Health Zone



Some Quick Tips To Help You:



Burns:     To relieve pain and burning from burns on flesh use aloe vera or honey.

Honey may itch after awhile so you will need to spread it on the burnt flesh and leave it on for a short while to do it's soothing and then take some cool water and gently rinse it off.

Aloe vera can be gently massaged onto the burnt flesh for a soothing cool feeling that will also aid in healing.

Soaking the burnt flesh in luke warm or slightly cool water for about 20 minutes a few times per day will aid in cooling the flesh from the inside out and also help with healing.




Fevers:     To reduce and completely relieve fevers

Tylenol is still the best over the counter medicine to reduce fevers in children and adults. However, there are also some natural remedies that can help.

Fruit punch juice helps to reduce fevers just by sipping the cold beverage. This drink can be Hawaiin Punch (the best I have found to reduce fevers) or a concentrate fruit punch. The small packets of instant fruit punch do very little to reduce fevers.

Cold compress upon the forehead will help to reduce the heat upon the head and thus help lower a fever. You can also take a luke warm or slightly cool bath to lower a high fever. DO NOT take a completely cold bath as that can just send the body into shock going from a fever to a chill

Rest does amazing results for fevers as well. Many times we think we are ok and get back up to do our daily activities and a fever could be telling us that we just need a little more rest to fight whatever it is our body is fighting inside.

Water is the next best beverage for fevers. This is THE most important fluid for all living things in this world and you can use it to reduce fevers in infants, cats, dogs, children and yourself. The more cool water you drink the more you can "flush" out infection, lower the body temperature etc. Drinking 40 oz of water daily is not difficult and does amazing things to keep the body hydrated and infection free.

Lotion also helps to reduce a small fever in that the cool sensations of lotion being absorbed into the skin can help to cool the flesh a bit. It is also very healthy to keep that skin moist to an extent and not dried out and cracking. You would give your furniture and outdoor wood their form of lotion (furniture polish, stain etc) to keep them looking healthy, why not keep your skin healthy as well?



Naseau, Upset Stomachs:     To help relieve the feelings of naseau and sour stomachs the natural way


Mint is a most wonderful way to aid in calming a sour stomach down. If you are naseaus, in pain due to a sour stomach etc, suck on a "mint" flavored candy cane. Mint has a natural way of reducing the acid in the stomach and calming it. You can also drink some cool mint tea or eat some mint type candy.
Chocolate mint candies can upset the stomach as chocolate does not calm a sour tummy. This is a wonderful way to also calm the tummy of an infant from newborn on up. If you have a baby that is fussy with formula, baby food etc and cries a great deal, place the infant on your knees (baby should be on it's tummy), support it's head in your hands and take a "long" mint flavored candy cane and let the baby suck on it. A baby will know instinctively what to do and will start to feel the affects of the mint fairly quickly. After several minutes you can hold the baby in the cradling position again as the tummy will have calmed down. DO NOT allow a young child/infant to suck on a candy cane without you holding onto it (due to choking reasons).

7-UP is another wonder as it has a lime flavor to it. Lemon and limes can also help to calm and relax a stomach to an extent. However, do not eat a lemon or lime raw for that could only result in a more severe upset stomach. When you do something, think moderation. What may be known as good for you probably is, but in moderation. Drink a glass of cold 7-UP and let it do it's job of calming that stomach. This is also good for children who have upset tummies. As for babies, this is not a bad remedy, however the carbonation is not good for the delicate stomach's of young children.



Hydrogen Peroxide:     The WORST Way to Clean a Wound


It is not recommended or wise amongst health care professionals, first aiders, etc to use hydrogen peroxide to clean any sort of wound ranging from a cut, scrape or a deep puncture wound.
Hydrogen peroxide kills the skin cells all around the wound and also kills some of the bacteria along with those cells. The body has a natural way of healing itself and it is not a good idea to kill off cells that could aid in healing.
For deep wounds or infected wounds, peroxide does absolutely nothing but cause more trouble. It does not remove infections from wounds at all. Again, it only kills your own tissue cells and thus lowers the "outer" infection some. However, for the deeper wounds, peroxide can actually force the infection to remain inside the wound rather than irrigate it out.



Deep Puncture Wounds     A few Do's and Don'ts to any wound that is caused by some form of puncture (bullet, knife, nail, sharp objects, etc)


DO NOT use peroxide on the wound! That will cause more damage and possibly cause the wound to scar as well due to killing off the tissue cells around the wound.

DO NOT place an anti-bacterial topical (cream, gel etc) on the wound and cover it with a bandage. This will only cause infection inside the wound to be "trapped" due to the cream and/or gel not permitting proper irrigation of the wound, thus causing a larger infection

DO rinse the wound with cool running tap water (the pressure of the water should be similar to the amount of pour water out of a glass and letting it flow like a stream of water). This will help to flush the wound some and remove some infection/bacteria and debri left in the wound. DO NOT rinse the wound with fast running or hot water. This can cause further damage.

DO wrap the wound in a dry sterile cloth (towel, gauze etc) as this will keep further bacteria from entering the wound. It should be dry so that bacteria cannot "seep" through the moist cloth and into the wound.

IF the wound is bleeding, elevate that portion of the wound to slow the blood flow some. If it is the upper arm that is injured, elevate the arm in a 90 degree angle and wrap it in a dry sterile cloth. If the wound is on the leg, elevate that leg to be just above the heart. If the wound is around the chest, stomach or abdomen area, wrap it as best you can with a dry sterile cloth and use some form of tape to keep the bandage on (you cannot elevate these areas).

IF the wound still has the object in it, DO NOT remove it. IF it is a knife, removing the knife can only tear more tissue and thus cause more damage and possibly internal bleeding (depending upon where the stab wound occurred). If it is a bullet, you obviously need to go to the emergency room and/or call 911 (depending upon if you can get to the ER quicker than an ambulance can get to you). If it is a nail or other sharp object, DO NOT remove it. The hospital will need to physically "see" the object, possibly give tetanus shots, and again removing the object can result in more damage. A hospital has ways of removing objects without causing further damage and IF such damage does occur, the hospital can stitch the wound up quickly.



Bladder and Kidney Infections:     To assist your body to naturally "flush" out infections (along with possible medicactions from your Doctor)


Cranberry juice is very well known in hospitals for reducing infections and flushing all of that unwanted bacteria out of the kidneys and bladder. Just drink cranberry juice however which way you enjoy it (you can purchase it with grape juice, apple juice etc to make the juice taste better) and know that your body is flushing out infection.

Water, again is a great way to reduce the chances of ending up with bladder and kidney infections. If your urine is a dark, cloudy yellow, you may be dehydrated and possibly have an infection. You need to make certain that you receive enough fluids for your body and seek medical attention if there is burning, stinging, painful urination or pain in your left and/or right lower back areas.



Teeth and Bones:     To help with whiter, stronger, healthier teeth and bones


Peroxide has been known to assist with killing off bacteria in your mouth and many tooth pastes now carry some of this ingredient. However, once again, peroxide kills off your own cells, even in your mouth. If you see that your gums are turning white, that the gum line is decreasing etc from using peroxide, then don't use it.

The product "Plus White" is a good product that has just a small portion of peroxide to help whiten teeth. It also has a rinse you can use to whiten teeth. Use the rinse and toothpaste just once per day and you can see results very quickly in your teeth.

Calcium does a body good, or was that "Milk does a body good?" Either way, both sayings are very true. Milk has calcium, your bones need that calcium. If your teeth are thinning out and you are worried about them, maybe you should take in a bit more calcium? The average woman should be taking in at least 1000mg of calcium each day either through supplements, cheese/dairy etc.
If you take in a nice amount of calcium your teeth will start to rebuild it's protective coating which will, in turn, help the teeth to resist cavities. Calcium will also help to build your bones to be nice and strong. As you grow older your bones start losing the ability to regenerate and thus you need a bit more calcium to keep those bones as strong and healthy as you possibly can.
It is NEVER too late to start thinking of taking care of your teeth and bones. Once you use the Plus White and take in a good amount of calcium for "your" body, then the only other thing you need to worry about for your teeth is flossing at least 3-4 times per week and brushing your teeth twice daily (once with the Plus White and once at night with your normal toothpaste).

If you still have concerns, just visit your dentist or doctor. They will know what is best for you if you tell them your concerns/symptoms and what you would like to accomplish in the future with your teeth/bones.



Sleeping:     Assisting in sleeping habits the natural way


Not everyone was meant to have a 9am-5pm job or to get up at 6am and go to bed at 9pm. We are all different and thus we must find what works for us as individuals. I am a night person, for the most part. So, I sleep in quite a bit and do most of my work in the late afternoons/evenings. You need to figure out what sort of schedule your body likes most. This will enable your body to relax a bit more and reduce that stress of forcing it to sleep and wake when it does not wish to.

It has been said that you can "train" your body to do things. That is true to some extent. You can train your body to get up a bit earlier than you are used to and to go to bed earlier as well. However, not every was meant to be a morning or night person. You can train your body only as far as it is meant to go. If you reach a point that getting up in the morning is just causing more health issues and stress then don't get up quite so early.

Melatonin is a wonder drug for many people anymore. It is a natural drug that your brain produces to relax the mind and help you to sleep. Some people who are under a great deal of stress, not used to certain sleeping hours etc use melatonin to help their brain to relax so that they can rest. This drug is completely natural for the body already produces it. You just may not be receiving enough of it to help you sleep so you may want to purchase a bottle of these pills from your local drug store. You do not need a prescription for this either.
The usual dose for melatonin is anywhere from 1 mg to 9mg depending upon the person. Some people just need a small boost of melatonin to sleep whereas others need a larger boost. I tend to use 9mg most of the time and it helps trememdously. Melatonin also does not give you the groggy feeling of sleeping too much, being drugged etc for it is a natural drug your body already knows how to use.
If you have any questions as to whether melatonin is safe for you to use with other medications and such, just ask your doctor or do a bit of research via the internet (Web MD works).