Home Remedies

[balon!]

Fixing a book? Looking for the cure to the common cold? Can figure out why the tape is stuck in the figgin' VCR? I'm sure SOMEONE has had the trouble before.

Bring it to the table Watchers! We all need HELP!

[MsMary]

What a great idea for a thread.

[balon!]

I will submit a question and also a solution.

What have you all got for common colds or uncommon suckiness? My throat is on the rage (which I found some coughdrops for), and my muscles are super sore from work yesterday, which is only making things worse.

I'm also just feeling yucky-tired-yucky, if you know what I mean.

When I have the flu and I have to work, I take a shotglass of hot sauce, and chase it with a glass of cool black tea. You'll barf pretty hard, and then feel better for four or five hours. I use this as an emergency-have-to-go-to-work fix. However, I'm not sick enough to warrant the throwing up part, but have no real home remedies other than that.

What'ch'ya got?

:edit:

What a great idea for a thread.

Thanks! This'll keep me from spamming with a new thread every time I have a question.

[MsMary]

Actually, I take it back.

[balon!]

Actually, I take it back.

HAHAHAHA. Sorry, MsMary. That was NOT at you. I actually did mean me.

HAHAHA.

Whoops.

[Cail]

For cold/flu/allergies.

Drown yourself in body-temperature salt water. Seriously. Get a salad bowl, or really any container big enough for you to submerge your nose in (my nose is of Biblical proportions, I take a large salad bowl). Fill it with warm water (close to body temperature as you can get, a little warmer is fine too), then salt it (again, not too much, make it like ocean water). Now here comes the hard part....

Stick your face in the bowl, close your mouth, and inhale the water. When you feel the water begin to flow down the back of your throat, lift your face from the bowl, hold it over the sink or toilet that I probably should have mentioned you should be standing near, and open your mouth while you continue to inhale through your nose. Once the majority of the water has drained, blow your nose and repeat as many times as you can stand. You'll be amazed at how well this eliminates sneezing, postnasal drip, congestion, bloody noses, and all sorts of respiratory ills.

But remember....You are, for all intents and purposes, drowning yourself. Your body will fight you on a nearly cellular level. It's kinda cool actually feeling your body go into mortal panic. Just be careful.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I find nasal saline rinses the only thing that keep sinus infections from getting ugly.

[Menolly]

Sounds like both of you would like nettie pots.

For a cough.

Bring a quart of water to a boil.
Steep one teaball horehound tea leaves and one small raw onion, chopped, into a strong concoction.
Strain tea, and boil to reduce to 1/4 orginal amount, or a one cup serving.
Serve hot with wild local honey and a shot of whiskey.

Balon, you think your hot sauce concoction is bad tasting...
*shudder*

...but it works...

[balon!]

For cold/flu/allergies.

Drown yourself in body-temperature salt water. Seriously. Get a salad bowl, or really any container big enough for you to submerge your nose in (my nose is of Biblical proportions, I take a large salad bowl). Fill it with warm water (close to body temperature as you can get, a little warmer is fine too), then salt it (again, not too much, make it like ocean water). Now here comes the hard part....

Stick your face in the bowl, close your mouth, and inhale the water. When you feel the water begin to flow down the back of your throat, lift your face from the bowl, hold it over the sink or toilet that I probably should have mentioned you should be standing near, and open your mouth while you continue to inhale through your nose. Once the majority of the water has drained, blow your nose and repeat as many times as you can stand. You'll be amazed at how well this eliminates sneezing, postnasal drip, congestion, bloody noses, and all sorts of respiratory ills.

But remember....You are, for all intents and purposes, drowning yourself. Your body will fight you on a nearly cellular level. It's kinda cool actually feeling your body go into mortal panic. Just be careful.

I'm almost positive I would flip the hell out.

Then again if this gets worse, I'm going to implode, so could you elaborate on the breathing in part for me? How far are you going in? And I assume that your near the sink because you'll be puking your guts up?

:edit:

For a cough.

Bring a quart of water to a boil.
Steep one teaball horehound tea leaves and one small raw onion into a strong concoction.
Strain tea, and boil to reduce to 1/4 orginal amount, or a one cup serving.
Serve hot with wild local honey and a shot of whiskey.

Balon, you think your hot sauce concoction is bad tasting...
*shudder*

...but it works...

The whiskey in the tea? Or the whiskey, THEN the tea.

[Menolly]

Honey and whiskey both in the tea.

[Menolly]

From wikipedia...

Nasal irrigation.

It describes what Cail basically describes using a syringe or neti pot.

[Cameraman Jenn]

until it starts coming out the holes in the roof of your mouth.

[Menolly]

...and if you're serious...

Do a search on youtube for neti pot. There are several video demonstrations of the technique.

[MsMary]

Nasal irrigation works wonders.

[drew]

Respitory Problems:

Other than taking Cayane pills on a regular basis...

If you are haveing a near asthma attack, have some of this on hand

an oil made with sunflower oil, dried eucalyptus and frankensece essential oil. Rub it into your chest and back.

Also a tea made out of Coal's Foot stops breathing problems in their tracks..

-don't have any of this stuff on hand?

a hot cup of strong black coffee aslo provides temporarry releif.

[Cail]

What CMJ said, Balon. Get your whole nose submerged and inhale 'till it starts flowing into the back of your mouth. You probably won't puke. Try not to get any water into your lungs....That's really uncomfortable.

I know people who make this part of their daily morning routine...They're never sick and never suffer from allergies and nosebleeds.

I can't bring myself to do it unless I'm really sick.

[Cameraman Jenn]

Having suffered an annual sinus infection for five years in a row, the kind where it lasts for a month and you have several nosebleeds a day will turn you onto the saline rinse method. At the merest hint of one I start the ritual. I have had the hints four times in the past year and a half and almost every time it's stopped it before it gets to the severe suffering point. Also, after the first time you know your body so you get good at it and then it becomes no big deal.