Home Remedies That Will Actually Cure All Of Your Aches, Pains, And Ailments
Modern medicine is marvelous, but there are several problems it still hasn't figured out how to cure. Sometimes, those old home remedies that your grandparents swear by actually do the trick. Most of these quick fixes can be accomplished using ingredients and objects from around your home.
Keep reading to find out how to stop bug bites from itching, how to relieve the common cold, and how to get rid of dandruff without stepping foot in the doctor's office.
Yogurt Can Get Rid Of Bad Breath
Yogurt is absolutely delicious, but did you know that plain, organic yogurt can actually help your body manufacture good bacteria that fights off bad bacteria? That's what all of that superfood probiotic stuff on the label is all about.
Bad breath is caused by bacteria, so eating yogurt and getting all of that good bacteria in your body will help your body rid itself of bad, odor-causing bacteria. This is a particularly tasty way to get rid of bad breath.
You Can Use Black Tea To Relieve Sunburns
When you spend too long lounging in the sun and you end up with a sunburn, you probably reach for a bottle of aloe vera gel to take the sting away. Aloe vera is great for soothing sunburned skin, but black tea does exactly the same thing and you'll probably already have some in your pantry.
Soak a tea bag in water and then let it cool in the fridge. Then rub the tea cold and the tea bag all over your red skin. The tannins in the tea will help soothe the pain and prevent your skin from peeling.
You Can Get Rid Of Calluses With Black Licorice
I think we can all agree that black licorice is the worst kind of licorice (sorry black licorice fans). If you have some lying around your home that you don't want to eat, you could always use it to remove your foot calluses.
Soak the black licorice in oil and then apply it to your callus. Wrap your foot with the licorice on it in saran wrap and let it sit for at least eight hours. You can do this whole procedure at night so when you wake up in the morning, the callus will be soft and easy to buff away.
Banana Peels Can Soothe A Poison Ivy Rash
Poison ivy has three leaves and a red stem, so if you see a plant that looks like that when you're out hiking in the woods, avoid it at all costs. If you weren't able to avoid it and your skin is covered in a red, bumpy, itchy rash, you can actually use banana peels to take some of the pain and itch away.
Open a fresh banana and rub the inside of the peel against the rash.
Toothpaste Can Dry Out Pimples
There's no need to spend oodles of money on fancy pimple creams and ointment. Just wash your face with gentle soap and water, and if you do find yourself face to face with a nasty pimple, just put a dap of toothpaste on it. That's right, toothpaste.
Leave the toothpaste on for a few hours to dry out the pimple and then wash it off with cold water. The texture of the toothpaste dries out the oils in the pimple, and the triclosan and hydrogen peroxide helps kill bacteria.
Use Duct Tape To Get Rid Of Warts And Skin Tags
Ok, before you start jumping to conclusions, we're not saying that you should wax off warts and skin tags with duct tape. All you have to do is tape a little bit of duct tape onto the wart or skin tag and leave it on until it loses its stickiness and falls off naturally.
When the duct tape falls off, repeat the process. By the third or fourth application of duct tape, the wart or skin tag will fall off too.
Relieve Heartburn With Baking Soda
So we already know one unconventional use for bakings soda, how about another? Heartburn can be extremely painful, and if you're not expecting it, you may not have medication to relieve heartburn on hand. If that's the case, you can swig back a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a glass of water. It won't taste good, but it will make the pain go away.
This stuff even works better than Tums in a pinch.
A Jar Of Olives Can Help With Motion Sickness
Sure, Gravol might work for motion sickness, but a more natural remedy is eating a few olives. The tannin inside olives can help calm and cure nausea and will keep your stomach from having that sinking, empty feeling.
Next time add a jar of olives to the packing list for a road trip.
Gin-Soaked Raisins Are Good For Arthritis
This home remedy was perfected by your grandparents AKA the people who suffer from arthritis the most. Take some golden raisins, soak them overnight in gin (that's made from or includes juniper berries) until they're absorbed, and then eat about ten raisins a day.
It won't cure the arthritis, but it will help ease the symptoms. Or it might just give you a buzz so you don't feel anything at all.
Makeshift Stitches With Superglue And Chapstick
I know it sounds crazy, but if you get a nasty cut that you need to patch up, then use superglue! Wash and dry the cut completely, then use the superglue to press the skin back together.
Rub some clean chapstick on top to keep it from drying out, then wrap it up with a Band-Aid and go on with your day.
Use Asprin To Get Rid Of Dandruff
Every household has some aspirin tablets on hand for headaches or aches and pains, but you can also use it to get a dandruff-free scalp. Crush up two aspirin tablets into powder and mix it with one capful of shampoo.
Wash your hair with it and leave it on for five minutes. Within a few weeks, you'll see a noticeable difference.
Bite A Pencil To Cure Headaches
Tension headaches are most often caused because of clenched jaw muscles when you're stressed or overwhelmed. Placing a pencil between your teeth without biting down will force your jaw to relax.
Take several deep breaths while you do this for about a minute and your headache should let up in no time.
Get Rid Of Hiccups With A Spoonful Of Sugar
This is the home remedy that actually works but healthy moms never wanted to use. Swollowing a spoonful of sugar can neutralize hiccups immediately. Hiccups are caused by diaphragm spasms.
If you have a spoonful of dry sugar, it throws off your stomach and nerve muscles, and stops the agitation.
A Spice Mix To Stop You From Going To The Bathroom Too Much...
There's nothing worse than a bad case of the runs that keep you up all night. Rather than taking medication that will just constipate you, use a natural method that will help clear you out.
Combine a teaspoon each of cumin, honey, cinnamon, and ginger into a liquid paste. Drink it up and hope for the best. Note: spices affect everyone differently. Some people find yogurt to be a more effective treatment for diarrhea.
Potatoes Cure Spider Bites
If you're unlucky enough to have a spider sink its pincers into you, then you know regular bug bite remedies don't work. Shred or slice a potato, wrap it in cheesecloth, and place it over the bite to help relieve the itch.
Of course, this is only for regular spiders. If you get bit by something more deadly then skip the potatoes and get medical help ASAP.
Mouthwash Is Good For Blisters
We've all experienced blisters that start to feel worse with each passing day. To ease the pain and make the blister go away sooner, try attacking it with Listerine! Listerine mouthwash is a powerful antiseptic.
Just moisten a cotton ball with Listerine and apply it to your blister around three times a day. Eventually it will dry out and the pain will disappear!
Use Garlic To Combat Allergies
If you've got bad allergies but hate being drugged up with pills for the entire allergy season, then try garlic instead. Garlic contains a natural antihistamine and antioxidant called quercetin.
It's up to you how you eat the garlic though. Slicing it thin or crushing it up on top of crackers is the most surefire way to treat allergies. Be sure to brush your teeth afterward!
Ginger Helps With Digestion
The old wive's tale that ginger can settle a stomach is actually true. Ginger, raw or ground, produces rhizome which is basically your first line of defense against nausea.
The best way to do this is grating fresh ginger into a tea or warm drink, but even a ginger-product like Ginger Ale can work too.
Soothe Eczema With Oatmeal
The horrible, dry, red itchiness that comes with eczema can be unbearable. Thankfully, your grandmother's old method of taking an oatmeal bath can actually help. Run a warm bath, fill it with colloidal oatmeal, then soak for a while.
For long-term relief on really bad eczema, you might want to see a dermatologist too.
A Chocolate Face Mask?
For anyone prone to breakouts, the idea of putting chocolate on your face is terrifying, but it seriously works! Just melt 50 grams of pure chocolate (nothing else added to it) and one tablespoon of olive oil.
Apply it to your face like a mask for 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water and be the proud owner of soft, glowing skin.
Chicken Soup Really Is A Cure-All
Everyone knows that chicken soup is the best feel-good remedy for when you have a nasty cold, but it also works on the inside.
Chicken broth contains an amino acid called cysteine that has been proven to help at thinning mucus buildup in your lungs and throat. A yummy and effective home remedy!
Whiten Your Teeth With Lemon Juice And Baking Soda
Way before Crest came out with those famous, and very effective Whitestrips, people came up with their own home remedies to deal with not-so-white teeth. Those Whitestrips are great, but they're also quite expensive. You can get a similar effect by just mixing togethether lemon juice and baking soda to form a paste.
Leave a bit of the paste on your teeth for a few minutes every day, and within a few days, you'll have whiter, brighter teeth.
Beets Can Help You Go To The Bathroom
It's time to get personal and talk about the 'C' word: constipation. It can happen for a variety of reasons, but one surefire way to fix it is with beets. Steam a few of the veggies and drink the beet water left over.
It should clear up your colon like magic, but beware of the leftover bright red color you'll be seeing for the 24 hours after.
Yams Help With Menopause
Calling all women aged 40-60, if you're experiencing all the terrible side effects of menopause then start eating yams by the spoonful. Make sure they're actual yams though, not sweet potatoes.
They give you a dose of vitamin C, help with lowering your cholesterol, and are high in antioxidants. It's like a three-in-one punch to mother nature.
Use Onions To Combat Itchy Mosquito Bites
Onions aren't just good in soups and stews. These powerful bulbs can be used for all sorts of home remedies. Stay tuned for another onion related remedy later on this list. You can actually use onions to help relieve itchy insect bites.
The sulfur compounds found in the juice of an onion is an effective way to neutralize the proteins in mosquito saliva that make you itchy. Cut a fresh onion in half and rub it on the bite instead of scratching it.
Cure A Cold With Onions... On Your Feet
This isn't the most pleasant home remedy in the world, but apparently it does work. It was the Chinese who figured out that if you place sliced, raw onions on your feet and cover them up with socks overnight, your cold could be gone by morning.
The onion slices absorb toxins from your body that could be making you sick. People say that it can also be a preventative measure if you feel a sickness coming on.
Use An Onion To Help Your Hair Grow
Onions aren't just a superfood. Their juices can also help stimulate growth in your hair follicles. Cut a nice, fresh onion in half and rub it on your scalp for 15 minutes, letting it release the juices as you go.
Wash the juices and the smell out with mild shampoo and you're good to go.
You Can Make Cough Syrup At Home
If you want an effective and natural cough syrup that's not full of drugs and chemicals, look no further than your pantry.
Mix 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon of honey, and some water to thin it out. This should be enough to relieve your throat pain in no time.
Use Wet Socks To Get Over A Cold
Yes, one way to fight a common cold is to make your feet even colder. Start by soaking your feet in hot water for a few minutes. Then remove your feet and put on wet socks that you just soaked in ice water, and go to bed.
These cold feet will make your blood vessels constrict and push nutrients up onto your body to fight the infection.
Peppermint Gum Will Help Stress Melt Away
When you're suddenly overwhelmed with stress (like in a traffic jam, for example), chewing peppermint or cinnamon gum can ease your worries. A NASA-funded study at Wheeling Jesuit University found that peppermint gum lowered a person's feelings of fatigue or anxiety by 20 percent.
Both peppermint and cinnamon also decreased frustration, increased alertness, and even made the drive seem shorter.
Clove Combats Infection
Sprinkling powdered cloves on a clean, open wound can keep it from becoming infected. A study at Duke University showed that cloves and clove oil is high in eugenol, which is a natural chemical that is both an antiseptic and a pain-killer.
Maybe that's why gingerbread cookies make us feel so good.
Vodka Can Keep The Stink Away From Your Feet
If you're like me, then opening the shoe closet is a dangerous game. If someone in the family has unbearable foot odor, then soak a washcloth with vodka and use it to wipe down the foot.
The science behind it makes sense. The high alcohol content will kill all the bacteria making those toes smell.
Use Lemon Balm On Your Cold Sores
Cold sores are caused by a type of herpes virus (but not the STD kind). Still, cold sores are unpleasant all around and seem like they take forever to go away. Lemon balm has antiviral properties that are effective at taming herpes outbreaks.
One way to use lemon balm to your advantage is to brew two to four tablespoons of it with a cup of boiling water. When it cools, use a cotton ball to dab it on the affected area multiple times a day.
A Tennis Ball Works As A Foot Massager
There are days when your feet just feel incredibly achy but you don't have anyone around to give you a killer foot massage. Instead, you could use a tennis ball to ease your pain by simply rolling your feet over one! You could also use a golf ball or a soup can to do the job.
If your feet are screaming, try rolling your feet on a frozen water bottle.
Olive Oil Helps With Skin Conditions
Olive oil alone can soothe some of the worst eczema flareups. Pure olive oil is packed with antioxidants that help reduce eczema-related inflammation. Olive oil is already used as a base for many moisturizers but if it's used on its own, it doesn't have any of the extra chemicals you don't need.
Rub one teaspoon of olive oil per square inch of skin which will seal in the moisture your skin needs.
Vegetable Oil Moistens Brittle Nails
If your nails are feeling more brittle than usual, try repairing the damage with some vegetable oil. Before going to bed, apply some vegetable oil to your hands and cover them up with some vinyl gloves or plastic wrap.
By morning, your nails will have absorbed the oil to replace the moisture that they lack. You should also use hand cream regularly.
Ice Cream Soothes The Burn
We've all had those moments when we were too excited to eat a slice of pizza only to discover it was still piping hot. There's no worse feeling than hot cheese scorching the roof of your mouth, especially knowing you'll have to deal with it the pain for the next few days.
You can find temporary relief from eating ice cream or frozen yogurt. The tissue on the roof of your mouth is only a few millimeters thick, which is why it's so easy to burn and cool the area.
Apples Can Clean Your Teeth
It might seem counterproductive to eat something to clean your teeth but that's precisely what apples can do! Apples and other crunchy fruits and vegetables can help scrub your teeth when you chew on them.
New York City dentist Jennifer Jabow, DDS, says that "apples have a gentle malic acid that also helps dissolve stains."
Get Rid Of An Infection With Baking Soda
No one wants to go to the bathroom only to realize that they suddenly have a urinary tract infection. At the first sign of a UTI, you'll want to take immediate action to make it go away faster. Drink a solution of 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda with eight ounces of water.
You'll want to drink this every day until you can get a proper diagnosis and medication for it. In the meantime, the baking soda will make the bladder more alkaline to reduce bacteria.
Papaya Skin Masks Are Everything
Papaya has an enzyme called papain, which eat proteins in a way that dissolves the dead skin cells on the surface of your skin. Twice a month, grind two tablespoons of washed and peeled papaya in a food processor with one tablespoon of dry oatmeal. Smooth it over clean skin and wipe it off with a wet washcloth after ten minutes.
This will leave your skin feeling soft and smooth, while minimizing your chance of breaking out.