- The usual
disclaimer:
These remedies do not take the place of professional medical
attention in serious situations
Bee
Stings or Insect Bites:
Carefully scrape the stinger out with your fingernail or a credit card. Pulling on
the stinger
will only inject more venom. The number one gardeners friend for insect bites is pure Neem
oil! Just rub a small amount of Neem on the area as often as needed: it draws out the
venom,
pain and swelling. Some of us react very badly to wasp and bee bites with extreme swelling and pain
that lasts for days. Neem has been a miracle for us. After applying it all
symptoms are usually gone within hours! Try our Supreme
Neem Oil
Other aids are mixing straight apple cider vinegar with
baking soda to make a paste and
applying to the bitten area.
Use an ointment containing the herb comfrey as a soothing
salve.
Wasp venom is on the alkaline side. To counteract the venom
rub some onion juice or vinegar on the bite. Split the leaf of a leek and apply the inside surface to your skin.
Yellow-jackets are attracted to food and
garbage containers, and anyone nearby may experience an unpredictable attack
by an individual insect. Yellow-jacket nests are located in crevasses or
burrows, and someone disturbing a nest is likely to be attacked by groups of
10 insects or more.
Homemade Yellow Jacket Trap:
Cut the top off a 2 liter plastic pop bottle. Make the cut just at the top of
the straight sides.
Invert the cut off top into the bottom portion and staple it into place.
Pour a sweet smelling liquid into the funnel top to get about 2 inches of
liquid in the bottom of your trap. Carbonated pop seems to work well but try
something different in each one to determine what your wasps prefer.
Place your traps in a wide circle 30 to 50 feet away from the area you want to
be "wasp free". Try to place some of your traps in their flight
path. If you get a few with a fly swatter, put the bodies in the top of the
trap. The dead ones give off an alarm scent that will attract others. Empty
your traps as needed and refill with your bait. You can dump the carcasses
into the compost pile.
Ant bites and bee stings are more acidic in nature. For these
you want to neutralize the effect of
the venom with a paste of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) and very cold water.
Apply straight lemon juice.
A clay or mud paste can also be used to draw out the venom
and is usually on hand!
Use a wet tea bag as a poultice: the tannic acid in tea helps
with swelling. Black tea is the most
effective.
Meat tenderizers contain enzymes when applied as a paste
also draw out the venom and swelling.
Put a slice of cucumber over the area, this is especially
effective for ant bites!
A poultice using winter or summer savory leaves helps with
bites and stings.
To reduce swelling put on a drop of lavender or eucalyptus
oil.
Bruises:
Note: Comfrey should not be used by pregnant women.
Comfrey AKA bruisewort and knitbone leaves can be used as poultice for its'
remarkable
healing properties on bruises. Use the comfrey leaves between two
warm damp cloths as
a cover over the bruised tissue. Recharge with fresh comfrey leaves every hour or
so.
You can purchase a comfrey based ointment and smooth directly
onto the bruise.
Use a cloth soaked in vinegar and cold water as a compress.
Immediately apply distilled witch hazel to the injured area
using sterile cotton. Witch hazel
will stop swelling in a remarkable hurry.
Use fennel or hyssop leaves in a compress to reduce swelling.
Another alternative is to use calendula petals. Calendula is commonly known as "pot marigold."
Chiggers:
When you have been "chigged" take a shower first then try these:
Rub pure castor oil on your skin. Pure odorless castor oil is available at
pharmacies.
Grow the herb pennyroyal (a member of the mint family) and
use the leaves by crushing them in your hands then rubbing it on your skin.
Apply a poultice of cooked and cooled oatmeal.
To ease the pain and itching of chigger bites, rub with a moist aspirin
tablet.
Cuts
& Wounds:
Clean very thoroughly getting all dirt out. Have on hand a salve containing the
ingredients:
calendula, comfrey and goldenseal to apply topically for speedy healing.
Rubbing on some vitamin E oil helps healing too!
Apply pure honey directly to the open wound!
Honey has been
proven to act as a natural
antibiotic and can keep the wound sterile by killing off many infectious bacteria.
A poultice of organically grown mashed garlic applied
directly to the wound has the same
properties as using honey. Use a leaf of soft lambs ear to hold it in place. Garlic
is widely
known for its' antibiotic properties.
An infusion of lady's mantle applied as a compress will stop
bleeding.
Fresh leaves or flowers from the common white flowering
yarrow act like a styptic pencil to stop wounds from bleeding. Just crush between your fingers and apply to the cut.
Make a tea from spearmint or peppermint leaves, cool and
apply.
Heat
Exhaustion:
If you feel dizzy and/or stop sweating you are in trouble. Quit all activity and
get out of the
sun fast. Drink cool, not cold water with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in it. The
vinegar helps to replace electrolytes and minerals like sports drinks do.
Drinking raspberry or peppermint teas produces a natural
cooling effect on your overheated system.
Tea made from sorrel (Rumex acetosa) is said to provide
tremendous relief from overheating. Drink 3 cups a day to help. Very high in vitamin C too.
Take a cool bath. A cold bath could cool you down too fast
and really tax or stop your heart.
Insect
repellant:
Here again pure Neem oil is highly recommended as a topically applied insect
repellant. Try our Supreme Neem Oil
Neem Insect Repellant and Skin Softener
6 ounces of almond oil
2 ounces of aloe vera gel
3 ounces of Neem oil
a few drops of ylang-ylang or whatever aromatic oil you prefer
Blend all these ingredients together, put in a lotion dispenser, apply to exposed skin
as needed. If you have been sweating a lot you may need to reapply after awhile.
Works like a charm!
If you want to try some other repelling methods try topical
applications of tea tree oil (a great
disinfectant too), essential oils of citronella or eucalyptus work quite well and smell
nice.
Splash some mint tea on your skin to repel ants and ticks.
Chamomile tea is another option. Steep 2 tablespoons of
chamomile blossoms in 8 ounces of
water, let cool, strain and splash on your skin before going out.
Again: Grow the herb pennyroyal (a member of the mint family)
and use the leaves by crushing them in your hands then rubbing it on your skin.
Mosquitoes:
All Natural Bite
Blocker™ : Repels ALL mosquitoes
and blood sucking insects!
The previously listed neem oil lotion works to repel mosquitoes.
Soak bites in salt water or apply a paste of salt mixed into lard or cold
cream.
Basil plants will repel mosquitoes.
Taking 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar mixed
with 6 ounces of water everyday will help to
keep mosquitoes from biting you.
Put toothpaste on the bite.
Some other options are taking garlic oil capsules and vitamin
B complex supplements daily.
Again topical applications of oils of citronella, tea tree
oil and eucalyptus may be used.
Muscle
Strains:
Vigorous gardening can often give your body a real workout and it is easy to overdo
it,
your enthusiasm resulting in sore muscles. For some relief try these:
Marigold Salve: Take 1 cup of marigold petals and mix it into
1/2 cup of petroleum jelly in a small pot. Cook it on low heat for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Strain the
salve with
cheesecloth until it is clear. Store it in a plastic container or glass jar to rub
on those
aching muscles when you need some relief. Super skin softener too.
Soak in the tub adding 10 to 15 drops of rosemary oil to the
water.
Put a little grated ginger in the bathwater. Don't use more
than a teaspoons' worth.
Ginger is excellent for soothing muscle and joint pain. It helps improve blood and
oxygen circulation to the injured area.
The slippery inner layer of bark from a weeping birch tree
used as a poultice over the
sore muscles will bring pain relief. Be sure to use length wise
strips from the tree trunk, if
you remove a circular strip around the tree trunk you will kill it.
Poison
Oak & Ivy:
How to identify poison ivy:
- If you are not sure a plant is poison ivy
do this:
Carefully take a piece of white paper, fold it in half and capture a
leaf in it. Don't get it on you!
Crush the leaf in the paper. The plant juice on the paper will turn
black within 4-5 minutes if
the culprit is poison ivy!
Wet Epsom salts to make a paste and
apply.
Use some Fels Naptha soap to carefully
wash the area. Fels Naptha soap can be found at grocery
or health stores.
Carefully wash the affected area and apply Swedish Bitters to the skin.
Take a handful of plaintain leaves (the common
"weed") and 16 ounces of water. Puree this
in a food processor to make a slurry. Use cotton balls to swab it on the affected area.
Make and apply a paste of apple cider vinegar and baking
soda.
Another jewel for rashes is jewelweed! Conveniently it often
grows right beside poison ivy.
All you do is pick a some jewelweed, slit the stem and rub
the juice on your skin.
Rashes &
Sunburns:
Put 2 cups of apple cider vinegar in your bathwater and soak for awhile.
A cup of oatmeal in the bath also has very soothing
properties for skin rashes.
Pure aloe vera gel topically applied can help heal a rash.
Ointments containing goldenseal are great for rashes.
For psoriasis or eczema: juice pressed from common chickweed
will soothe the skin.
Rough, Dry
Skin:
Milk bath: place in a square of fine gauze the following:
3 tablespoons of regular powdered milk
and 2-3 ounces of chamomile blossoms. Fold the cloth and contents into a little bag, tie
the top
with string and add to the bath. The milk and blossoms help sooth rough skin.
Put blossoms from the linden tree in the bath
to soften skin.
Refer back to the neem oil lotion
for powerful skin and callus softening.
Supreme Neem Oil
is great for moisturizing the skin.
Snakebites:
To avoid receiving one (shudder!) rub garlic
oil on your legs to repel them.
1. Calm bite victim.
2. Immobilize bite area with pressure bandage and splint.
3. Bring transport to patient where possible.
4. Do not clean the bite as identification of the snake can be made accurately
from residue venom at bite site.
Splinters &
Thorns:
For thorns use a piece of pantyhose to snag
and pull them out. Works great for small thorns like those of cactus.
To get out a deeply embedded
splinter apply a slice of fresh onion or tomato. Another alternative
is to apply some honey. Either way the splinter will be drawn to the skin
surface.
Apply ice to the area to numb the nerves and
use the old sterile needle and tweezers.
Sunburn:
Lavender oil has strong healing properties to
it and will help heal sunburns.
- Lavender & apple cider vinegar for sunburn:
1/2 teaspoon of iodine
10 drops of lavender oil
3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
6 tablespoons of olive oil
Mix all the ingredients together very well. Pour into a clean glass bottle, cap it. Rub
very gently onto sunburned skin as needed.
- Smooth on plain yogurt containing live cultures.
Simply spray apple cider vinegar on a sunburn and get fast
relief.
Use buttermilk as a sponge bath.
Take cucumbers, cut them up, mash them and apply for cooling
relief.
Make a compress using sorrel leaves (Rumen
acetosa).
Updated: 07/30/2007
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