Alternatives to common chemicals and drugs.

[Eugene66]

Lately I hear Asparagus cures cancer. A table spoon ful of boiled asparagus pulp twice a day takes the cancer away.

[LindaF]

There are a lot of traditional type remedies in the Farmer Almanac. I know we use aloe to treat bug bites and stings. There's also lots of other herbs and minerals that have health benefits.

[gryffen]

NOO - sorry dont store the liquid!!!!

Use only what you need - basically you need about 5cm of bark per person to 0.5l of water.

the bark can be stored but hanging up to dry, but the liquid becomes toxic once fully cold and kept.

made that mistake once - trust me - blew the back of the cistern out! 

Just a few cautions first:

under 16 - dont try this

Allergic to salicylic acid (asprin or on blood thinners) dont use

try a smaller dose before going stronger

also can be used as a tincture - add to 300ml of alcohol and apply to cuts gently!

[Eugene66]

Hmmm to get my hands on some willowbark.

Let me try this out.

Can I store the liquid? How long?

Yeah we learnt to pee on our wounds here in South Africa. First to close them if you can then and see if they dont bond before using any form of anti septic. But it was beter to let the flies reat the rotten meat off than to get gangrene. Urine is an excellent antiseptic.

We have these huge headed red ants. You hold the ant behind its head and it opens its mandables wide. Then you close the wound with your fingers and stick the mandables in like a stapler clip and when you sever the ant body from it head they close and stay closed like a stitch.

[gryffen]

Oh - anticongestant!

Menthol Chrystals!

Hot bowl full of HOT water
add 1/2 teaspoon of chrystals
put a towel over hear and breathe VERY deeply!

Your nose may invert for the first time as they are bleeding powerful but are wonderful - i dont trust cough medicins -hot water and lemon/honey is wonderful.

[gryffen]

LMAO - i know a few medics like that!

Everyone was very wary of me when they first met but during an encounter one of my unit had a really bad allergic reaction to a jellyfish sting (we were abroad at the time).

Nothing was working to cooling the area down and i told him to cover his face and close his eyes - then told his buddes to pee on him. - ammonia nutralizes the toxins - he was thankful - but got ribbed a lot.

Dont get me wrong - modern medical kits are fantastic - but as a combat medic/nurse you need to have your wits about you. Most of these old remedies i just knew - dunno if its to do with past life or what but others i learned while reading my greatgrandmothers diaries.

[gryffen]

Hmm sounds like it could be fun with a lover. 

It is - dont try it with moouse tho lol

Willowbark tea - yeah basically sieve and keep the spare bark - add a little sugar to taste and drink - IN SMALL DOSES -this stuff is like natural rocket fuel!

Oh yeah - chillies are fun - dont recommend them going anywhere near your bits tho - ouchy!!!

Oh - wild mint and geranium are good for upset stomachs
promfrey is good for haemarooids

Just preparng people for immediate old age lol

[Eugene66]

natural yougurt for thrush in private parts (PM for advice if needed)

Hmm sounds like it could be fun with a lover.

willowbark is a natual painkiller similar to morphine - boil it down for 18hrs in a iron kettle tho!

Then do we drink the water or what? Does it put you on a high?

I was also thinking of chillies. Chillies and sex I think are natural anti congestants with NO after effects. Except snoring maybe if you are a male. Hehehehe!!

I have yet to find a good anti congestant from a pharmacy. They all have side effects or they dry you up or something. But Chillies are marvellous. A nice medium hot dish with some tissues on the side does it for me.

When I was in the military we had to make plans like these because the only thing the medic was popular for on patrol was the spaid he carried. To get a single pill took a whole examination to warrant it. But we always needed the sapid when we wanted to do a number 2. Never allowed to leave our waste laying about.

Anyway one day I asked him why he carries the spaid and not the ordonance and his relpy was. "So I can bury my mistakes."  Not very comforting comming from a medic.

[Medusa]

Hey Gryffen

You are soooo gonna get on with our Eugene babes 

Now no running off with him, cause I saw him first heheeheheheheheheeeee 

Medusa

[gryffen]

Milk thistle to help liver problems like jaundice and hepatitis - also tummy upsets
Arnica for bruises
TeaTree oil for sore bumps, natual antiseptic/biotic
lemonjuice and sand for uber smelly feet
lemon/citronella for warding off the flying stingers and getting rid of tobbacco smells
calomille for soothing the nerves - tea
willowbark is a natual painkiller similar to morphine - boil it down for 18hrs in a iron kettle tho!
ammonia for stings of jellyfish and itchy issues
natural yougurt for thrush in private parts (PM for advice if needed)
Licorice wood for slow sugar absorption
raspberry leave tea for regulating menstrual cycle
sterile (steamed) cobwebs for stopping minor bleeding - ie natures plasters
Cloves mashed and sucked help toothache - or use clove oil
fermented barley soots (alcohol base) is a good sterilisation - boil it for 3hrs in a pint of water

all these work - many i still use on my unit when i patrol and when i was in iraq

[Eugene66]

Hmm we used butter. Cow butter. To remove fine prickly pear stings. It also helped to scrape the skin with a sharp knife as if shaving.

I never encountered nettle before but I have encountered stingy things that break off from leaves.

[harryhoudini]

yep i still use dock leaves on my nettle stings when out on the wild fields with the mutt..........



The famous sting and remedy dock leaf
The sting of the nettle is actually very similar to the structure of a hypodermic needle - it is a hollow stiff hair with a swollen base containing the venom. The tip of the hair is very brittle and easily breaks off if brushed against, exposing a sharp point that penetrates the skin and delivers its sting
If you get stung, always look around as there is usually a natural remedy, the dock leaf, growing close by. The dock leaf contains chemicals that when rubbed over the sting neutralise it and also cool the skin down.

We should think ourselves lucky in the UK as nettles elsewhere in the world can have a much harsher effect - a nettle species in Timor, southeast Asia, causes a burning sensation and symptoms like lockjaw that can last for days or weeks.

[Eugene66]

What is a doc leaf?

Tea and tobacco were used as blood clotters. Because of the tannin conntent it stalls blood quickly so we used it on bleeding wounds to stop the bleeding.

[Eugene66]

I remember a time when we used Borax for stinking feet and Bicarbonate of soda to restore PH balance in your body.

Warts were given to a potato that one buried it in the full moolight, within a week it was gone.

How many of these natural andsimple solutions that worked, can you still remember?