first aid Archives - The Sparrow's Home

Tinctures: One of the Most Effective Ways to Take Herbal Medicine

January 29, 2018 by Susan 3 Comments

What are your thoughts on herbal teas?

I like them okay. And if I’m in just the right mood, they can be a soothing and wonderful way to reap the benefits of herbal remedies. More often than not, though, I am not in just the right mood. Or I simply don’t want to take the time to brew and sip a cup.

Enter tinctures.

Tinctures are so easy to make and take that I kind of take for granted that not everyone is familiar with them. Tincture is a weird sounding word, isn’t it? Usually, when I talk about them with people I simply call them ‘herbal medicine’.

Homemade Bath Salts Using Your Empty Essential Oil Bottles

February 8, 2017 by Susan 9 Comments

Homemade bath salts are a frugal way to pamper yourself. I have always enjoyed a hot, relaxing bath but didn’t realize how much until we moved into a house with the worst bathtub in existence. I took exactly one bath in it.

Then, about a year ago, we decided to tear out a creepy, never-once-used shower in our basement bathroom and put in (do you hear the angels singing?) a soaking tub.

I am a simple girl and don’t require a jetted spa tub or anything so fancy. Just give me a nice deep tub that I can ease down into and soak, maybe a few candles, and some sweet music to listen to and I’m all set.

Bubbles are always nice, but not necessary. The real therapy comes in the form of these easy to put together bath salts.

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Sniffles and Sneezes and Coughs, Oh My!

October 17, 2016 by Susan 15 Comments

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.

DIY After-Sun Cooling Spray

June 27, 2016 by Susan 2 Comments

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.

I could’ve used this cooling spray. I would’ve paid big for this cooling spray.

And not only is it cooling for those hot and sweaty days, but it is an amazing soother for sunburned skin.

Comfrey: Get this Herb a Cape

April 26, 2016 by Susan 2 Comments

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!

So really, it’s kind of like the Superhero of the medicinal herb world.

Herbal Healing Salve

April 18, 2016 by Susan 10 Comments

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.