Elderberry
★★★★★
Essential Oils
★★★★★
I would "not" recommend using an oil burner with a candle for night time use. It is safer to use an electric oil burner. Or if you do not have one, just try putting the oils on the pyjamas/pillow/tissue etc. Or maybe even in a bowl of water or place on a damp cloth over a low heat radiator. Just so long as the oils are being inhaled.
Flaxseed Tea
★★★★★
EC: Recipe from Grannyguru, AZ:
"You put about a tablespoon or so of whole dark brown flaxseeds (for some reason golden seeds do not work anywhere near as well) into 2 cups of water and boil it until it just begins to thicken. It will seem to take forever, then suddenly it thickens quickly, so the minute you notice it thickening, remove it from the heat.
Add lemon juice or vitamin c and sweetener, like grade b maple syrup, or even just sugar. Drink. I found I did not like it when it was thickened, but I could put it in a thermos and keep it by my bed, and it would break down into just a soothing liquid, but would work just as good as the thick syrup I didn't like.
And of course if you add honey and vitamin c it tastes like apple juice."
Frankincense
★★★★★
Frankincense is kind of expensive and not in everyone's natural medicine cabinet. But I mention it in case you find yourself bleary eyed in the cold looking for a cough remedy and happen upon some frankincense essential oil!
We had actually discovered this helped once on vacation when I didn't have every last remedy with me, but must have had frankincense with me for some reason. I thought, who knows, maybe it will help, and it helped then too, to stop an irritating cough. Just one drop on a cottonball, near the head!
~Mama to Many~
Garlic, Ginger, Turmeric, Honey
★★★★★
My children both have an absolute aversion to cough medicine (natural or otherwise). After a horrible incident with my 4-year-old, I desperately searched the webs for a non-ingested remedy, but never quite had all the ingredients, so I crafted a remedy of my own, as inspired by a multitude of sources.
This remedy is a poultice, to be placed on the upper chest above the heart.
Ingredients: 1 clove garlic, crushed and finely minced; 1 tsp fresh ginger, crushed and finely minced; 1/4 tsp turmeric; 1 tsp raw honey; 1 tsp olive oil; 1 tsp flour; gauze or paper towel (or anything to place mixture on); surgical tape. Combine garlic, ginger, turmeric, and honey. Dust with a bit of the flour and roll it a bit. Drizzle with a bit of the oil and then dust with a bit more flour. Continue alternating with flour and oil until a paste forms. You don't want the mixture to be runny, but you also don't want it to be dried and doughy. Once the desired consistency is reached, smear mixture on gauze and apply to upper chest and secure with tape.
Notes: I've used this successfully on a 4 year old and a 7 year old. One had a wet, mucous-filled cough; and the other had a dry, hacking cough. This remedy worked equally well, as in ZERO coughs all night for either child. I thought, at first, it was a fluke. But, I have now used this remedy multiple times, and the results have been consistent. Adding this one to my toolbox.
Garlic, Honey, Lime
★★★★★
(Chatham, Ma)
11/11/2010
★★★★★
My husband is from the moutains in Jamaica. When I was pregnant and could not have cough syrup, I learned this remedy from him. It works! You can make a thick syrup or tea. Something about the three ingredients together soothes the cough for hours.
Heather's Cough Formula
★★★★★
I took freshly squeezed juice of a half of an organic orange, half of an organic lemon, 1 tsp organic non pasteurized etc. apple cider vinegar, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/8 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, splash of Tabasco sauce, few drops of organic garlic juice, few drops of juice from freshly chopped onion (after sprinkling sugar on chopped onion and setting in fridge for 20 min or longer till juice comes out) and finally a large spoon of raw organic honey. mix all together in pan on stove till warm not boiling. Drink with plenty of water after. Will be spicy but sweet and tangy. Does not taste near as bad as it sounds! My 5yr old son started pouring out snot after one dose and stopped coughing right away! I gave him one more dose that night and he slept through the night. I gave him one more the next day and he went back to school the following day!!
When I was using these ingredients on myself. I increased the amounts, 1 tsp instead of 1/2 etc. use common sense. Thank you earth clinic for helping me through trial and error figure out a magic potion to heal myself and my baby! Medicine in your cupboard, I tell everyone. Thanks again and God bless!!!
Hydrogen Peroxide
★★★★★
May 29, 2009
My 14 year old son tried the inhale method below with much success. He woke up with a sore throat in the morning. He took the cayenne pepper in orange juice to get rid of the sore throat. It worked like a charm!! Then he asked me if there was a good remedy for a cough. I found your info on using a 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide and thought we would give it a try. I had 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide in the house so I mixed it up according to the direction: 2oz of 35% HP with 22 oz of distilled water = 3% HP. We put it into misting bottles and he proceeded to inhale this in the evening. He woke up early Saturday morning feeling much better! His sore throat is gone, and his cough is almost gone too. This stuff is awesome!! I feel this would be totally effective on any kind of Swine/Bird flu. We are grateful for this wonderful web site!
Cheers, Brenda
Mama's Antiviral Fudge Recipe
★★★★★
Antiviral Fudge Recipe
- 1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil (soft)
- 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1/4 cup peanut butter (I am sure almond butter would be excellent)
- 2 T. raw cacao powder
Mix together. Lightly sprinkle the top with Celtic sea salt (or Himalayan pink.)
Pour/Spread into an 8x8 pan lined with wax paper.
Refrigerate for an hour. Cut into 24 squares. Each square has about 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in it, which is the amount I want in one dose for my child.
Enjoy!
~Mama to Many~
Onions
★★★★★
I have a 4 year old who has been battling a nasty cough at night. It was horrible, she would cough so hard that she would throw up. I made the red onion recipe (sliced the RED onion and put a little honey on top of each slice and then stacked them neatly in a bowl. Within a few hours the mixture was quite runny... So don't overdo it, with the honey! ). She woke up at 11:00pm, hacking and coughing, so I gave her 1 teaspoon (even though it hadn't been the 15 hours a previous poster had recommended... More like 8-10ish). She went straight back to sleep without coughing, but woke up again about an hour later coughing up a storm. I gave her 1 tsp. Again and she went straight back to sleep. She woke up this morning (after sleeping until 9:30!!! Without a cough) claiming that she feels much better.
It does taste onion-y though, but the honey disguises it nicely.
EC: Remember, no honey for babies 12 months and under.
Onions
★★★★★
Onions
★★★★★
My husband is also recovering from some bad sinusitis and he began coughing last night as well, so once we saw that it worked for our little boy, we tried the same with him, only both halves of a (freshly cut) onion. And it was like pressing the "mute" button! No more coughing till like 5 a.m. I think the vapors wear off and it wasn't enough for the entire night for my husband, so tonight I'll try slicing another chunk off the onion when the cough restarts.
I had previously tried just the onion or just the Apple Cider Vinegar but I hadn't noticed much improvement. With both it was a really dramatic change, a mute button!
Onions
★★★★★
When the night came, I was coughing non-stop. No body could sleep because of me. Needless to say that we were at some village far from civilization, lol, and they could not take me to the doctor. Well, in the middle of the night, the lady of the house got up and came to me asking me to get up and eat some onion. Nooo!!! I hated onions. But, she talked me into eating some. I wrapped it in a piece of bread and swallowed quickly without chewing. Amazingly, I did not cough at all for the rest of the night.
I think it really worked, and I tried it few times later in my life. It is not pleasant to eat raw onions, but it will help you, that is for sure.
Now, when I get sick and cough, I cut up a whole onion and mix it with cottage cheese and some sour cream add some salt and eat it like a salad. It tastes so much better and helps me get rid of the cold much faster.
Oregano Juice
★★★★★
I learned that in the Philippines a common remedy for children's cough is oregano juice. Here is how you make it, it's so simple! Use 5 small leaves of FRESH oregano. The small leaves are about the size of a U.S. quarter or 10 piece peso. If using the bigger leaves then use 2-3 leaves. (this type of oregano is the kind with thicker leaves, with a fury underside, typically referred to as greek/indian/mexican oregano)
You rinse them well under clean running water, and rub ur fingers on all surfaces of the leaf to clean it well. Then set the leaves aside. Boil a small amount of water. about 1/4 cup. once the water begins to boil remove it from flame. Put your cleaned oregano leaves in a coffee mug or bowl, pour the hot water over the leaves, just enough water to give you a couple tablespoons of liquid. Then mash/squeeze the leaves using fingers or spoon very well until the water turns brownish/yellowish/orangish. do the mashing/squeezing for about 5 minutes. Then remove and discard the leaves.
You will be left with oregano juice liquid. You can add a little sugar to it to make it taste sweet for a baby. (But do NOT use honey for baby)
Give this liquid to baby 3 times daily. (morning, afternoon, night)
My son was so sick he was coughing all night, and it was the painful kind of cough. this went on for about 6 months and I became very worried about pneumonia.
The oregano brought him back to normal in about 5-7 days. We also put him on a rice porridge diet during that same time. (just boiled rice until very soft/mush with enough water to make it like a soup. kind of like oatmeal.) We also added a pinch of sea salt to each meal.
Oregano has been proven scientifically to kill many of the viruses/bacteria that cause pneumonia. This is listed on the NIH gov website. It is also synergistic in it's effect when used with traditional antibiotics.
I feel MUCH better now knowing that I have this remedy to use for next time he gets sick. It's very effective and I don't have to worry about wrecking his natural immune system with antibiotics everytime. I believe antibiotics from the doctor have their place and time but just not everytime, and especially not repeatedly for months.
Vicks
★★★★☆
