Tag Archives: natural remedies

sick

I hate my nose and my nose hates me!

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If I have a medical “thing” it would definitely be my sinuses. I feel guilty any time I mention it,  because I feel like its ALL I TALK ABOUT sometimes. Sinuses, sinuses, sinuses. But, its a legitimate issue, and this weekend it sidelined me hard.

I almost always have issues of some sort with my sinuses, and it seems to be a constant battle to avoid it developing into an infection. And all my time fighting, I can always tell when I am starting to lose the battle because I get this awful, awful, awful, disgusting smell in my nose. And it gets bad enough that even my husband can smell it across the room from me. And it comes down to my sinuses needing some serious TLC again.

There is a definite connection between my sinuses and dairy. Which stinks because I kinda love cheese and sour cream and all those goodies. So any time I start getting sinus-y, I try to cut out cheese as much as possible. (Though sometimes, I just can’t resist! And then I pay for it.)

Tillamook Cheese
I love cheese, but it most certainly does not love me much of the time.

 So, I’ve taken to using almond milk, and if I have Starbucks, I order it with Soy. I look for things with the least amount of cheese when we go out, or I request it be removed. (Though when it comes to Mexican food, it better be a cheesy mess!)

I discovered a fabulous tonic of apple cider vinegar, water and honey that I use regularly. It’s helped drag me through countless sinus attacks, and I swear by it today. I wish I’d known of it years ago!

One thing I was introduced to over five years ago is the neti pot:

198: Neti Pot
Neti pot -- brilliance!

I had a monster sinus infection, and the doctor I saw suggested I get a neti pot. I’ve not looked back since. I use it regularly, and its helped drag me through many allergy and sinus attacks. I consider it a key piece in my arsenal against my own nose.

Steam is good, too. So I tend to take a lot of showers and/or baths when I am all stuffed up. My mom has this great steam thing that I used a lot the last couple of days.

115: Condensation
Open up my sinuses with steam, please!

Unfortunately its positive effects were shorter lived than anything else I tried. But it sure did feel good while I was using it!

I do use Advil, Sudafed and Muscinex to help me get through as well. This weekend it got bad enough that I was introduced to Afrin nose spray. Miracle drug! One I don’t plan to use a lot, but man it made a huge difference.

I can generally stand a stuffy nose. Generally. Its almost a fact of life for me at times. But what I hate is when its definitely something more to it. When I just feel achy and my appetite is gone. When I want to sleep, but can’t breathe when I lay down so I CAN’T sleep. When you just wish you could run a fever and maybe knock it all out. Or perhaps just cut your whole head off and replace it with a new one.

That was me this weekend. As I write this, I feel better. Hopefully on the mend finally. I am still taking a few of the medicines, and the neti pot regularly. The rest I’ve let drop off as I’ve improved. I think I can handle it from here. I think.

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“Natural remedies” that I’ve found work

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When I am at a loss of how to handle something, I often think to myself, “Humans thousands of years ago didn’t have the modern conveniences that we have today. They figured out how to handle this; I will, too.”

Granted, thousands of years ago the human life expectancy was nothing like it is today, and there’s something to be said about where science has brought us. However, sometimes those old natural remedies just WORK.

I have three that I’ve found to work fairly consistently, and I thought I’d share them today…

Neti Pot

198: Neti PotThere seemed to be a resurgence in the Neti Pot about the same time I was introduced to this old sinus remedy.

In October of 2007, I came down with the most horrific sinus infection of my life. My entire left cheek became swollen, and the doctor I saw worried about an abscess and it being so close to the brain. I was in bad shape.

She suggested I try a Neti Pot. I looked at her like she was a little crazy, and I never believed I’d really be able to do it. I could not imagine using this contraption that looked like a gravy boat to run salt water in one nostril and out the other. Was she crazy!? My brain my start to float or something!

Instead, I’ve discovered it to be one of my best friends. It’s dragged me through several other sinus infections, and I firmly believe its helped me avoid getting one all together. Any time I help mow the lawn or if we are in an exceptionally smokey bar, I use it to clear out my sinuses. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone with any sinus troubles. (You can find where to order one in my “Favorite things” widget on the right sidebar.

Garlic for a tooth ache

GarlicIt was Valentine’s Day 2008, and I got the worst tooth ache. I wanted to just cry! I wanted to go out with my husband, not lay on the couch in misery.

A little searching online for natural remedies, and I discovered the suggestion to put a garlic clove on the tooth. I was extremely skeptical, but it was better than nothing. Much to my surprise, the garlic clove trick (combine with a salt water rinse) WORKED! A day later, I had NO pain whatsoever. I was shocked!

I’ve used the trick several times since then. Only ONCE did it not work, but I blame it on the infection in the tooth just being too much for the garlic to work anymore. Penicillin had to be called into action that time. Yuck. BUT every other time I’ve had even a twinge of discomfort, I’ll turned to the garlic cloves natural antibiotic properties.

This doesn’t replace a dentist of course! I am not saying that at all. I’m just saying that when its the weekend, or you just flat out can’t afford an emergency dental visit, this IS a good natural remedy. I’d also highly recommend using a salt water rinse in addition to the garlic. It just seems to help move things along.

Vinegar for fruit flies

VinegarThis last week, my house has had a crazy “infestation” of fruit flies. I could not figure out where they were coming from. I don’t have any fruit nor any house plants for them to be in. I keep a clean kitchen. They seemed to just be EVERYWHERE.

Again, I did a search for natural remedies. The one that kept popping up was a bowl of apple cider vinegar with lemon Palmolive set on a cabinet or table. It would draw the flies to it, and as they landed to try for the lemon that they sense from the Palmolive, they instead get caught in the vinegar and die.

Well, I had regular vinegar and orange juice instead. To my amazement, IT WORKED. Over night, I came back and found five dead fruit flies floating in my concoction. I also noticed I didn’t see any flying around.

I later went and got apple cider vinegar, but the store was out of lemon Palmolive. So I picked up orange instead. My new mixture hasn’t caught any dead bugs, but I definitely no longer have any fruit flies. At all!  It may not have caught anything, but it seems to have run them off!

So, vinegar to get rid of fruit flies… try it!!

By the way, there are a TON of good uses for vinegar. I’ve also used it to clean my microwave and coffee pot. I’ve combined it with baking soda to make a gritty paste to clean food stuck on dishes, etc. without scratching them up. Baking soda also makes a great tooth paste if you’re out of tooth paste. It also helps you take smells out of carpet when used prior to vacuuming.

Lots of fun natural remedies out there to try… what are some of your favorites?