Monday 20 April 2015

What's in your medicine cabinet

We watched this programme a short while ago and hopefully, this link is correct and you can still view it for another 22 days here

We regularly go through our cabinet (bedside draw!), getting rid of anything out of date but as the years have gone by, we realise we need less and less things in there and old fashioned remedies really do work.

All we really need for coughs (those associated with colds and sore throats and which are not infectious requiring a visit to the doctor for medicine) is honey, lemon and hot water.. Mind you, before bedtime I'll gargle with neat whisky or brandy, then the honey and lemon!

Tired aching muscles - forget all the rub on stuff, temperature probes deep in the skin revealed they only affect the skin and apparently don't seem to reach the muscle itself - just have a hot or a cold bath.

Painkillers targeting different parts of the body - apparently not needed as all pain killers reach all muscles, delivered via the blood once the stomach has finished working on it. You only need basic painkillers, whichever you are able to tolerate.

For indigestion/heartburn, a well known brand beginning with G which comes in anise/mint flavour, really works but only after meals. The test he did was impressive. Other than that, chalk (calcium) tablets to suck/chew work well for indigestion without heartburn.

From other programmes I have also learnt that apparently, 1 teaspoon of salt in 1 pint of hot water to dissolve it, can be sprayed or applied as a couple of drips up the nose (laying down head tilted up) to relieve congestion for a cold and other maladies. Store in the fridge once cold and make fresh every few days.

Steam inhalations also helps you breathe through your nose  - a few drops of an appropriate essential oil can relax and make it smell nice.

There you have it, simple but effective. Our medicine cabinet will become smaller as things run out not to be replaced.

I wish someone would do a programme on face creams and hand lotions to see what we really need to be using rather than the huge price required to buy things which may/may not be really effective.

I wonder how all the companies that make these products felt about this programme?





20 comments:

  1. This is fascinating. I am trying to cut back on stuff- had a good clear out when we moved house in January.
    I gargle with a solution of soluble aspirin and water when I have a sore throat and find that helps me, and drink honey and lemon in hot water.
    Not sure I agree with the muscle thing- recently have had muscle problem and Bob's massaged Volt*rol into the affected area by my shoulder. I suspect it is the massaging that has been most helpful, but the gel seems to help [is that just psychosomatic tho - it works because Ib*leve it will!!]
    I use boots own version of G - but try hard not to eat the rich foods that cause the indigestion in the first place.
    Traditional Plink Plink Fizz help when I feel nauseous.
    Interested in your comments re nasal solution - my Asian friends in Leicester all used Neti pots for this purpose.
    I will try and catch up with the programme- I meant to watch it and forgot, thankyou for the reminder!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See note to Lizzie regarding Neti pots. The programme is interesting.

      Delete
  2. When the children were at uni they used to ring up with coughs/colds/etcs/ And my stock reply was drink plenty of water take paracetamol and go to bed early - works for most things!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think most things will be helped by that advice and also, don't go out and spread the germs if possible.

      Delete
  3. Neti pots are really great but not when you have a cold; just spreads the infection and always discard the saline solution that is left in the pot. I use asprin and plenty of water for aches and pains.
    I dont think sales of over-the-counter medicines will decrease; just the opposite. Folk LOVE their patent medicines.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had never heard of Neti pots and having now read about them, wouldn't use them, sound disgusting and unhygienic! We make a pint of saline water (using boiled water to cool after salt added). A small amount is placed in an egg cup. The rest is stored in a clean jar in the fridge for 2 days maximum. One cotton wool ball is dipped in the egg cup and mostly squeezed out. 2 or 3 drops from that cotton ball, held away from the nostril, are then dropped into it. New ball for other nostril. Egg cup then washed. If at any time the ball or hand touches the nostril, everything is discarded, hands washed again etc. Usually only applied once or twice at the most before nose is clear.

      Delete
  4. I always used to wonder 'how do headache pills know to only go to your head?'. It stands to reason that any painkiller you swallow is going to travel round your body in your bloodstream. I gave up buying branded painkillers years ago.....stopped buying cough medicines years ago too when our GP said none of them were particularly effective and you may as well just suck a boiled sweet!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Absolutely endorse everything you've written, Dc. My go-to for that tickle, warning throat, is sage leaves chopped finely added to good honey and eaten slowly. Lots of garlic! And the inhalation and nasal drops is also tried and tested. We don't need half the stuff they would have us buy!! Lxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Might try sage and honey next time. Common sense seems to be the order of the day but unfortunately, everyone's idea of common sense differs. Having been a nurse I understand, like you, the necessity of cleanliness.

      Delete
  6. A Neti-pot is the best thing for unclogging your nose and recommended by our doctor. The water that is used is first boiled and left to cool' then the salt is added to it. Everything is discarded after use. If you have solution left over you either made too much or didn't use enough. The pot, after use, is put in boiling water to sterilize ready for next use. Nothing disgusting or unhygienic about it imho!! You sure can breath through your nose after you use it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree with you some if the claims these drug companies make are unbelievable and that's because they're stretching the truth. I use a nasal wash for my sinuses and hayfever. Hot lemon and paracetamol for most other things. There was a program a while ago and they looked at paracetamol that cost £1.89 and one that cost 29p and proved they are identical. Apparently packets carry codes and the codes will be the same regardless of price.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bad really isn't it, they seem to rely on us not knowing these things.

      Delete
  8. Hot lemon and paracetamol ,Lemon and honey, for colds and coughs, bicarb of soda for heartburn, ibuprofen and a hot bath for muscular, I never buy anything other than supermarket brand. As for face cream I use B**ts vitamin e cream at £2:49 or Ald! At £1:99 and if I run out a bit of handcream does the job too. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amazing how most of us are using 'old fashioned' everyday things.

      Delete
  9. Rennies - A draw full with my tummy! I have got hand cream for when my hands start to crack.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope your doctor has checked that out for you, permanent indigestion is not good.

      Delete
  10. The only pharmaceutical medicine we buy is distilled wychhazel for sprains and ordinary soluble aspirin for my husband's migraine - if he catches one in time it saves a whole day of agony. I make all my own remedies from the herbs I grow - elderberry elixir and fire cider vinegar for colds and flu, sage and thyme elixir for my husband's coughs. I have various different herbs for different types of coughs. Gargle with sage tea for sore throats and use it for upset aching teeth as well. I make various salves for different applications - calendula for basic skin care, plantain/yarrow for bruises, St John's wort and aloevera with honey as a cream for sunburn. I keep an aloe vera plant and St John's wort available for burns and chamomile and elderflower "waters" for hot ezcema or reducing heat on a burn. I make my own after bath moisturiser with horsechestnut, comfrey and calendula and occassionally make a rose cream if I have time and inclination. I use plantain spit poultices for stings and insect bites in the garden and field, honey and oil dressings for burns, chickweed poultices for inflamed eczema or psoriosis and will mostly use bits of clean old cotton sheet rather than buy dressing covers. Fresh yarrow poultices are great for bruises. I use thyme tea as a sterile wash. Bramble root vinegar for upset tummies, meadowsweet tea for indigestion. Various herbs for aches and pains, both externally and internally. All the things I have mentioned are really easy to grow, harvest and use. I make everything in my kitchen and teach others how to do things themselves.

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from you, will read all your comments and try and answer any questions you leave. Please leave comments in English. Don't forget to come back and read my reply! All comments are moderated so if you try to link it to a commercial web site, it will not be published.