Grandma’s Household Remedies: Should Always Have Them At Home!

Are you looking for natural help against a cold, cough, sore throat, diarrhoea or fever? We show you tried and tested home remedies, that grandma swore by. If pinches and tweaks in the body, we don’t want to resort to medication right away. Because many complaints and ailments can also be treated well with home remedies, doctors recommend some. Others have an old tradition passed down from generation to generation. We’ll show you tried-and-tested household remedies that grandma already knew!

Remedy For Coughs And Earaches: Onions

Onions should not be missing in any household. The leek plants are also absolute all-rounders, not only in the kitchen. Thanks to their valuable essential oils, onions are also a proven home remedy for earaches and coughs. Generations before us knew that!

Onion Bags For Earache

If you have an earache, you can use the onion as follows:

• about one half raw onion, finely chopped
• a clean cotton cloth

Here’s How It Works: Heat the chopped onion slightly, for example, in the microwave or over a water bath. Wrap in a handkerchief and place it on the sore ear for about an hour. Secure with a hat or headband. Do not cook the onion, or the essential oils will be lost.

Onion Juice For Coughs

The essential oils in onions can also be effective internally against cold symptoms such as coughs.

What You Need For The Homemade Cough Syrup:

• 2-3 onions, chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Here’s How It Works:

Mix the sugar, honey, lemon juice and onions and heat everything up slowly and over low heat in a saucepan. As soon as the sugar crystals are no longer visible, take everything off the heat and fill it into a jam jar with a lid. Take one tablespoon of the homemade cough syrup three times a day. Store the juice in the fridge for no more than three days.

Remedy For Sore Throats And Colds: Honey

Also among the home remedies, you should always have at home: honey. The natural product not only tastes wonderfully sweet in tea but is also said to have an anti-inflammatory effect. A teaspoon of honey can provide relief, especially for sore throats, as grandma recommended when we were children.

But honey can do a lot more: Applied to mild inflammation or pimples, it can soothe the skin and accelerate healing. Honey also works wonders for chapped lips. Manuka honey is particularly popular as a home remedy.

Grandma’s Home Remedy For Fever: Wraps

Calf wraps are one of the most common home remedies for fever and grandma’s final insider tips. If the feet are warm, the cold wraps can be used without any problems. The wraps are also suitable for children, but then with lukewarm water.

It Would Be Best If You Had This:

• at least two cotton towels (tea towel)
• Two dry towels
• One pair of thick wool socks 

Here’s How It Works:

1. Dip the two cotton towels in cool water and wring them out.
2. Wrap the towels around each calf, between ankle and knee.
3. Wrap the dry towels around each leg and pull thick socks over your feet.

After 10 minutes, you can remove the wraps again. If necessary, you can use this home remedy several times a day.

While there are recommendations to add other additives to the cold water for the calf wraps, these are unnecessary.

Warm, Moist Infusion Wrap

Pain from sore throats and coughs can also be relieved with warm, moist wraps from the outside. An infusion of herbs can help further.

It Would Be Best If You Had This:

• One kitchen towel
• 500 ml lukewarm herbal infusion (chamomile, peppermint, lavender)
• One dry towel
• One scarf to fix

Here’s How It Works: Put the tea towel in the lukewarm tea and wring it out. Place on the neck or chest area while still lukewarm and cover with a towel. Secure loosely with a scarf if necessary.

ALSO READ: Nettle Tea: Positive Effect As A Home Remedy

Remedy For A Sore Throat: Potato Wraps

Even our grandmothers knew: Potatoes are an ideal heat store and can be used as a filling for wraps. If you have a sore throat, the heat can have a pain-relieving effect.

It Would Be Best If You Had This:

• One kitchen towel 
• Four normal-sized potatoes
• One dry towel
• One scarf to fix

Here’s How It Works:

1. Cook the potatoes with their skins on as usual.
2. Let it cool down a bit, and then crush it.
3. Be careful. The inside of the potatoes can still be scorching.
4. Wrap it in the kitchen towel while still warm and place it on your chest or neck.
5. Cover with a towel and secure with a scarf if necessary.

Remedy For Pain: Quark

Quark is an excellent cold store and adapts to the body’s shape, so a wrap with quark is an ideal home remedy for sprained joints or a sore throat because cooling can also relieve the pain.

It Would Be Best If You Had This:

• One pack cottage cheese
• 1-2 kitchen towels
• One dry towel
• One scarf to fix

Here’s How It Works:

Spread the quark on a kitchen towel, fold it up so that nothing spills out and put it around your neck or an ankle. You can use a dry towel to prevent the curd from dripping out. Secure with a scarf if necessary.

But quark can do even more: Applied to the skin, it can relieve a light sunburn because it cools and moisturises the skin.

Remedy For Abdominal Pain And Inflammation: Chamomile

Chamomile is one of the versatile home remedies that grandma swore by. Brewed as tea, the fragrant flowers can relieve stomach aches and soothe the gastrointestinal tract. But chamomile can also be used externally. For example, to reduce inflammation on the skin. To do this, boil a decoction of dried chamomile blossoms, allow to cool briefly and dab onto the affected area of ​​skin with a clean cotton pad.

The Lucky Rule For Bruises

A cold compress works best for a sprained ankle or bruise. In combination with the so-called Luck rule, the pain can be relieved, and swelling can also be reduced.

• Break: If you have injured yourself during sports, interrupt the training immediately. Any additional strain can worsen the injury or slow healing.
• Ice: Cool the affected muscle area as quickly as possible with an ice pack or cold compresses for about 15 minutes. The cold causes the blood vessels to contract, which reduces possible swelling. Attention: The ice must not come into direct contact with the skin.
• C Compression: You can counteract swelling with a compression bandage. In addition, if a joint is affected, you can stabilise and support it.
• Elevate: Try to position the injured area as high as possible to counteract swelling.

Even Grandma’s Home Remedies Have Their Limits

Many home remedies can help against some ailments, but they are by no means a substitute for a visit to the doctor. If you take medication, you should consult your doctor first, even if you use harmless home remedies.

If the symptoms of a cold, such as a sore throat, do not improve after three to four days, or if you have a fever and swollen lymph nodes, then you should see a doctor. This should never be taken lightly, especially when children or weakened people are ill.

When in doubt about the possible uses of all kinds of home remedies, you should always consult a pharmacist or, ideally, a doctor. Serious health problems always belong in the hands of medical professionals.

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