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HERBAL REMEDIES :
There are as many different
kinds of herbal remedies as there are regions, reason being is simple.
Nature provided different herbs for use in healing for every region,
so a curry based remedy in India will work just as well as say, a
chamomile based remedy in England.
Herbal remedies are often used in conjunction with acupuncture to
relieve a wide variety of ailments, and there are thousands of tea
variations for ailments as well, but for this article we're going
to stick to herbal remedies like poultices rather than teas, and try
to stick with the ones which can be found in a local herb shop.
Unless you are very good at growing your own herbs, you should buy
them from an herbalist, at least until you've had a lot of practice
at growing your own. Herbs can vary in strength greatly due to the
temperature and way in which they are grown, so in order to get the
right strength it is suggested you use apothecary herbs at first.
(All are to be taken externally)
Here is a list of common ailments and the herbal remedy that anyone
can use, to get you started:
Acne: One of the best acne remedies is to rub a half a cut clove of
garlic on your face after washing it, but because most people don't
want to smell like garlic, the next best remedy is to mix 1:10 lavender
with witch hazel. Witch hazel is a natural astringent, and lavender
has healing properties. You can use tea tree oil in place of lavender
if the person is male; it smells a little more masculine and works
just as well.
Anxiety: Lavender again, only this time get pure essential oil (also
available at your local co op or herb shop) and make a compress of
it for use on your forehead. A compress is made by heating a small
amount of oil and soaking piece of cotton cloth in it, and then squeezing
it out and folding it across your forehead-or affected area-when the
compress goes cold, repeat the process until you are feeling better.
Bruises can be relieved by using Hyssop leaves and flowers and boiling
them into a tincture. Strain the liquid from the leaves and flowers
and soak a strip of cotton in it to make a compress, and then press
the compress over the bruise, pressing and stroking the area. This
is a little uncomfortable, but the combination of hyssop and heat
as well as pressure will help get the blood moving again, thus lessening
the bruise.
Minor burns; No doubt you've heard of using comfrey as a poultice
for burns, but you can also use pure aloe juice. Just rub aloe juice
onto the affected area and keep it clean and dry, except for the aloe.
Comfrey can be made into a burn cream by crushing the stems and flowers
into a fine powder (two ounces), and then mixing it with two ounces
of beeswax which you have melted in a double boiler. Add one cup of
vegetable oil and a little water. Simmer for twenty minutes and add
a drop of benzoic as a preservative (also available at the co op.)
Strain through cheese cloth into sterilized jars.
Warts: It is a common old wives tale to place cut pieces of garlic
under a bandage and directly on top of warts. It also works, because
the garlic is so acidic that it literally eats away at the wart, (well,
the virus that causes them,) however, there's that smelly garlic remedy
again, try using fresh dandelion juice applied several times daily.
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