Home Remedies for Healing
There are so many home remedies for healing minor scrapes, bumps, bruises and minor pains such as a headache that it’s difficult to put them all in one place. However, we’ve put together a few favorites that people swear by to get you started in putting together your own first aid kit of home remedies for healing with items you can find in your pantry, bathroom or at a local holistic health store.
Home Remedies for Healing with Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is a potent cure-all for everything from athlete’s foot to indigestion. If you keep this inexpensive kitchen staple on hand, you have the main ingredient to a wide range of cures.
For athlete’s foot, you can simply soak your feet twice daily in either full strength apple cider vinegar or a mixture of half vinegar and half water. A cooling twenty minute soak twice a day will quickly clear up athlete’s foot.
You can mix a simple but effective tonic from two to three teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of cold water. Drinking a glassful of apple cider tonic before meals aids digestion and prevents heartburn and acid indigestion.
Apple cider vinegar tonic is a great home remedy for healing mild headaches, morning sickness and even the hot flashes of menopause. If you don’t like the taste, try adding a teaspoon or two of honey.
If you’re looking for home remedies for healing high blood pressure or high cholesterol, apple cider vinegar can work for both of these. Take a tablespoon of honey mixed with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar each morning or evening (whatever is most convenient for you), and you see the numbers dropping within a few weeks.
Home Remedies for Healing Cuts and Scrapes
If you get a minor cut or scrape, the most important thing to do is clean out the wound. Plain soap and water do a fine job, but if there is a lot of dirty or debris, consider using hydrogen peroxide. The peroxide will foam and bubble as it’s cleaning the area, which will lift dirt and contaminants out of the wound so that they can be easily rinsed away.
There are several home remedies for healing cuts that come straight from the refrigerator. Honey is an excellent wound treatment because it has antibacterial properties and dries out the area so that germs can’t survive. Honey can be applied two or three times daily. If you want something a bit stronger, mash up a bit of onion and stir the juice into the honey. This has even stronger antimicrobial properties than honey alone, but don’t leave it on the skin for more than an hour at time, as it can be irritating.
Garlic is another effective antiseptic for minor cuts and scrapes. Crush two or three cloves of garlic and add to a cup of red wine, then let sit for an hour before straining. Apply the strained wine to the wound twice daily, but don’t leave it on for too long because, like onion, it can irritate the delicate skin around the wound at times.
Sprinkling turmeric powder in a cut or scrape will help it heal faster, particularly if you cover the area with a bandage for the first few days. Turmeric also stops the bleeding if you have a wound that seems to be bleeding too much. Yarrow is another herb that encourages clotting so that the cut can begin to scab over and heal.
Chamomile will reduce the swelling of a wound and prevent infection. You can brew some chamomile tea and apply the tea bags directly to the injury and sip the tea as well. Drinking chamomile tea is one of those handy home remedies for healing that work both internally and as a poultice on the wound!
Home Remedies for Healing Headaches
You may have a mild headache from being out in the bright, glaring sun too long or a severe, pounding headache after a stressful day. Either way, there are easy home remedies for headaches that can soothe away the pain without resorting to medications.
Simply massaging your temples in a gentle, circular motion can relieve the pain of a headache in many cases. To make the massage more effective, try using a few drops of peppermint oil or rosemary oil. Both of these have aromatherapy effects and will provide a soothing, skin warming side effect that can quickly cut through headache pain.
If you have the chance, lay down in a cool, darkened room whenever you have a headache and place a cold compress over your eyes. You can use a cold wash cloth, a gel cold pack, or even a frozen bag of peas. This will work well in most cases, unless you’re already cold and the compress seems uncomfortable. In this case, switch to a soothing, warm compress by soaking a face cloth in the hottest water that is comfortable, wringing it out, and placing over your eyes. Be sure to reheat it every twenty minutes or so until your headache is gone.
If you have an herb garden, combine freshly dried lavender, marjoram, rosemary and mint in equal portions and add some rose petals. Put them all in a fine cotton or linen potpourri bag or sachet. The lovely blend of scents is a great home remedy for healing headaches. Simply tuck beneath your pillow case where you can easily smell it and relax while the aromatherapy soothes your headache.
Finally, a cup of tea made from steeping a teaspoon of rosemary and a teaspoon of sage in hot water is a wonderful cure for headache pain. Let it steep until it reaches room temperature, then sip a half cup at the onset of your headache. You can use this tea two or three times a day to ensure your headache doesn’t return.
There are many other home remedies for healing a wide range of health problems and aches and pains, so do a bit of research on your own to discover more great home remedies on our website.