10 Home Remedies

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday [www.pbs.gov.ph]

1. Use elbow to test a tepid bath for the baby. When testing the proper bath temperature, immerse your elbow for a couple of seconds to feel if a bath is just right – not too warm nor too cold. The finger is not as sensitive to do this test. Next time you bathe your baby, try this useful tip.

2. Corn silk tea is good for the kidney. When boiling green corn, include the inner husk and the silk as old folks do. Add water than normally needed. Drink the decoction like tea.  It is an effective diuretic. But how can we make it available when we need it?

Sister Corazon C. Loquellano, RVM, in a masteral thesis at UST came up with corn tea in sachet.  Just powder dried corn silk and pack it in sachet like ordinary tea. The indication of good quality is that, a six-percent infusion should have a clear amber color with the characteristic aroma of sweet corn.  It has an  acidity of about 6 pH. You may add sugar to suit your taste.

3.  Warm water soothes itchy and sore throat, arrest coughing. 

Don’t take medicated drops or syrup for your itchy or sore throat. All you need is warm water which you sip now and then to relieve your throat and stop your coughing.  Have a thermos at hand.  Just add to tap water the same amount of hot water to come up with an approximate temperature of 50 to 60 degrees Celsius. Drink warm water liberally to replace water loss and restore metabolite balance while helping the body eliminate waste and toxin.   

4. When you cut your hand, raise it above the level of your heart to minimize bleeding. Following the law of gravity that “water seeks its own level,” elevate your wounded hand higher than your heart to reduce flow of blood, keep calm and focus on how to get first aid. You may lower your arm as blood clots and seal your wound. 

5. Gulat ang gamut sa sinok. To stop hiccup, jolt the person. Now and then anyone may fall into a pit of hiccup for reasons not well understood even in the medical field.  But as sudden and unpredictable it came, just by jolting the person is enough to terminate hiccup. 

This is what you can do to help your friend in a pit. The first remedy is to give him water. If this does not work, gently massage the back of his head.  If still this does not work, secretly time the interval of his hiccup.  Jolt him up real good coinciding with the next hiccup.  Pronto! The hiccup is gone.

6. Garlic is remedy for heart burn and gas pain. This is an old remedy I learned from my auntie when I was a kid. Anyone is predisposed to suffer of colic pain and heart burn which are usually associated with tension, indigestion, and sudden change of weather. And sufferers are of all ages.  Try this folk remedy.

Roast four cloves of garlic under low heat. While still warm place them in a pair of bandage made of gauze or strip of cloth, and wrap each around the large toes with the garlic placed well below the toe nail. Allow the garlic for a couple of hours or overnight to draw out the trapped gas in the chest cavity that causes heart burn, and colic gas in the stomach and intestine. It is effective.  Try it.

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7. Makahiya is remedy for colds, cough, fever and flu. Who would believe this extremely shy plant to be a potent cure? Gather some ten fresh mature leaves of makahiya (Mimosa pudica), boil for five minute in two cups of water in clay or stainless pot. Allow the decoction to cool before drinking it. Take it twice or thrice a day.

8.  Kakawate or madre de cacao poultice relieves inflammation and hematoma. 

Old folks simply make a poultice from the leaves of this leguminous tree, Gliricida sepium.   It is applied on the swollen area caused by hematoma, sprain, and infection until the inflammation subsides. This remedy is not popular because of the nauseating odor of kakawate. It is this characteristic odor that makes the plant an effective remedy for skin disorder (galis) in pets caused by licks, lice and flea. 

9. Sterilize handkerchief with hot iron and use it as  bandage.

In an emergency case, or for home use, this is what you can do. Get a clean handkerchief and iron it repeatedly at high temperature for a duration of three to five minutes. This will kill any pathogen like Staphyloccocus which is a major cause of infection. 

To save on energy, prepare two or three handkerchiefs simultaneously. Allow the sterilized handkerchief to cool and use it like any bandage. ~

10. Press the base of the nail of the large toe to wake an unconscious person.

First, place the patient in a comfortable position, loosen his clothes for better blood circulation, and be sure he gets fresh air. It is a common practice to fan an unconscious person or to keep him warm if he is cold. Using your thumb slowly press the base of the large toe and watch for signs that the patient is coming back to consciousness. First he stirs, pulls his leg away from your hold (if he senses pain), then takes a deep breath which is usually accompanied by moan. Release your hold.  Repeat until he becomes fully conscious. If he does not respond, press harder but be gentle.  Try the other large toe. If there is no response immediately sought for medical attention. Remember that prolonged unconsciousness endangers the patient to harm complications.~