Summertime solutions Nine homemade cures for summer symptoms.
Summer brings sunshine, swimming pools and soft breezes — and also bug bites, sunburn and skin rashes. It's a season of sensual pleasures and annoying ailments. Luckily, many summer health problems can be treated with items you already have at home, so you can go out and enjoy the beautiful weather. Old-fashioned remedies — the homemade cures your great aunt swears by — are often effective in treating minor illnesses that don't appear to be serious or life-threatening, according to Charles Inlander, president of the People's Medical Society, a consumer health care advocacy organization. Just remember this caveat, urges Inlander: 'If the homemade solution doesn't work or if the condition gets worse, you should call your doctor.'
We asked dozens of health experts — from doctors to midwives — to recommend simple household treatments that really, truly work. Here are some of their favorites.
Outer-ear infection (aka swimmer's ear): Spending too much time in the pool can lead to this ailment, caused when waterborne bacteria get trapped in your ear. To clear it up, put a few drops of a mixture of one part white vinegar and one part rubbing alcohol into your ear. Wait a few minutes, then tip your head and let the liquid trickle out. Repeat three times daily. This solution restores the natural acid balance of the ear canal.
Nausea/motion sickness: Boating got you green around the gills? Ginger, a great all-around stomach-settler, has been found to be as effective as the over-the-counter drug Dramamine for combating motion sickness. Try ****ing on crystallized ginger candy or make ginger tea by pouring boiling water over chopped fresh ginger and adding a little brown sugar.
Heat rash: If you get red and itchy under your arms or breasts on a hot day, sprinkle a little cornstarch on the affected area. Unlike talc, which is made of fine crystals that can actually irritate skin, cornstarch is silky smooth and can help absorb the excess moisture that is causing the rash.
Bee and jellyfish stings: Although your first instinct may be to put ice on a throbbing sting, you should instead apply a paste of unseasoned meat tenderizer and water. (With a bee sting, pinch the skin first to make sure you get the stinger out.) Tenderizer contains an enzyme called papain, which breaks down the toxins in bee venom and jellyfish cells.
Poison ivy/poison oak/poison sumac: Exposure to one of these plants is no walk in the park. To soothe the rash (which may appear within two days to two weeks after exposure), apply a cold milk compress for five to 10 minutes.
Sunburn: You dozed off poolside, and now your skin is the color of a lobster. Although experts are unsure why, an oatmeal bath can help soothe skin and reduce inflammation. Fill your tub with tepid water, then grind a cup of dry instant oatmeal in a blender or food processor and scatter it in the water. (Finely ground oatmeal will seep into your skin more effectively.)
Vaginal itching: Yeast thrives in warm, muggy weather, which means that you're more vulnerable to a yeast infection — a condition characterized by itching, discharge and burning — in the summer. To treat external itching associated with yeast infections, switch to cotton underwear and try rubbing an olive-oil-soaked cotton swab on the affected area, from front to back.
Toenail fungus: Don't let a case of nail fungus make you give up strappy sandals. Prescription medication used to clear up this condition can take up to a year to work, but many people swear that Vicks VapoRub gets rid of yellow, gross-looking toenails after just a few weeks of application. Experts aren't sure why Vicks might do the trick, though they note that camphor, one of the main ingredients, has antifungal properties.
Sweaty feet: Soak your tootsies in strong tea. The tannic acid in tea has astringent properties, which are thought to have an antiperspirant effect.
We asked dozens of health experts — from doctors to midwives — to recommend simple household treatments that really, truly work. Here are some of their favorites.
Outer-ear infection (aka swimmer's ear): Spending too much time in the pool can lead to this ailment, caused when waterborne bacteria get trapped in your ear. To clear it up, put a few drops of a mixture of one part white vinegar and one part rubbing alcohol into your ear. Wait a few minutes, then tip your head and let the liquid trickle out. Repeat three times daily. This solution restores the natural acid balance of the ear canal.
Nausea/motion sickness: Boating got you green around the gills? Ginger, a great all-around stomach-settler, has been found to be as effective as the over-the-counter drug Dramamine for combating motion sickness. Try ****ing on crystallized ginger candy or make ginger tea by pouring boiling water over chopped fresh ginger and adding a little brown sugar.
Heat rash: If you get red and itchy under your arms or breasts on a hot day, sprinkle a little cornstarch on the affected area. Unlike talc, which is made of fine crystals that can actually irritate skin, cornstarch is silky smooth and can help absorb the excess moisture that is causing the rash.
Bee and jellyfish stings: Although your first instinct may be to put ice on a throbbing sting, you should instead apply a paste of unseasoned meat tenderizer and water. (With a bee sting, pinch the skin first to make sure you get the stinger out.) Tenderizer contains an enzyme called papain, which breaks down the toxins in bee venom and jellyfish cells.
Poison ivy/poison oak/poison sumac: Exposure to one of these plants is no walk in the park. To soothe the rash (which may appear within two days to two weeks after exposure), apply a cold milk compress for five to 10 minutes.
Sunburn: You dozed off poolside, and now your skin is the color of a lobster. Although experts are unsure why, an oatmeal bath can help soothe skin and reduce inflammation. Fill your tub with tepid water, then grind a cup of dry instant oatmeal in a blender or food processor and scatter it in the water. (Finely ground oatmeal will seep into your skin more effectively.)
Vaginal itching: Yeast thrives in warm, muggy weather, which means that you're more vulnerable to a yeast infection — a condition characterized by itching, discharge and burning — in the summer. To treat external itching associated with yeast infections, switch to cotton underwear and try rubbing an olive-oil-soaked cotton swab on the affected area, from front to back.
Toenail fungus: Don't let a case of nail fungus make you give up strappy sandals. Prescription medication used to clear up this condition can take up to a year to work, but many people swear that Vicks VapoRub gets rid of yellow, gross-looking toenails after just a few weeks of application. Experts aren't sure why Vicks might do the trick, though they note that camphor, one of the main ingredients, has antifungal properties.
Sweaty feet: Soak your tootsies in strong tea. The tannic acid in tea has astringent properties, which are thought to have an antiperspirant effect.
