Asthma

• Give a solution of onion juice 1/4 cup, honey 1 tablespoon and black pepper 1/8 tablespoon
• Make a decoction of licorice and ginger, give 1/2 tablespoon in 1 cup of water.
• Extract the juice from garlic. Mix 10–15 drops in warm water and give it internally.

Bee & wasps

• Run cold water over around the sting to relieve pain and slow the
  absorption of the venom.
• Alternately, one may place ice pack over it.
• Immediately apply salt and vinegar.
• Application of juice of crushed onion also provides relief.
• Relieve itching and burning by applying calamine lotion.

Burns

• Loosen all tight clothing. Cut the clothing away from the burnt area, if it adheres to the burnt area, do not try to peel it loose.
• Avoid undue contamination of burnt wound and keep the victim in comfort draping him in clean laundry sheets.
• Apply ice pack or cloth soaked in ice water and change them constantly.
• Place boiled potato peel on burns.

Chickenpox

• Application of sandalwood oil (and not the paste) right from the first day of appearance of rash till the fall of scabs helps prevent the pox marks.
• Application of Vitamin E oil over the skin has a healing effect.
• Honey smeared over the skin will help in healing the disease.
• Lukewarm water baths with neem leaves helps in relieving itching.
• A bath of oatmeal is considered a natural remedy to relieve the itch due to chicken pox.

Cholic

• Hold the baby upright or lay him/her on the back with legs drawn towards abdomen and gently pressed towards the stomach.
• Rubbing a thin paste of asafoetida (hing) around the umbilicus is also recommended.
• Apply turpentine around the navel.

Common colds

• For a dry and stuffy nose, try normal saline or salt water nasal drops. This can be made by adding 1/4 teaspoon of table salt to about 4 ml lukewarm water. Make a fresh solution every few days keeping it in refrigerator. Use a clean dropper to instill 1 to 2 drops in each nostril about 3 to 4 times daily.
• Do not use medicated nasal drops without physician’s consent as an excessive use will cause chemical rhinitis will rebound back.
• Garlic juice made by adding few drops of garlic oil to a teaspoonful of onion juice and diluting it in a cup of water is often helpful.
• Ging

Constipation

• One tablespoonful of corn syrup added to 8 ounces of water.
• Add a little extra sugar or some honey twice a day to milk.
• Bael fruit (Indian) is the best laxative of all fruits. It cleans and tones up the intestines.
• Guava when eaten with seeds provides roughage to diet.
• Add more fruits especially prunes to the diet. Pears, grapes, orange juice and papaya are also useful.
• Constipation in toddlers and older children may be relieved by giving bran cereal.

Corns

• A slice of lemon tied over the hardened skin overnight.
• A paste made by grinding 3 to 4 licorice sticks and mixing it with mustard oil or sesame oil.
• An application of papaya juice.
• Milky juice of green figs may provide relief.

Cough

• Mix equal parts of lime juice and honey.
• Mixing a teaspoonful of honey with a few drops of brandy. Add a few drops of ginger juice to a teaspoon of honey.
• A cup of grape juice mixed with a teaspoon of honey is often helpful.
• A syrup of 1 teaspoonful raw onion juice with 1 teaspoonful of honey kept over 3 to 4 hours serves as an excellent cough syrup.
• Soak almonds overnight and remove their skin. A paste of these almonds with little butter and sugar is very useful for dry cough.
• An older child can reduce the cough considerably by sucking on a lump of sugar.

Cramps

• A pinch of rock salt kept on the tongue help relieve cramps.
• A diet with excess of salt, sweet lime juice with a teaspoon of table salt added to it or consumption of salads with excess salt is recommended.
  
  
  

Dandruff

• Apply a paste of grounded soaked fenugreek seeds (methi) over the scalp. Wash it with soap after 1 hour.
• Using lime juice for washing hair is often beneficial.
• Roots of white beet are boiled in water and massaged into the scalp every night.
• The use of curd kept over 2 to 3 days, lime juice, cider, vinegar and amla juice also helps to disperse dandruff.

Diarrhea

Give oral dehydration solutions which can be made at home

• Boiled and cooled water: 1 Liter.
• Common salt: 3/4 teaspoonful.
• Sugar: 5 teaspoonful.
• Lemon: 1/3

As an alternative, one can also give sweet lime water or aerated soft drinks to which a pinch of salt is added. Coconut water is an excellent substitute. Other choices can be rice water, rice kanji, buttermilk or lassi and weak tea.

If the baby demands solids, one can give rice, cereals, banana, mashed boiled potatoes, curd, pulses (dal), soup or khichdi.

Fever

If the fever goes above 104 deg. F or if the child is uncomfortable from the fever even in lower ranges, sponging with tepid tap water usually helps. Do not use water that is too cold otherwise shivering will begin and negate the effects of sponging.

The effect of sponging is to absorb the body heat. It is best to keep the child in a cool place, keeping the fan running (to hasten the evaporation). Remove the clothes and dip a clean towel in tap water, squeeze out the excess water and cover the body with towel. Once the towel becomes warm, repeat the same process till his temperature comes down.

A common misconception is that sponging will lead to colds. It is true to a certain extent, but remember that high grade fever is a more serious problem which can cause complications, the cold can be easily tackled.

Hair Loss

• Application of olive oil at bed time and washing off the hair the next morning is very useful.
• The area of patchy baldness may be scrubbed with onions till it becomes red. Follow it up by applying honey over this patch.
• Amla oil is prepared by boiling dry pieces of amla in coconut oil is an excellent hair tonic.
• Boil heena leaves in mustard oil till they are burnt, the oil can be filtered. A regular massage of this oil is helpful.
• Application of coconut milk all over the scalp and massaging it into the hair roots is also beneficial in treating hair loss.
• The seeds of lime and black pepper ground together to a fine paste helps in treating patchy baldness.
• The most effective remedy of hair loss, is vigorously rubbing of scalp with fingers after washing the hair with cold water.

Headaches

• Certain food & beverages do not cause problem for all headache sufferers, avoiding them for a while to see if this helps is worth trying
  “ The three C’s” – cheese, chocolate and citrus fruits.

1. Alcohol especially red wine.
2. Nitrites found in processed meat like ham, turkey, hot dogs, sausages.
3. Monosodium Glutamate (Ajinomoto) found in Chinese foods, canned – meat and fish.
4. Salty snack foods.
5. Caffeine – a stimulant found in coffee, tea and soft drinks.

• Avoid skipping meals. This is especially true for migraine patients as it allows the blood sugar levels to drop down there by triggering the attack. A scarf remedy has often been recommended for tension headaches.
• Wrap a scarf or a handkerchief round the head and tie a tight knot, taking care that the knot lies over the area where you have maximum pain. This often reduces the blood flow and relieves congestive headaches especially those near the temples.

Hiccups

• Give the child a spoon of granulated sugar to be swallowed dry.
• Using a spoon, tickle the back of the child’s throat causing the child to gag.
• Make the child drink a glass of water as slowly as possible. Some add a pinch of baking soda for a better effect.
• In older children if possible, make the patient hold his breath as long as he/she can or then pull out the tongue as far as possible to trigger the gag.

Mouth Ulcers

• Application of peppermint oil helps as it is an anesthetic agent.
• A few drops of coconut oil applied locally, or if one chews grated coconut often it is purported to be beneficial.
• In India, catechu (Katha) used in betel leaves (pan) gives an antiseptic effect.

Nose Bleeds

• Pinch both the nostrils close together between the thumb and the forefinger. The pressure should be applied just below the nasal bone. Keep the child upright with his head thrown back, so that the blood does not trickle back into the throat. Maintain pressure with the fingers for at least 2 minutes.
• Another method is to place a wedge of cotton inside the nostril and hold it there, at the same time keep applying the pressure outside the nostril for 5 minutes.
• Put a cotton plug soaked in liquid paraffin in the nostrils.
• Put ice pack over the bridge of the nose.

Piles

• All the specified ingredients are to be taken orally:
  • 1/2 teaspoonful of fresh ginger juice.
  • 1/2 teaspoonful of fresh lime juice.
  • 1 tablespoonful of honey.
  • 1/2 teaspoonful of mint leaves.
• Dry figs soaked in water and taken on an empty stomach are helpful.
• White radish grounded and made into a paste by adding milk can be applied over the inflamed pile masses for providing local relief.
• Consuming a mixture of honey and grated white radish is highly valuable.
• Onions are valuable in dry and bleeding piles. Apply a crushed onion which has been skinned and roasted for good results.

Pimples

• Lemon juice.
• Cucumber– leaves or grated pieces.
Turmeric
• Clove based face mask or a paste of fenugreek leaves applied overnight and washed off next morning.
• Mix 1 teaspoon of turmeric (Haldi) powder to 1 teaspoon of mint or coriander juice.Apply and wash off before retiring to bed.
• Orange peel pounded well with water and applied to affected areas is often helpful.
• Drink at least a liter of water to impart a healthy glow to the skin.

Snake Bite

• Proper rest should be administered.
• Reassurance is always handy and good for keeping the patient’s motivational level up.
• One must restrict the movement of the affected part by immobilizing it and keeping it in a functional position to minimize spread.

Then the following measures:

• Keep the wound at or below the heart level.
• The site of the wound should be wiped clean.
• Apply a bandage, preferably crepe, 2 to 4 inches above the site (towards the heart) you may also use a piece of cloth, handkerchief or string. Do Not use the band around a joint (finger or toe), head, neck or trunk.
• Wash the bite with soap and water. If you are caught at a place where nothing is available, even saliva and urine can be used for washing.

Spider & Scorpions

Tie a bandage or a tourniquet proximal to the sting and towards the heart side of the wound. This should be removed after 5 to 10 minutes. Slow the spread of poison by placing an ice pack around the wound. The objective is to keep the wound cool for about 2 hours.

Sprains

Rest should be provided to the limb and the victim should refrain from any physical activity.
Relieve the swelling by:

• Soaking the joint in cold water.
• Applying cloth soaked in ice or cold water.
• A nice pack may also be used.

Relieve pain by:

• Keeping the limb elevated.
• Taking analgesic.

Stings & Bites

Ants & Mosquitoes

• Wash the area with soap water solution.
• A paste made of baking soda and a little water can be applied.
• Application of white vinegar often helps.
• Use calamine lotion for comfort.
• In Indian households, the smoke produced as a result of burning of neem leaves in a small vessel, 1 hour prior to going to bed helps in driving away the mosquitoes.

Toothache

• Numb the pain by applying an ice pack on your cheek in line with the aching tooth. This is highly effective in case you have an infection as it reduces swelling and discomfort.
• However, some toothaches due to infection, worsen with cold packs. In these cases try a hot water bottle, a heat pack.
• If you have a cavity clean it out with a tooth pick or a bud, then plug it with cotton dipped in clove oil.
• Keep the area clean by doing saline gargles (1 teaspoonful salt added to 500 ml water).