Frugal Homemade Remedies

Got the sniffles or your head is hurting? No need to head to one of the mega drug stores and pay a fortune in over-the-counter medications. Many of the ailments that plague us and our kids on a regular basis can be treated with some frugal homemade remedies.

Disclaimer – I am not a health care professional, just a regular person sharing some old-fashioned tips. Use at your own risk. When in doubt, please see your doctor or other health care professional with any questions or concerns.

Headache

As soon as you start to feel a headache coming on, drink a big glass of cool water. Headaches are often a sign of dehydration in which case the liquid will help better than an aspirin.

If you don’t catch it in time, or the water didn’t help, try wetting a cloth and adding a few drops of mint oil to it. Lay the cool, wet cloth over your forehead, close your eyes and relax for a few minutes.

Cough

Heat some milk and stir a spoon full of honey in it and sip slowly. Right before bed, when coughing usually gets worse, you may want to take a spoon full of honey. It will coat the throat and stop the cough – Don’t give raw honey to children under the age of 2 though.

Get some Vicks (generic works fine) Rub, rub it on the bottom of your feet and put on a pair of socks. Then hop in the bed. The coughing should stop within about 15 minutes.

Get a cold, wet washcloth and put it on over your throat, then cover it with a dry towel.

Cold

Good old fashioned chicken soup is always my first choice. Be sure to  breath in the steam from the hot soup… it’ll help open up your sinuses.

Another excellent remedy is to take the juice of a lemon and mix it with a cup of hot water and honey to taste. The honey will sooth a sore throat, the steam coming out of the cup will make your sinuses feel better and the vitamin C in the lemon helps your immune system.

Other than that plenty of fluids and rest should get you better in no time.

Sore Throat

Gargle with either garlic tea (press up to 6 cloves of garlic into some very warm water), or sage tea (steep sage leaves in boiling water for a few minutes… take the sage out and allow the tea to cool a bit.

Keep your throat covered with a cloth or scarf.

Drink some hot milk with honey to sooth the throat.

Ear Ache

Chop up a piece of onion, wrap it in some cheese cloth or a thin kitchen towel and place it on the ear. This works best if you’re laying on your side with the hurt ear up and then lay the onion on it.

Insect Bite

Get a solid deodorant stick and rub it on the insect bite.

Chew some parsley and put it on the bite. Takes the sting out within a few seconds.

Poison Ivy / Oak Rash

Take the rind of a watermelon and rub it on the rash.

Nausea

Drink some warm peppermint tea, eat some licorice or eat some ginger. Gingersnaps and candied ginger work well.

Fever

Get in a slightly cool bath. The cool water will help get your body temperature down. Alternatively you can make cool towel compresses. Dip a hand towel in cool water, wring it out and wrap it around your calves. Cover it with a larger dry towel. Repeat for the other leg. Rewet the towels with cool water as needed.

Make some linden flower tea and sip about 4 cups a day to get your fever down.

I’m sure there are plenty more homemade remedies out there that our mothers and grandmothers have relied on for years and years. Feel free to share the ones you know of as a comment below.