When you’re too sick to go out but not sick enough to go to the hospital, it’s a miserable experience. Often, it’s one that’s shared by every member of the household in close succession. Here’s how you can use what’s on hand to solve many problems that aren’t quite worth a trip to the doctor, but that keep you from wanting to make an outing:
Stomach Flu Or Other Upset
Do you know about cholera? It’s a sort of stomach flu that makes you so sick you expel all your fluids until you die. It’s caused by poor sanitary conditions (not controlling sewage properly), and while sanitation improvements are the main reason you don’t hear about cholera any more, it’s also something that is very easy to treat—you basically make your own low-end electrolyte beverage.
In our house there have been times where we’ve gotten horrible food poisoning and no one wants to go to the store to get something for it (but if you want to be prepared or drink it anyway, good options include Pedialyte, coconut water, and the like) but we know we need to rehydrate. So we make the most basic drink off the most rudimentary cholera treatment, meant to rehydrate you quickly when you don’t have fancy resources at hand. It’s gross. Oh so gross. But one cup works:
-Bring a quart of water to a boil.
-Add: ½ tsp salt and 6 tsp sugar. You can improve taste (and add potassium) with a mashed banana if you have one on hand.
Let me be clear: if you have something better on hand, like coconut water, it’s a better option. But not everyone stocks their fridge that way, and there may come a day you need a simple solution.
And whenever you have, or think you’re about to get stomach flu, make sure to take plenty of probiotics to help restore your stomach flora and combat symptoms.
A Bad Scrape
Something I am currently dealing with: when you fall but aren’t prepared for it.
First, clean the wound (especially meaning remove dirt) as well as you can. This means scrubbing. And pain. But it’s necessary, and generally saves you later trouble (I do have a rock in my knee from when I was younger). If you can’t handle doing this, or having a friend do it, you need to go to a hospital.
Next, get it covered. There’s a myriad of opinions on whether to keep a wound covered and moist for the duration of healing, or to let it scab and breathe. Personally, I find that I heal faster when it’s open and breathing, HOWEVER, the upside to keeping it moist is supposed to be less scarring. My method is to keep it covered and moist until I’m certain it’s not infected (or have cleaned the infection/inflammation out with repeated bouts of hydrogen peroxide and colloidal silver. The silver I always have on hand!), and then gradually shift to letting it be open and get scabbed over nicely. I’m compromising by using coconut oil (and a spritz of colloidal silver) around the edges to keep the skin softer (also because my scabs are on joints and flexing has become a chore!).
A Banged Joint/Inflammation
And of course there’s the classic home remedies… frozen steak or peas (which conform better) on that fresh bump or bruise. But here are some new tricks for when you have a nice red bump going: use cayenne pepper on unbroken but inflamed skin to help get blood circulating. Eat lots of antioxidants (berries, omega-3 rich nuts, etc.) to combat the inflammation, and once your joints can bend without aching try doing some light and easy stretches (or yoga) to help get blood circulating again.
What emergency tricks do you use?
