Herbal Remedies

I am starting this thread to get people's opinions and commentary on various herbal remedies (I know I can find them with dogpile *better than google* but I want YOURS) you have used for different ailments.

Right now, I have a sore throat, am coughing up a lung every other hour, (I'm running out of lungs) and generally feel icky.

Bleh.

But I want more than just sore throat remedies (I personally love hot honey lemon water -- not tea). I want the remedies that your grandmother told you about while you were standing in her kitchen doing dishes one day. I want the remedies that your mother in law whispered in your ear just before you left for your honeymoon.

Stuff like that.

I am hoping for open discussion and even old wives' tales that even if they don't really work that well are fun to try.

Discuss.

Ang

Well, not exactly grandma's remedy, but a boy in my high school latin class once suggested hot mashed potatoes for a sore throat when i lost my voice the day before singing in our high school musical. It's very soothing and still one of my fave home remedies. Just don't put too much milk in it b/c that will make you phlegmier.

Let a soft peppermint stick dissolve in a pint of whiskey, its really good for a cough.


General stuffiness: tomato juice, lemon juice, cayenne pepper .... heat for 2 minutes and drink.

Cough syrup,

One onion, diced fine, with sugar. Dice the onion and add the sugar, cover until the onion dissolves.

This one is tried, tested, and works.

Heh. This is something you really don't want to get me started on. I'm a home remedy fanatic... In fact, it's a very rare thing for any of the five of us in this house to go to a doctor. We amateur herbalists just have it made that way.

That's exactly what I want, though...

I had a coworker once who was going to night school to be an herbalist. Lately, I've been doing a lot of shopping at my home state's most popular herbal shoppe (online) and of course, I'm sick and I hate drugs. Hence the thread.

If you're afraid you'll be too longwinded, can I ask for your favorites? For typical problems?

Or what herbs/essential oils/whatever do you generally keep handy for multiple reasons?

Ang

Actually, a lot of what i keep on hand can be found in *gasp* food! Regular, everyday foodstuffs. And people wonder why my spice rack is so empty.

The best things for those nasty, hack-y coughs like that are either antibiotic, expectorants, thoratic, or antipyretic (if coupled with a fever). Aromatics are good if you can breathe (think a eucalyptus rub, or a menthol like Vicks - they're the same thing).

The best things for the phlegm would be thoratics. Expectorants are for coughs sans phlegm.

Try any variety of mint (though catnip and spearmint works best for colds), small amounts of cayenne, chamomile, fennel... Garlic, onions and ginger are essential!! Real horehound candy is good for suppressing coughs. Sage and rose hips also work wonders.

A lot of what to use actually depends on the cough itself, how long you've had it, exactly how bad it is, etc. If you would like more info (since this is getting long winded) just let me know.

http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/11570.cfm

I don't use the stuff myself. Most people claiming to know anything about them wouldn't know a harmful interaction until they hit the emergency room. But if you want to know about herbs and some of their accepted uses and interactions, try the above URL, at least Sloan Kettering has some credibility behind them.

My aunt is a herbalist, so every year for Christmas, I get a collection of mysterious liquids. Her immune booster actually works really well, and its made of a variety of really spicy items. Tastes horrible, and you're supposed to gargle with it, but its basically horseradish root, cayenne, garlic, and a few other odds and ends distilled in vinegar.

Other tips that I picked up somewhere.... peppermint will help settle an upset stomach... sprinkling garlic on an animal's food will repulse fleas.

around here, i'm known as the 'green witch', because of my use of herbs and alternative therapies.

i have loads of remedies that i have collected throughout the years, but my all time fav - the one that has the most uses - is salt water.

yep, simple.

1/4 tsp sea salt dissolved in 1 cup of boiling water will help just about anything from infections to earache to sore throats.
(for sore throats, gargle every 1/2 hour for 2 mins with as hot as you can stand salt water.... don't drink or eat anything for at least 10 mins after..... usually clears up a sore throat in a day)

if you want to make it more effective, add mint leaves and garlic, strain and use.

for infections, i add tea tree, garlic and lemon rind to the salt water.
for earache, i add cloves (for anaesthetic) and vinegar.
and so it goes on.

i tend to use herbal remedies for just about everything, and i have no major pharmaceuticals for my kids either.
they have always been treated with my own products first, and then if things don't clear up, i will consider mainstream medicine.

the only thing i do keep is painkillers - i am a firm believer in the negative healing of pain, so if i can treat the pain at the same time as an injury, then i believe there's a much greater chance of successful healing.

for sore throat:

Gargle with 10 drops tea tree oil and 5 drops cayenne extract, in a teaspoon or so of warmish water. Tastes like shit, burns like fuck, but scares those germs right the hell outa there, it does.

At the first sign of a cold, I make a faaaaaaabulous soup of garlic and celery. Will post recipe later if you like.

From my own experiences....for stuffiness take one pie pan and drop in some fresh mint, any mint will do, lavender and chamomille and then pour boiling water over the whole mess. Cover your head with a towel, lean over the pan and breath deep! Clears ya up in just a few minutes and the aroma and heat are very soothing.
For sore throat- this one comes from my old voice teacher and be forewarned it tastes like SHIT!!- take a mug of fresh squeezed OJ with the pulp and all and heat it as hot as you can stand then drink it as quickly as possible. It tastes vile but it brought my voice back to full strength almost instantly and kept the scratchiness at bay for a few days until the strep passed. Gargling salt water is also an excellent remedy.
I swear by rose hip tea to help me sleep.
Raspberry is great for you during your cycle, help with cramps!
Pineapple will help keep you from bloating.

Pardon the multiple posting.

Traditional Filipino cure for throat ailments:

Take a thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peel and cut into strips. Boil in 2 cups water for 10 minutes with a small chunk of rock sugar. If no rock sugar, just add honey or brown unrefined sugar and drink while nice and steamy hot.

When I feel a coughy, rundown, sore throat coming on, I take echinacea, Vitamin C and lots of liquids and REST. (If I had a laptop, I would rest while logged on to Lit.)

Hope you feel better soon.

Salt water gargle for sore tonsils and throat.

From my pediatrician who didn't believe in cutting out tonsils or too much fancy medicine:

Lemon juice, honey, whiskey - stir it up together and drink it. According to him the lemon cuts the phlegm, the honey soothes your throat and the whiskey relaxes whatever it is that makes you cough. (My mom claims as children we'd only take it if she used expensive whiskey lke Canadian Club - we'd refuse it if she used the cheap stuff.)

Zinc and vitamin C if I feel a cold coming on.

Dice the onion and add the sugar, cover until the onion dissolves.

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Till the onion dissolves? You sure about that? I mean, sugar dissolves in liquid quite easily, but I've never had an onion dissolve. I've had it get very soft in a mess or red beans, but that's not precisely dissolving.

I'd like to gather some info for some friends of mine that are about my age. They've allowed themselves to be scared off their HRTs--something about it interfering with one's HDL (good cholesterol) count--and now, of course, they're dealing with all the hassles of menopause, i.e., hot flashes, and inability to sleep; and I am assuming, the worse inconveniences such as fragile vaginal tissues (this is a church group; we don't get too heavy into details like that).

Does anybody know if those plant estrogen extracts that one sees in the alternative meds section of the drugstore, or in GNC and like places work at all? I don't have any interest myself in trying them, as long as my doctor is OK about the regimen he has prescribed for me, and as long as I have a health plan that's willing to pay for them, but you never know; anyway, I'd like to help my friends out if I possibly can. Some of them were talking about the plant estrogen and as soon as I saw this thread I thought it might be a good place to inquire.

Old Amish remedy... Slice an Onion and place the slices in a washrag or ideally the leg of a pantyhose, Tape the onion slices to your chest at night, and all congestion is gone in the morning. I have personally seen Amish kids on the brink of what I thought was an emergency room near life or death sickness come out of it in a snap with this remedy. Odd, but it works. If you can stand the onion on your bare skin, It's more effective.
Old Native American remedy for upset stomach, vomiting... 2tbs flour, 1 tsp Black pepper, 8-10 oz of water. Stir it up and drink it all down. Does the trick every time. i think it's so bad you forget to be sick!

strgzr1230 said:

Old Amish remedy... Slice an Onion and place the slices in a washrag or ideally the leg of a pantyhose, Tape the onion slices to your chest at night, and all congestion is gone in the morning. I have personally seen Amish kids on the brink of what I thought was an emergency room near life or death sickness come out of it in a snap with this remedy. Odd, but it works. If you can stand the onion on your bare skin, It's more effective.
Old Native American remedy for upset stomach, vomiting... 2tbs flour, 1 tsp Black pepper, 8-10 oz of water. Stir it up and drink it all down. Does the trick every time. i think it's so bad you forget to be sick!

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That reminds me of a similar home remedy for colds--cut an onion in two and put one half on each side of your pillow so that you are breathing the fumes all night. You should be feeling well in the morning.

SlickTony, I don't know from first hand experience if the plant estrogens work. However, my gynecologist has encouraged me to consume a lot of tofu regularly so that I won't have to go on hormone replacement. I also take soy isoflavone pills. From informal talks with a couple of other women preparing to meet menopause, I've learned that most menopausal Japanese women don't experience the same menopausal symptoms that American women do--hot flashes, dizzy spells, frequent headaches, insomnia, etc. We're not sure if the difference is caused by genetic or dietary factors.

can't believe I forgot this one...I looked at my girlfriend who happens to be a midwofe like she was from mars when she had me try this but damn if it didn't work like a charm to help with a clogged milk duct.
for nursing mothers ( or anyone experiencing swelling of the lymph nodes) apply a room temp cabbage leaf over the node- in my case under my armpit- and sleep with it against your bare skin. Stinks like mad by morning but apparently it acts as a poultice and draws out whatever is blocking the node.

My mother did thi to me and her om did it to her.

When i had an earache she would blow cigarette smoke in my ear.

It worked it may have been her warm breath but all i know is it worked.

GeorgeWBush said:

My mother did thi to me and her om did it to her.

When i had an earache she would blow cigarette smoke in my ear.

It worked it may have been her warm breath but all i know is it worked.

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It has nothing to do with the cigarette smoke. My mom used to blow gently in my ear when i had an earache and it worked great...no cigarettes involved.

dollface007 said:

...no cigarettes involved.

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Thank GOD. I'd hate to start smoking again just to ease my poor son's earache.

Thanks to all -- keep 'em coming! My son apparently has a double ear infection (geez... no wonder he's been a pill lately) and my darling Ranger is a lump on the couch today, barely talking. I'm going to try that hot orange juice thing on him. Probably me too. Yech!

Seems to be a lot of onion related stuff. Wonder what it is about them that encourages health... I think I'll look that up one of these days when I'm on a research kick.

Mint, of course, I love to death. I live on Safeway's Evening Delight 'tea' in the winter and when I feel yucky. It's a blend of mints and chamomile. Rather nice.

Where am I supposed to find cayenne extract? I have the powder in my ever full spice cabinet.

The cabbage leaf does work. It DOES smell nasty, though, doesn't it? I've always used it refrigerated though... something about the cool to start with knocks the edge off that pain and then when it warms up it seems to work better to me.

Pre-, peri-, and post- menopausal women, in my opinion, can ALL benefit from various herbal remedies instead of having to rely on HRT. I don't think HRT can be that good for you, and I have read very little on the various pros and cons of it.

For those of you who are curious about my happy little shopping spree, this is the place I have been buying all my herbal supplies, and will continue to do so. Hell, they probably have cayenne extract and I just haven't been looking at it. Mountain Rose Herbs

All of you green witches/amateur(or professional) herbalists/organic lovers,
What books do you keep handy for reference? Is there one in particular that has really helped you be able to formulate your own remedies? What has helped you the most to develop your herbal knowledge base?

Ang

TEA TREE OIL. In hot boiling water with some peppermint. Breath it deeplyl. Also take som espiritox(sp?) and nutrabiotic (available at your local health food store).

Whatever the problem, use tea tree. It's magic stuff.

Hey, MercyMia, thanks for the info about the tofu and all. I'll pass it along to my friends.