home remedies you would NEVER try

Nurses General Nursing

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Doing some research today and found a good one for lady partsl yeast infections-Insert a fresh clove of garlic wrapped in cheese cloth....I don't think so!

A former neighbor would wipe her baby boy's faces with their wet diaper to prevent acne when they got older.They never did have a zit but then again she and her husband both had very nice complexions.

Have you heard/seen any wacky home remedies to share?

Specializes in Geriatrics.

Fresh urine in the ear for earache, urine on the feet for athelete's foot. Vick's Vaporub for athelete's foot or fungal nail infection, duct tape or banana peel for warts.

As for the man that could take warts off by spitting on them, I've never heard of it being done that way, but my great grandfather did something similar, not sure exactly how. My cousin had several warts on his hands as a child and MDs had chemically removed them, and had frozen them as well. They always came back, but when Pa did whatever he did, they never returned! My grandfather could also cure thrush in a baby's mouth, unsure how, but it worked! I know people will prbablt think I'm nuts, but I saw these things myself.

Cut up a piece of a garlic and put it on your wart until it comes off. This works. I did this for about a week for a wart I had for 5 + years on my thumb. I had to pick at the wart to get it off. Kind of gross initially, but it has not come back and you cannot tell it has ever been there. Garlic is powerful.

Specializes in LTC, MDS, Education.

Earwax on a cold sore.

Hi there everyone; there were quite a few home remadies that we used when I was a kid. Here are a few of them........

1) Fels Naptha soap lathered up and left on poisin ivy to dry. It worked.

2) Milk weed juice for poison ivy and rashes. It also worked.

3) For ingrown toe nail or infection use a piece of white bread & pour milk on it to just soak it & then ad epsom salt in a nice layer and apply with cloth over night. By morning the infection is pulled out of the wound.

4) For a stye in the eye use a very warm used tea bag and it is soathing and helps draw out infection.

5) For a chest cold make a mustard poultice and apply then put onions on top of the mustard paste and cover with a piece of flannel and leave on as long as you are able to stand it. This one burned, but it did work.

6) For a stomach ache drink warm vernors gingerale.

I know there are alot more ofthem that I could think of, but there our most used ones.

Lemon juice in the eye for pink eye or sty. I'd never do this one!!!

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
My younger sister read about the toothpaste for acne in a teen magazine years ago (it was written up in a tips while traveling article). She had pretty significant acne. She covered her face with toothpaste. It turned into a massive chemical-burn-like mess. Her face was bright red & peeling!!! Worse, she had to go to our grandmother's funeral like that. I think she was about 15 at the time.

Perhaps that was the same teen mag issue that suggested slathering mayonaisse all over your hair as the best hair conditioner ever!! Actually I read it in a couple of beauty magazines of the day. My hair was a gross oily clumpy icky smelling mess for a week despite frequent shampooing. YUCK!!

My mother told me that when she was a little girl basically the cure for anything that ailed ya---Karo Syrup and a nice enema. She told me she hated the enemas so much she had to be near collapse before she said a word to her mom. As someone else mentioned, all sorts of ailments were connected to one's bowel habits, and the specter of "irregularity" loomed large in people's minds.

The oddest home remedy my mother claimed worked miracles was to swallow a spoonful of Vicks VapoRub- yeah- well she must have really loved it, because she would put a steaming hot washcloth over a nice layer spread over my chest, and put a little blob of it in the spout of a Vapor-izer, all before I was supposed to eat the stuff.

She also had the "three aspirins" cure. Migraine, insomnia, tummyache, sore muscles-- "three aspirins". That one I'm pretty sure she discovered on her own and involved a good deal of placebo effect, but then what do I really know? I thought the aloe vera on a burn was a crock until I grabbed the tailpipe of a water-ski boat, basically grilling my hand, was handed a piece of fresh aloe to rub on the fresh burn- I am a skeptic no more on that one!!:up:

Specializes in Burn, CCU, CTICU, Trauma, SICU, MICU.

I have seen people put folded up red paper dots on patient's forehead to ward off infection.

Some people believe that rubbing an egg on your head can take away fevers, and if you break a raw egg under the bed and leave it there overnight - it will heal what ails you.

I had one old lady keep a bar of soap in a sock in the bed with her next to her legs. She swore it kept leg cramps away.

My great aunt FIRMLY believes that if you have a child with asthma, you should buy a Chihuahua dog and allow it to sleep with that child. She swears that the dog will then take the asthma from the child. As she told me "...but then you have a dog with asthma, but you find little chihuahua dogs anywhere..."

A cut that won't stop bleeding will stop if you apply fresh coffee grounds to it. (this one really works)

Cut onions in the babys jammies will take away the fever. (this one always made me crave a hot-dog with onions when the moms brought them to the ER)

Place an aspirin on a tooth that aches....

Rinse your mouth with Bourbon if you have canker sores in your mouth...

This is a great thread...I'm loving the remedies, even the ones that don't work.

Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
Earwax on a cold sore.

*This* made me puke in my mouth a little.

Specializes in Med Office, Home Health, School Nurse.
*This* made me puke in my mouth a little.

I'm thinking that the reason someone would think this would be effective is because the earwax is NASTY and keeps you from licking the area around the cold sore, and irritating it more....

But still, that's just gross!

Specializes in ICU, ED,.

Check out the website below. They cover conventional pharmacological issues and other interesting topics including many home remedies.

The People's Pharmacy®

Specializes in MPCU.

Seems that a growing body of evidence in favor of some herbal remedies exists. My favorite source is: Herbs and Supplements: MedlinePlus

But, I think "home remedies you would NEVER try" is more fun!

From the show "Friends" Urinating on a jelly fish sting. (Even if it worked, urine on a lesion is not something I'd try.)

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