Abby Quillen

Freelance Content Marketing Writer and Editor

Simplify Your Medicine Cabinet

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So maybe you read this post and simplified your personal care? Now how about your medicine cabinet?

The other day I realized that I haven’t taken any kind of medication in three years, because I was pregnant and then breastfeeding. I’ve had a few mild illnesses during that time. But I was able to treat all of them with simple home remedies.

I like treatments that are safe, effective, and require ingredients that most of us already have in or around our homes. (Of course, this probably goes without saying, but it’s usually wise to talk to a health care provider about more serious ailments or symptoms that don’t improve with home care.)

Here are a few of my favorite simple remedies:

Sore Throat or Gums

  • Mix a cup of warm water with a teaspoon of salt, and gargle and swish it around your mouth
  • Mix 3/4 cup warm water with 1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide and gargle and swish it around your mouth.

Nasal or Chest Congestion

  • Use a Neti Pot. Never heard of one? You can find out where to get one and how to use it here.
  • Do an herbal steam. Boil a large pot of water with a handful of Eucalyptus, Thyme, or Rosemary Leaf, or all three. Pour the water into a bowl, and put it on a table. Sit with your face about a foot away from the water and drape a towel over your head. Relax and breathe for about 10 to 15 minutes.

The Common Cold or Influenza

  • Drink Hot Ginger Garlic Lemonade.
  • Take Elderberry Syrup.
  • Go out in the sun, if possible. (If it’s not sunny, you might try taking a Vitamin D supplement. You can read more about the connection between Vitamin D and colds and flu here.)

Nausea

  • Sip on Ginger Root Tea.
  • Sip on Peppermint Tea.
  • Stimulate the acupressure point on the inside of your wrist. You can learn how to do that here.

Bug Bites or Bee Stings

  • Make a poultice of Plantain Leaf. (Plantain is a common weed that’s probably growing in your lawn or somewhere nearby. You can find out more about it and how to identify it here.)
  • Apply Aloe Vera Gel.

Muscle Aches or Joint Pain

  • Apply St. John’s Wort Oil.
  • Apply Arnica Oil. (Both St. John’s Wort Oil and Arnica Oil can be found in the health and beauty section of most health food stores, often in combination.)
  • Cook with Turmeric

Acne

  • Mix Turmeric with Honey and apply to outbreak overnight (will temporarily stain the skin yellow).
  • Cook with Turmeric.
  • Drink Dandelion Leaf or Root Tea .

Teething

  • Give baby a cup of Catnip Tea.
  • Let baby chew on a frozen carrot or refrigerated apple.

I’ve always been fascinated by the ways we can stay healthy and treat everyday illnesses at home, and I’ve collected a number of references on herbs and other remedies over the years. A few of my favorites are:

  • Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child by Zand, Walton, and Rountree
  • Rosemary Gladstar’s Family Herbal.
  • Folk Remedies That Work by Joan and Lydia Wilen

What’s your favorite home remedy?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I suffer from HORRIBLE seasonal allergies that last all year long. I swear I could go anywhere and be allergic to something. I get the most awful sinus migraines in the spring that quite truly are blinding in that the pressure on my optic nerves affects my vision. I started using a neti pot 2 years ago. I suffered 1 sinus migraine that year. That was a vast improvement! Last year I didn’t get migraines thanks to my neti pot but I still got the headache and pressure. Just not as severe. This year I added Nettle tea with local wildflower honey for my allergies. Between my neti pot and the tea, I haven’t even had a headache. I still get twinges from time to time but I’m able to live with my windows open despite the heavy pollen we are having right now. I’m able to go outside and enjoy a beautiful day without being laid up in bed for three days afterward. I’m so thankful for both remedies! BTW, adding the LOCAL honey is important too. It has bits of pollen in it from local wildflowers that help to anesthetize your system to local pollens.

    • Thanks for the tips, Jenna Ann! I feel so fortunate that I haven’t been afflicted with seasonal allergies living here in the pollen capital of the world. But I drink nettle tea, because it’s incredibly nutritious. I wrote about it here, for anyone who’s interested.

  2. Thanks for sharing your ideas! I don’t really have a favorite home remedy yet (just getting started), but I’m loving this book? Better Basics for the Home by Annie Berthold-Bond.

  5. Our medicine cabinet is our fridge. I always have at least two things on hand at all times: Apple Cider Vinegar and Yellow Mustard.

    We use ACV for diarrhea and constipation (also as a skin toner) and mustard is kept on hand at all times in case of burns. Anytime we get burned we immediately cover the burn in mustard and no matter how bad it’s ever been, within 5 minutes or so, once we wash the mustard off, the pain is gone and there’s not even a mark. I did this trick when my mother in law burned her hand on cooking oil and within seconds it was already blistering. Mustard and a few minutes later her hand was barely even red.

  7. best best best anti-acne stuff (only that works for me!):

    herbal and sea salt steam! (yes! not just for the cold 😉 )
    i use three table spoons (dead) sea salt, one bag of salvia infusion and one bag of camomilla. done once a week or when needed.

    sea salt and vinegar tonic:
    100ml water, 2 table spoons sea salt, 2 table spoons apple or raspberry vinegar. heat the water before putting the salt in for better resolving. store in the fridge and use it just one week (make a new tonic every week, for example when making the steam)
    i use it every evening (and sometimes morning) and just leave it on the skin the whole night (and/or day).
    you can add some perfume oils or essential oils or use lemon juice instead of the vinegar.

    i just use those two “brewings” ( 😉 ), wash my face with just water and use a drop of simple jojoba oil in winter instead of cream (or a very simple ecological cream).

    ever since i do it that way, i have the clearest skin since before puberty 🙂 (i’m 22) – not even all those natural cosmetics could do what sea salt (especially dead sea salt) could manage in just a few weeks.

    (please excuse my very bad english today, as i cought a very bad cold and headache…)

  8. Hi,
    I liked your natural approach to attacking acne from within the body, not on the skin. Dandalion tea is a good liver cleanser.

    ………….Geoff

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