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Uncommon home remedies

Have you seen that movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”? The Greek father has a hilarious compulsion to treat all human illnesses with a spray of Windex! That’s right, the window cleaner. He had never heard of using Windex for anything other than cleaning windows, but if it works, I’m guessing it’s because the alcohol did the trick, since alcohol is an antiseptic.

Now, don’t spray Windex on yourself, especially not internally! I wouldn’t want him to end up in the ER having to tell the staff that he tried to take his sore throat out with Windex. He may be held longer than he expected in a more secure wing of the hospital.

As silly as the whole scenario sounds, as long as there have been cuts, bruises, bug bites, nail fungus, bad breath, and a host of other minor human ailments, there have been some wacky remedies for them.

So, in a slighter departure from my usual advice to you, I’d like to share some of these uncommon home remedies with you here that may find work for you.

Toenail fungus: How about Vick’s Vaporub? Yes, it is said that to eliminate toenail fungus there is the Vick’s Vaporub of yesteryear. After thoroughly cleaning the affected feet and nails, rub some Vicks Vaporub on the nails. Do this every day for 2 weeks and see the improvement. The menthol in Vicks suffocates the fungus and kills it.

Warts: Do you have warts? Do you have duct tape? Yes, duct tape. It really works to remove them. In a study published in the Archives of Adolescent Medicine, duct tape removed 85% of warts, compared to 60% with freezing. Cut a small piece of tape, stick it over the wart, remove it in 3 days, and use a nail file or pumice stone to remove dead skin. Repeat if necessary.

Toothache: Until you can get to your dentist, soak a cotton ball or swab in vanilla extract and apply it directly to the tooth for immediate pain relief. Rinsing your mouth with a little hydrogen peroxide in water (don’t swallow!) will kill bacteria in infected dental tissues.

Hiccup: Swallow 1 teaspoon of regular table sugar for quick hiccup relief.

foot odour: Bathe your feet in Vodka or Gin. Alcohol kills bacteria and dehydrates moisture from the skin that allows fungal growth.

bread board: Raisins soaked in gin are said to relieve arthritic joint pain. 2 cups golden raisins, 1 cup juniper berry gin. Place grapes in glass container; to gin over them covering them completely. Let soak for 10 days at room temperature. Eat 10 grapes soaked in gin per day.

Tension headache: When you’re stressed, you tend to clench your jaw and create a lot of tension in your temporalis muscles. This can create a tension headache. Put a pencil between your back teeth, but don’t bite down on it. This forces the jaw muscle to relax and the headache subsides.

Foot pain/calcaneal spur: Get a 16 oz soda bottle and fill it with water and freeze it. When frozen, place the frozen bottle under your sore feet, one at a time, and roll the bottle back and forth under it. This helps cool the swelling of the heel spur and relaxes the foot muscles.

Calluses on the feet rough and dry: Get some coarse kosher salt or some sea salt; Add a tablespoon or 2 of olive oil to it. Rub the mixture into the dry, callused area of ​​your foot. The salt breaks down dry skin and removes it and the olive oil adds moisture to the area making it soft and smooth.

Bags under the eyes: We’ve all had mornings where we didn’t get enough sleep the night before and woke up with puffy bags under our eyes. One home remedy that models and actors use to get rid of them is to apply Preparation H hemorrhoid cream to the under-eye area. The same ingredients that reduce the swelling of hemorrhoids also reduce bags under the eyes.

Urinary Tract Infections: If you’re prone to frequent UTIs, try drinking 8 ounces of cranberry juice with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Reduces bacteria and alkalizes urine. If infections persist, see a doctor.

Ampoules: Stop the pain by drying it out quickly with Listerine mouthwash. Apply to the affected areas 3 times a day with a cotton pad until dry.

Throat pain: My grandmother never let us forget this old world remedy: 1 teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water. Gargle. She repeat several times a day until the sore throat disappears. The salt dries out and kills the bacteria in the back of your throat that are causing pain.

Excessive armpit sweating: Apple cider vinegar, or lime juice, is applied to clean underarms before bed, allowed to air dry, and then washed off in the morning. Both are acidic agents and can balance the acid/alkaline environment of the sweat glands.

Natural toothbrush: Forgot your toothbrush? Eat an apple, preferably a green Granny Smith apple that is packed with malic acid. The apple will not only clean debris from your teeth, but the malic acid helps remove stains.

Mosquito bite: Summer is not far away and neither are mosquito bites! If you hate them as much as I do, get some bottled lime juice and apply it with cotton balls to take the itch away. A paste of salt and water applied to the bite will do the same thing. Both dry up the fluid that swells around the bite that causes itching.

Well there you have it, some unusual home remedies for some everyday foods. All of these have been shown to work not only anecdotally by people who have used them, but also by researchers who have studied quirky home remedies. Try one or a few. However, if you find that your problem ailment does not go away, see your doctor.

Mark Rosenberg, M.D.
Institute for Healthy Aging

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