: Life is hard. God is good. We need each other.
Has it hit your family yet this season? Cold symptoms that run you ragged and then move on to the next victim. Some combination of mucus, headache, sore throat, coughing…you know the drill.
We all have remedies we turn to. I want to share with you some of my family’s go-to remedies. I’ll bet a lot of us turn to some of the same things, but maybe you’ll find something you haven’t tried before.
I love summer. I love the freedom it brings to our schedule, and all the green, the summer camps and the warmth that soaks everything.
But I haaaaaate being hot and sweaty. The hottest I’ve ever been was in August in Louisiana getting into a car with vinyl seats that had been shut up for hours in the sun. I’m pretty sure if anyone had touched me I would have gone clinically insane.
And not only is it cooling for those hot and sweaty days, but it is an amazing soother for sunburned skin.
Have you used arnica? I don’t know of anything else that can do what it does. It has a prime spot in my medicine closet.
Let me tell you all about it.
Arnica has been used medicinally since the 1500’s. It’s a perennial with yellow-orange flowers similar to daisies. It’s the dried flower heads that are used in medicinal preparations. I think the dried flowers smell a little like chamomile.
And living in a house with three males…we have plenty of opportunity to use it!
Before I became interested in herbal remedies, I had never heard of a tincture. Maybe you haven’t, either.
Don’t let the alcohol scare you, though. It’s so concentrated, you only take a teaspoon of it at time. And if the alcohol is a real issue for you, tinctures can also be made with glycerin. I’ll give you instructions for both.
The general rule is that a teaspoon of tincture is equivalent to a cup of brewed tea.
Although I enjoy a good cup of tea now and then, it’s not my preferred method of taking remedies. I’d rather just git ‘er done, as they say.
Plus, with this Sleepy Time Tincture, I am usually using it or giving it in the middle of the night. When you’re trying to get to sleep, quicker is better.
Of all the herbs I have read about and used for first aid, I think comfrey is my favorite.
It can be useful in treating –
Abscesses – Breaks – Bruises – Burns – Cuts – Wounds – Eczema – Sprains – Ulcers – And more
Comfrey’s botanical name is Symphytum, from the Greek root sympho meaning “to make grow together”. And it has traditionally been referred to as, “The Knit-Bone Herb.”
According to my favorite book on home health care, comfrey “doubles the rate of cell growth, rapidly speeding up healing rates.”
Doubles the rate of cell growth!
Rapidly speeding up healing rates!
Hands down the biggest thing I get asked about regarding herbal remedies is my Healing Salve. I always have some in my purse and on our bathroom counter. I give it as gifts and have taught others how to make their own.
It works fantastically for cuts, scrapes, hangnails, chapped lips, burns, diaper rash, general rashes, eczema, chafing, and just about anything skin-wise that you’re not sure what to do with.
This is not difficult to make! I even included a printable recipe for you at the bottom of this post. (And I’m super excited to tell you that you can now purchase This Herbal Salve at The Sparrow’s Home shop!)