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It’s that time of year, bugs, bugs, and more bugs. There are few things more annoying than bites and stings that keep coming to bother you for days. Anti-itch creams only work so well, and for those who have a more severe reaction there isn’t much you can do besides take a Benadryl, which may or may not help.
I have two alternative tips: a household remedy and an herbal remedy.
Household remedy: I read a hilarious article about a man who received so much conflicting advice after being stung, that he conducted his own experiment. He went to a beekeeper to be stung on a regular basis so that he could try each remedy and tracked its effects every half hour that he was awake. We can be the beneficiaries of his bravery. The winners? Toothpaste and ice! Both are simple, cheap, and effective. As a novice beekeeper myself, I agree. Rub in the regular minty toothpaste, ice it for 20 minutes anytime it starts hurting or itching, and you’re good to go.
Herbal remedy:
 Common Plantain Look no further than the annoying weeds you’ve been trying to get out of your grass. Plantain is a great herb for bites, stings, and wounds, and grows everywhere weeds do. Once you learn to identify it, you can grab a few leaves, chew or crush them to release the juices, and apply. Tape a bandage over the green pulp and you’ll be surprised how well it heals a sting, usually relieving the pain within 15 minutes. It works just as well on cuts and absesses, so keep the green pulp in mind next time you get an injury in the yard. You’ll never look at weeds quite the same again.
Tips to recognize plantain: The Common Plantain has more rounded leaves while the Ribwort has long straight ones. They both work equally well. They have skinny flower stalks that shoot high from the center with distinctive cone or spike-shaped flower clusters. (They make great substitute swords or targets for swords, according to my boys.)
 English/Ribwort Plantain So, next time you’ve got an annoying insect injury, chew a weed while you ice it, spit the green mush onto it, and mix in a little toothpaste while you brush that grassy taste out of your mouth. Now aren’t you glad you know all this?
DocMisty
Quick tip:
Have you ever tried to hold an ice cube to the lip of a screaming toddler after he has fallen for the umpteenth time and smashed his lip? Yes, the “It’ll hurt now, but make it get better faster,” argument falls on deaf ears. Yours and his.
Next time, get a popsicle! Yes, in the long tradition of “Why, did I not think of that?”, it’s a simple solution and you’re both happy. Teach him to paint his lips with the lovely neon blue color of the popsicle to make sure the whole injury gets iced down, and if he wants another? Why, today is a special day, and he can have as many as he wants.
Instead of a traumatic DocMom moment, you might find him banging his lip again just for the popsicles.
DocMisty
P.S. It doesn’t work so well with bruises elsewhere, but you’re welcome to try. 
Ok, so it’s not a cure, but as I chase down another kid with the dreaded Kleenex in hand, you have to wonder if there is a better way.
While it may be difficult to use with young children who don’t know what’s good for them, I found a great aid a few years back for those nasty head colds, especially if they turn into the even nastier sinus infection.
Sorry, it’s not an easy to swallow pill paid for by your insurance, though the science behind it is just as conclusive. It’s a bottle of saline solution you squirt up your nose. No, don’t stop reading yet. It’s not as bad as it sounds. And you shouldn’t be thinking ‘snot washer’, instead think (and google) ‘nasal rinse’.
Warning: graphic description following Basically, your body produces snot to ‘wash’ out the infecting viruses or foreign objects (for those of you whose children shove peanuts and small items up their noses). The faster and better it does this, the sooner you get better. Since you can’t increase your mucous output, you have to use something else – the nasal rinse. Fill a bottle with warm water, add a little salt and baking soda (1/2 t. of a 2 to 1 salt/baking soda mix to 8 oz. water), lean over the sink and rinse away. Ta dah! You’re doing five days of snot work in one.
You can use your own bottle, but squirting up while leaning over is easier said than done. And leaning over makes sure the water goes in one nostril and out the other (nostril, not ear) without getting to the back of the throat , which is less than pleasant. Save yourself some pain and buy one ready made from NeilMed for $3.99 or at many of the local stores that now carry them.
And the science says it helps decrease healing time with a cold, sinusitis, and even divers who have ear pressure troubles can benefit.
Study after study show how effective it is, but a $5 bottle doesn’t get pushed with the doctors as well as a $500 drug and all it’s reps.
For example, in 150 adults with chronic sinusitis, over 70% had an improvement in symptoms while a third decreased their medication usage. (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2001 Jul;125(1):44-8) Fewer symptoms and less medication are hallmarks of great alternatives to typical care. Why take an antibiotic with all its risks when simple salt water will work as well or better?
Personally, I had a sinus infection while pregnant with my fourth. I had the full-blown infection: fever, tender face, aching teeth, head feeling like it would explode whenever I leaned over to pick up one more Lego on the floor. Being in my first trimester, I didn’t really want to take medication I didn’t need to. While searching for an alternative, I stumbled across the sinus rinse. It was an answer to a prayer. I rinsed four times a day, and by day two had gotten over the hump and started improving. By day five or six, I was back to my normal nauseated self – not ‘nauseating’, I was pregnant, remember.
Enjoy and may you and your family be snot-free!
DocMisty
Cool! I’ve got a blog going. I’ve been DocMisty to friends and family for a while, so I thought I’d post for the world to see. What else is an M.D. good for when you stay at home and homeschool 4 kids?
Yes, I spent four years in the lovely world of medical school, had 2 kids along the way, an adventure in itself, and decided that I’d had enough of that. I love my family, and I couldn’t see leaving them for another 4 years of 80+ hours a week for a residency. And to be honest, the part about helping people ended up being such a tiny percent of my day, that I was pretty burnt out on the whole thing.
Now, I get to do all the ‘helping’ I want without forms, files, reports, Medicare, etc. Obviously I can’t prescribe medicines or really treat disease, but I get to do the part I like the best – teach and help people understand what’s going on. You know, illness always seems to be a lot less scary when you understand what’s going on, what your options are, what the alternative choices are, etc.
I also love using alternative medicine for all the chronic, nagging, day-to-day discomforts that modern medicine either can’t fix or considers beneath its notice.
As a kid, I was in charge of the herb garden, and we grew up on peppermint tea for stomach ills, comfrey poultices for injuries, and a wad of lovely smushed green yarrow shoved gently up our noses for the occasional nosebleed.
I continued the tradition, grew my own herbs and learned how to make ointments. They started in old Tupperware containers or scooped into a baggy to share with friends who had eczema, sprained ankles, or babies with rashes. Eventually I was giving away more than I kept, and friends offered to pay me. Now, I’ve got TurtleBalm my little website with herbal ointments, handmade soaps, LipSilk lip balms, and the KozyWrap, a baby wearing wrap that saved my life when I took my firstborn to four hours of medical school lectures a day.
 So, let’s see, I homeschool 4 kids (under age 8), am an underpaid doctor, a black belt, a novice website owner, and dabble in beekeeping, science fiction writing, and a variety of other odd hobbies. Don’t ask about the winter I built a hydroponic system to grow tomatoes next to the shower in our upstairs bathroom. Yes, I have a very patient husband.
 Knowledge is for sharing. That’s why I’m blogging. Oh, and if you happen to like my extremely well-priced and effective products, you can support my habit of sharing.
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