Reply To: Unique, Unpopular or Interesting Natural Remedies?!

  • WhiteCloudFarm

    Member
    January 31, 2023 at 7:24 pm

    First off this an an awesome discussion. I have a ton of natural remedies that I go too, a lot of which I’ve seen here, and I’ve learned a couple new ones by reading through the comments. I’ll share a few that have really helped me, that I didn’t see posted here.

    The first is honey and cayenne powder on to speed up healing and prevent infection on cuts. This one burns, but it works. You take a small pinch of cayenne (the more you use, the more it will burn so be careful) and mix with a spoonful of natural honey, and apply with your finger on top of wounds (first you want to clean the wound obviously, and you have to be tough as nails to put this on a fresh wound that hasn’t had a chance to dry or scab up at all. If you can’t handle that kind of pain, wait till a thin layer of scab or dry membrane forms over the wound, then it will burn less. This remedy is especially good for deep or bad cuts with a big surface area, like cutting off the tip of your finger while cooking, or any time you’re worried about infection close to the surface of a wound. I’ve used this over and over and I’m always amazed at how fast and how well the wound heals. If you’re in a situation where you can’t get stitches and you are worried about infection, this could be a life saver. If you have a low pain tolerance you can always use just a couple grains of cayenne in the honey, it will still help!

    The second remedy I’ve used a lot that I didn’t see on here is Yierba Santa. I’m in central California and I’m not sure if this plant grows outside of California or not, but it’s all over California especially in the foothills. It has long, sticky aromatic leaves and grows as a shrub that’s usually about chest high. This herb is excellent for the lungs and the immune system in general, especially for healing damage from smoke, clearing out infection and phlegm, and for opening and strengthening the lungs when someone is suffering from asthma or other breathing issues. Just make a tea by steeping a couple leaves, fresh or dried (I think fresh works better but use both). You can also make a steam bath by pouring boiling water over a handful of leaves in a big bowl, and breathing it in with a towel over your head. We did this a lot with our babies when they got stuffy noses and couldn’t breath well, and it worked wonders.

    One more herb that I didn’t see listed here that can be a life saver is mugwort. There are different varieties but they all work. This herb should never be used by pregnant women, and probably not if you’re breastfeeding either. It’s extremely bitter. Mugwort tea is my go to for fever, malarial symptoms, and anything related to COVID-like symptoms. It’s also good for strengthening the immune system in general, but shouldn’t be used as an everyday type tea like nettle or peppermint, just when truly needed. My advice with any herb, and this one in particular, would be to get to know it by trying a weak tea (just steeping a few leaves) and see how it makes you feel, so that you yourself start to have a relationship with the herb and start to get an idea of what it does for you. I think most people who work with herbal remedies know this, it’s about having a relationship with the plant or whatever form of medicine you’re using, and using it by feel, rather than just following instructions blindly.

    Hope some of that helps somebody. Thanks to everyone else who has shared!

    -Nick