Official Poll: What's your favorite/most useful natural remedy?

[rhoda_bruce]

A while back, my godchild was having too many seizures because of changes to her medical coverage and out of desperation, I pulled out all my books and decided skullcap was what I needed to order for her.
Apparently it suppresses the nervous system. So the same herb can also treat anxiety or chronic tremors, if they are caused by problems not related (but acting like) to parkinson's.
I am also treating my father's tremors and helping a friend with insomnia.

 

[Beekissed]

Found some new uses for castor oil since my original post. I've tried these and they worked like crazy!

This past week I got a sudden allergy attack, total swelling of all sinus cavities and no air passing through the passages, while having an extreme amount of clear nasal drainage out of left nostril the first day and moderate amounts of thick green mucus out of both on the second day. Left eustachian tube swelling and soreness resulted in a sore throat. I was unable to sleep due to a dry mouth, occasional sneezing, etc.

None of my usual OTC antihistamines was touching this...I tried them all~Sudafed, Benadryl, HBC cold meds, nasal sprays. Talked to many people from all over the states and they too are experiencing this very same thing! My son, his wife, my uncle, my favorite waitress...all having the same symptoms and none getting any relief from OTC meds.

Yesterday evening I put castor oil in my nose, applied it to my face overlying all sinus cavities, upper and lower. Within 20 min. I could breath through both nostrils...the swelling was starting to go down! Last night I slept all the night through, breathing through my nose instead of my mouth. This morning I have no nasal drainage and have been breathing through my nose all day...the sinus headache and burning sensation in my face is gone!

It doesn't stop there....last week I had the worst hemorrhoid attack I've ever had. So painful that I contemplated going to the ER...stabbing, sharp pains, extreme swelling, felt like I was sitting on a baseball. Couldn't stand, walk, sit or lie down without pain and pressure in that area...it throbbed like a toothache. I've never had anything like that in my life....Prep H suppositories and ointment did nothing at all for it. I tried epsom salt baths, various other ointments..nothing worked.

This went on for a week. I had contemplated using castor oil but was afraid it would cause them to engorge further, as it tends to bring blood to the area of application. But...I had come to the end of my solutions, so I tried it. Ten minutes later the surface was sort of numbed and the pain inside had decreased by 75%. I kept applying this and by the next day I could vaguely feel their presence but all that intense and various types of pain was gone. The swelling continued to decrease and I have no more pain there.

I LOVE this stuff!!!!!!

Oh, BTW....prior to the hemorrhoid thing, I was having a really bad UTI(yeah, this past month was just not my month...usually I'm very healthy!) and nothing was really working on it out of my natural remedies. Then I started using the mother ACV three times a day, followed by apple juice(started that for a gall bladder attack...again..out of the blue, hadn't had one for years)...it worked on that AND the UTI. Almost immediately the UTI symptoms disappeared and I had been fighting that thing for 2 wks.

So...bad, bad month for me, but ACV and castor oil saved the day!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Wow - so glad they all worked for you! I'm gonna remember these. Thanks!

 

[Mini Horses]

With all the pollen the sinus cavities are getting exposed to crap not normally there. I will sure try the castor oil! But I hope to do it before I get as bad as you were.

Hope all goes well for you for a while...

 

[Mini Horses]

Went online to check medicinal benefits of castor oil. Anti inflammatory, among other things, & they suggested a few drops into a bowl of steaming water, towel over head and breath the steam for a few minutes. I've always used a hot, steamy shower for helping with nasal discomfort but this helps further it would seem.

Also, aloe vera & castor oil for bug bites. It isn't the best smelling oil, so no self respecting bug would come near if you just applied it here & there. They say castor oil is great for acne, styes (careful of eyes), etc. A good "one bottle" helper. Right next to aspirin in the prepper stock.

 

[Beekissed]

Hey, castor oil is different than it used to be back in the old days! It now is odorless, colorless and tasteless...yes, tasteless!!!! Must have some taste of some kind, as my dogs will lick a spill of that stuff like it's beef broth, not stopping until every last vestige is gone.

Gum pain? Rub a little CO on it. Muscle ache? CO Knee pain? Works like a charm and mine is gone and stays gone until the next time I do something stupid with it.

Mom found it works fast on getting really, really bad cold sores into remission and healed up, reducing the scarring as a side benefit. She awakened one morning to find that inside her nose, her lips and all around her mouth just covered in blisters...never saw anything like it.

Ordinarily she would still have a cold sore for a couple of weeks, and pick on it for another week after that....but this was so extensive and painful that we dreaded what it would become. So, I advised her to put CO on it now, for the pain and inflammation, and to keep it soft after the blisters opened and it got too crusty. We were amazed at how this worked to get the pain out, to take down the swelling and to keep the area soft.

Now we can barely even tell where this had happened and this event was just last month. Her sores were totally gone in under 2 wks and by the third week were a memory, just a faint pinkness where they had been.

 

[baymule]

For bug bites, ant bites and rash, we use aloe vera gel with lidocaine. Find it with the sunburn stuff, it is good to have on hand. One bottle of it lasted us 15 years! We just had to get another bottle of it last year.

 

[Mini Horses]

Aloe is also GREAT as an anti burn lotion is you are exposing that winter white skin to harsh sunshine. The islanders told me this and it has always been true when I used it. No burn, just nice tan.

 

[lcertuche]

I had a bottle of aloe vera gel in the refrigerator until it walked off(?). I definitely am going to get castor oil next time I go to WallyWorld. I like to take cinnamon, ginger and turmeric as an anti inflammatory. It works great in green smoothies. Better than ibuprofen. I also use plantain for skin irritations. My grandson and I just picked a bunch of it last weekend. I put it in my dehydrator. I'm hoping eventually to get around and make a salve out of it.

 

[YoteMeadows]

My "other " is tea tree oil and coconut oil (unrefined). Not local, but it works great on skin issues. I have freakishly sensitive skin on my legs to where even unscented eczema lotions burn, but the coconut oil does not. Cleared up some acne with the tea tree oil and we use it on cuts, etc. A combo of the two mixed helped my dad with a skin issue that not even antibiotics would help. We use tea tree oil on everything except the dogs (tea tree + dogs = vet bills..it's toxic for them). Great ideas in this thread!
*edited to add that I have a friend who uses comfrey compresses for any bruises she gets. (And she gets them a lot)