It caught my eye on her blog roll, because the name is similar to mine (I like yours better, actually, but alas...);o). I am enjoying reading your lovely blog.
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Great post. Very helpful tips -- thanks!
amy - great post, thanks for the info. quick question about the ear oil. would this work for ear infections? my son has had two - well i guess one actually - that just wouldn't go away! we did two rounds of antibiotics and it seems better. but if he gets another one - i hate to have him on antibiotics yet again!! your thoughts? many thanks:)
EL, I would definitely try it with an ear infection...it won't work and it may help heal it! A lot of moms try ear oil or garlic cloves in oil to treat ear infections...it's worth a shot! Maybe start putting some in his ear every day now for a few weeks and don't wait til it gets painful again??
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