Tips and Tricks - Home Remedies

I am sharing some home remedies that I have heard over the years from my aunts, friends, colleagues, and neighbors. The contributors of each of these remedies swore by their effectiveness and the degree of their conviction would put any amount of scientific data to shame. I am noting down my experience on the effectiveness of the ones that I have tried.

1. Rubbing sandalwood oil on chicken pox scars makes them go away completely. Contributor specified that it is only effective for new scars. Does not work on old scars. (My experience: Seems to work :))

2. A pinch of rock salt (kala namak) and a spoonful of ajwain boiled together in a cup of water relieves gas and bloating. (My experience: Really works for me :) )

3. One amla (Indian gooseberry) a day builds immunity and protects against colds and coughs. (My experience: I recall my mother giving us one amla murrabba (gooseberry preserved in sugar syrup) every day in winters. Don’t recall the effectiveness but this one makes sense because amla is a known rich source of Vitamin C, which is known to protect against common cold :))

4. A paste of ground red gram (masoor daal) and egg yolk applied regularly keeps skin soft and glowing and reduces acne scars. (My experience: Used for about 6 months. Seems to work :) )

5. Dried and powdered orange peels make an excellent face pack that keeps skin soft, glowing and free from all skin problems. (My experience: My roommate used this one regularly and it seemed to work very well for her :) )

6. Eating drumsticks and Bitter gourd (karela) builds immunity and can protect you from an impending infection. (My experience: Once tried eating drumsticks daily to avoid going down with seasonal flu. Did not work :( Maybe very long term use is required )

7. Putting few drops of mustard oil regularly in your nostrils provides relief from allergic rhinitis. (My experience: Have not tried regularly enough to comment, but it makes sense to me because the oil would probably form a layer and maybe that can control dust allergy :) )

8. A paste of fuller’s earth (multani mitti) applied daily on the face reduces acne. (My experience: Did not work at all. Made my skin dry, itchy and the pimples looked red and much worse. But I know a dozen people who say it worked for them, so I guess it depends on your skin type :) )

9. If you want to get rid of a zit/ pimple fast, crush some black pepper and apply on top of the pimple. (My experience: Itches and burns like hell. Had to wash off immediately before it could possibly work. I don’t recommend trying this one :) )

How to deal with Throat Infection

I live in Bangalore and Bangalore is little prone to Allergy and Infection. I keep a lot care of myself but throat infection keeps happening with me. So I am gonna share my experience of treating with throat infection.

There are multiple types of Throat infections such as Viral Infection, Pharyngitis, Tonsillitis, Strep throat but the most common is Viral, Strep and Pharyngitis. Different type of infections can be caused by different viruses and bacterias.

Symptoms are throat infections are :

1. Sore throat/Throat pain

2. Mild fever

3. Difficulty in swallowing

4. Headache

5. Body ache

Treatment:

The most important thing is first to do is Gargling. Gargling can be done with warm water and put a pinch of salt, but if your throat is highly infected better to use "Betadine" liquid, put some 3-4ml in 300ml water. If you don't have Betadine, you can use Dispirine tablet also. In fact in my cases my throat was once badly infected, then I put 2 Dispirine tablet in warm water and let is dissolve properly and I did gargling 2-3 times and magically throat inflammation came down pretty fast.

Apart from gargling, You can try these medicines :

1. Some Anti-Inflammatory : Nimesulide (but this banned now), so try Paracetamol + Ibuprofen (comes as Combiflam), only Ibuprofen wasn't effective in case of regular sore throat or higher level of infection.

2. Some Anti-Infective: Like Azytrhomycin or Amoxicilin or Cefpodoxime(cephalosporin). Azythromycin is moderately good one to use, but in case Azythromycin is not working use Cefpodoxime.

3. Any Antacid : Like Rantac (after meal) or Omez (Before meal) - Actually If you take antibiotic or Anti-Inflammatory it can cause Gastritis, so Antacid is necessary otherwise it's not required.

Apart from drugs, you should consume more Vitamin C rich foods like Orange, mausmbi, Lemon, Grape, Juice, Guava which will help to strengthen your immunity system that will help in recovering you fast. But if you have got fever also eat good amount of Apple and Pomegranate, that helps in your building energy reservoir. 

Wish you all the best :)

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Disclaimer: This post for your information only and not intended to replace your relationship with your treating physician.