Home Remedies For Your Medicine Cabinet

There are times when you’re sick and only home remedies will make you better; antibiotics may get rid of the bugs that cause illness but they don’t do anything for the symptoms while you’re waiting for them to work, and sometimes they even add symptoms of their own. For other problems like small burns, chapped lips, irritated skin or blisters, the only real solutions are home remedies.

Cold home remedies can take a variety of forms. There are teas you can brew—one recipe Italian grandmothers swear by is a combination of cayenne, garlic, ginger, honey and lemon, but if you can’t stomach that, you may want to use a medicated ointment that will at least open your nasal passages and help you breathe better. Choose one with camphor, eucalyptus or menthol in the ingredients list (a combination of all three is unbeatable) and you’ll be using time-tested home remedies that are guaranteed to make you feel better.

If you’re a cook, a gardener, or a handyman, having an antiseptic salve on hand for those occasions when you burn yourself, cut yourself, or get a scratch should be at the top of your list of home remedies. A medicated ointment like Rawleigh salve that contains soothing plus lubricating ingredients will keep your injury clean and dry and make it feel better while it heals. (Recent medical research shows that cuts and burns heal much faster when they’re bandaged, as opposed to the previously held belief that you should “let them air.”)

If what’s bothering you is constipation, home remedies have been used for centuries to combat it. (Remember all those old books and movies where the kids would be sent to bed after a teaspoon of castor oil?) Some well known home remedies for constipation include molasses, mango, figs, dates, guava, fennel seeds, and Epsom salts. These are more palatable than cold home remedies like the cayenne-garlic tea, but in the future, if you want to prevent the problem rather than treat it, drinking lots of water will help.

Whether your problem is a cold, a small injury or constipation, keep home remedies such as antiseptic salves and digestive aids on hand at all times so you don’t have to go scrambling during those minor household emergencies. For example, stock your medicine cabinet with Rawleigh salve and you have a one-stop solution for everything from cat scratches to sunburn.