The Natural Medicine First Aid Remedies

Stephanie Marohn

• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing
• Year: 2001
• ISBN:
  9781612831336
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Alternative & Complementary Medicine

When faced with common health emergencies, many of us automatically turn to over-the-counter medications. But we have another option--easy-to-use, safe, inexpensive, and highly effective natural medicines.

Natural Medicine First Aid Remedies provides everything you need to know to treat a range of ailments and health concerns, including burns, muscle cramps, hot flashes, shock, sore throat, toothache--100 common health problems in all. (Next time you get a headache, try rubbing peppermint essential oil on your temples before you reach for the aspirin.)

Natural Medicine First Aid Remedies tells how to equip your medicine cabinet with the ten most essential natural remedies including arnica (for pain and stiffness), echinacea (for colds), tea tree oil (for skin infections), aloe vera gel (for burns), activated charcoal (for food poisoning), and more. It explains how homeopathy, herbs, diet, essential oils, flower essences, nutritional supplements, reflexology, and gem therapy can provide healing benefits for various conditions.

Written by health journalist Stephanie Marohn, Natural Medicine First Aid Remedies is based on medical research and draws upon protocols used by dozens of health care practitioners. Informative and unique, it is a reference that you will want to consult whenever faced with one of life's everyday medical emergencies, injuries, or discomforts.

Part I
The Top Natural First Aid Remedies

The Top Ten Natural Medicine First Aid Remedies

Based on a survey of natural medicine literature and the practitioners who contributed protocols to this book, here are the top ten remedies, runners-up, and honorable mentions for a natural medicine chest or first aid kit. These remedies are the basics for safe, effective, natural treatment of common ailments at home, at work, and during travel. As you use protocols in the eight different therapies presented throughout this book, you will likely discover many other remedies that you want to include in your natural medicine apothecary.

1. Arnica

Arnica (Arnica montana) reduces swelling, stiffness, pain, and bruising. Stock both oral homeopathic Arnica (30c pellets) and topical ointment (arnica gel or homeopathic arnica ointment) to treat sore muscles, back pain, joint pain, sprains and strains, torn ligaments, and bruises.

2. Five Flower Formula (Rescue Remedy)

A flower essence formula indicated for physical and / or emotional trauma or shock, it brings immediate calm and emotional neutralizing. The five flower essences in this formula are Rock Rose, Clematis, Impatiens, Cherry Plum, and Star of Bethlehem.

3. Echinacea Tincture

An all-purpose internal and external antibiotic, echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia, E. purpurea, E. spp. [several species]) tincture can be used to clean wounds, support immunity, prevent a cold from coming on when taken at the first sign of symptoms, and treat flu and other infections, rashes, and fever blisters. You can also use echinacea internally and externally to treat snakebite; it has a long tradition of use for this purpose in Native American herbal medicine.

4. Healing Herbal Salve

A salve containing some combination of the herbs calendula (Calendula officinalis), comfrey (Symphytum officinale), and / or St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) can be applied to sores, cuts, scrapes, burns, or other skin injury as a disinfectant, to soothe the area, and to speed tissue repair. Calendula is antimicrobial, and comfrey has a remarkable ability to promote cell growth and close over a wound (for this reason, you shouldn't use comfrey on a puncture wound). Some salves include Lavender essential oil in the mix.

5. Lavender Essential Oil

An antiseptic, bactericidal, decongestant, analgesic (pain reliever), and sedative, Lavender essential oil has broad application. It can be used topically to treat burns, sunburn, insect bites and stings, and muscle aches and pains. Inhaled or applied topically, Lavender can relieve headaches (combine with Peppermint essential oil for extra headache-relieving benefits), reduce stress and jet lag, and promote relaxation. It is also an insect repellant.

6. Tea Tree Essential Oil

A powerful antiseptic and broad-spectrum antimicrobial, Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) essential oil (also known as Ti-Tree) can be used as a topical treatment for cuts, scrapes, burns, cold sores, acne, and fungal or bacterial infections. Equal parts of Tea Tree and Lavender essential oils make an excellent topical antiseptic and antibacterial solution.

7. Peppermint

You may want to stock both peppermint (Mentha piperata) tincture and essential oil. The tincture can be taken orally, while the essential oil can be inhaled, as treatment for headaches and digestive complaints such as indigestion, gas, nausea, and motion sickness. Peppermint also has antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Peppermint essential oil is a good insect repellent. Lavender and Peppermint essential oils work well in combination, enhancing each other's effects.

8. Aloe Vera Gel

Aloe vera gel is highly soothing and healing for burns, sunburn, rashes, and insect bites and stings. It can also be used for chapped lips and to soften rough skin. The gel fresh from the plant is best, so for your natural medicine chest at home you can keep the houseplant on hand. Buy a high-quality gel for your travel first aid kit.

9. Activated Charcoal

Activated charcoal binds with toxins and bacteria and escorts them out of the body, which makes it an excellent remedy for food poisoning and diarrhea. In fact, charcoal has a long history of use not only for food poisoning, but for poisoning by deadly substances as well. It is not, however, a replacement for medical care when poison has been ingested. Activated charcoal is the pharmaceutical equivalent of the scrapings from burnt toast, and is widely available in drugstores and health food stores.

10. Homeopathic Belladonna

While there are many homeopathic remedies for fever, depending on the characteristics of the individual case, Belladonna is a common one. It is indicated for a fever with a sudden onset, flushed face, restlessness, and a pounding pulse. The fever may be accompanied by sore throat, cough, headache, or earache. Stock Belladonna 30c pellets.

Natural Medicine Runners-Up

The following five remedies were not cited as often as the ten listed above, but came in close behind.

11. Cayenne Capsules

Cayenne (Capsicum minimum) powder can be used to stop bleeding, improve digestion, stimulate the appetite, relieve gas, and help sweat out a cold or bronchitis. Cayenne also has pain-relieving properties, due to its active constituent capsaicin. You can mix the powder into a lotion or oil and massage into sore muscles or joints to ease aches and pains.

12. Ginger

Stock ginger capsules for motion sickness, nausea, stomachaches or other digestive problems, and sore throats. Ginger can also help sweat out a fever. The capsules can be swallowed as is or broken open to make a tea. You may want to keep some candied ginger on hand as well, as nibbling on a piece while traveling in a car or other moving vehicle can help prevent motion sickness.

13. Homeopathic Apis

This remedy is indicated for bee stings or other insect bites charactized by red swelling and stinging pain, and for conditions with hot, red swelling, such as hives and skin irritations. Stock Apis 30c pellets.

14. Eucalyptus Essential Oil

This essential oil (Eucalyptus radiata) is an antiseptic, decongestant, expectorant (loosens phlegm), anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-bacterial agent. It can be used as an inhalant to clear sinus congestion, colds, coughs, and other respiratory ailments. Added to a lotion and applied topically, it can ease muscle and joint aches and pains.

15. St. John's Wort Tincture

St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) is another herb that has a wide range of uses. Although it is perhaps most commonly known for its antidepressant qualities, it is equally effective as an antiviral and anti-inflammatory and in speeding tissue repair. It is useful for sprains, bruises, swelling, cuts and other wounds, and insect bites and stings. The tincture or the oral homeopathic remedy Hypericum can also alleviate neuralgic (nerve) pain, and is indicated for shooting pain, such as that experienced when you shut your fingers in a door or drop something heavy on your toes.

Honorable Mentions

Witch hazel and hydrogen peroxide (3 percent H₂O₂) are good additions to a home medicine chest or first aid kit. They make excellent disinfectants for cuts, sores, and wounds, and have healing properties as well. Use them rather than rubbing alcohol, which should be avoided as it contains toxic denaturants (substances added to alter the alcohol) that only contribute to the body's toxic load.

Witch hazel is a distilled extract of the bark of the bush or small tree witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana). Alcohol is used to preserve the extract, but you can get alcohol-free witch hazel. Witch hazel has been a home remedy for over a hundred years, and is widely available in drugstores and supermarkets. As a healing agent, it is an astringent, which means it tightens tissue, reduces secretions, and checks inflammation. Witch hazel can be used to stop bleeding, reduce the inflammation of bruises and other injuries, and heal burns and rashes.

Hydrogen peroxide provides a form of oxygen therapy, flooding tissues with healing oxygen and killing bacteria in the process. The foaming you see when you pour hydrogen peroxide on a cut is the oxygen at work. Due to its lack of toxicity, it can be used directly on mucous membranes, such as the lining of the mouth. Diluted and used as a mouthwash, it can help heal mouth and gum tissues.

Part II
Natural Medicine First Aid Remedies for 102 Common Conditions

Abscess

Bacterial Infection

Boil

Dental Abscess, for an abscess in the gums

An abscess is a collection or pocket of pus in a cavity formed by disintegrating tissue and surrounded by inflamed tissue. Pus itself is a product of inflammation, accumulating where infection is present. Abscesses can arise in any part of the body, but occur most often in the skin. Bacteria are frequently the source of the infection, but other microorganisms or an injury can also cause abscesses. Recurrent abscesses can be an indication of weakened immunity or toxicity in the system.

Symptoms include swelling, heat, redness, and throbbing of the affected area. The abscess increases in size as it fills with pus, and decreases when the pus is drained. If untreated, the abscess can spread, resulting in the formation of other abscesses, or the tissue can become fibrous, leaving a lump. A red line extending from the abscess is a sign of blood poisoning; seek medical care immediately.

Essential Oils

Chamomile, Lavender, and Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) are “the most effective oils for treating an abscess,” says Patricia Davis, founder of the London School of Aromatherapy. They can be used singly or in combination. Put a few drops on a hot compress and place it over the abscess to draw out the infection and reduce the pain and inflammation. Leave the compress on until it cools. Repeat as needed.¹

Flower Essences

Patricia Kaminski, an herbalist and flower essence therapist from Nevada City, California, recommends Self-Heal, used both topically and internally. For topical treatment, apply the flower essence and/or flower essence cream directly on the abscess 2–4 times daily. To speed healing, take 4 drops of the flower essence under the tongue 2–4 times daily. Continue treatment until the abscess is resolved.

Food Therapy

Eat:

Garlic, kelp, yogurt/kefir, pineapple (eat it by itself), foods high in vitamin A and beta-carotene. (For a list of foods...

Table of contents

• Cover Image
• Copyright
• Disclaimer
• Acknowledgments
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I: The Top Natural First Aid Remedies
• Part II: Natural Medicine First Aid Remedies for 102 Common Conditions
• Part III: About the Therapies
• Appendix A: Professional Degrees and Titles
• Appendix B: Resources
• Endnotes
• Index
• About the Author
• Hampton Roads Publishing Company