Some of the Best Natural Remedies for Children’s Health
“Mommy, that bee stinged me!”
Every kid who has ever stepped foot outdoors has experienced the nasty bee stings and skeeter bites and wasp attacks that come along with being a kid. Unfortunately, the sweeter your kid is – that is, the more sweets they have eaten – the more prone they are to these insect predators. To help reduce the inflammation and itchiness of bites and stings, essential oils like Lavender, Tea Tree, or Tei Fu can be used topically. It is also helpful to make a poultice of astringent herbs like Black Walnut, Plantain, or Lobelia, to help draw out the toxins that the insects have injected into your little one. To help keep the bugs away in the first place, use Burdock to clean up the blood stream and colon.
“Daddy, my eye is itchy!”
When the mucous membranes around the eye and eyelid become inflamed, it could be that your child has been infected with a nasty case of conjunctivitis, more commonly known as “pinkeye.” Symptoms of this can include pain, swelling redness, itching, and discharge that may be so prominent that it actually causes the eye to stick shut. If you let pinkeye go for a couple of weeks, it will usually heal naturally on its own, but it is very contagious and should be treated. For herbal help, prepare a tea with GoldenSeal or Chamomile to use as an eyewash, used as eye drops, or applied as a cotton-ball or cloth-soaked compress. On the internal side of things, giving your little one extra Vitamin A.
“Grandma, why am I Polka-dotted?”
Chicken Pox is not truly a serious disease, but it is uncomfortable and unsightly, and especially miserable to any active young person. The recent introduction of the chicken pox vaccination has caused some to believe there is a “quick fix” to forever ridding the body of this disease, but this is not so – research has proven that the vaccination does not always provide lifetime immunity. Because chicken pox, like shingles, is a viral problem, giving your child purifying herbs like Oregon Grape, GoldenSeal, and Yellow Dock, will help control itching and speed healing.
“Mommy, my head feels like it’s crawling!”
It is estimated that lice infects nearly 10 million American youth heads a year, and these lice are growing more and more resistant to most of the shampoos on the market. Because lice lay so many eggs (known as “nits”) so quickly, they can infect the entire head in no time at all and quickly become contagious to the other heads around them. An effective alternative to the highly dangerous chemical shampoos is Paw Paw Shampoo, which contains essential oils like Tea Tree and Thyme. Paw Paw has been clinically proven to dispel the lice infestation.
“Grandpa, my skin is on fire!”
When you’re five years old and you’re outside frolicking in the sun or bouncing around a sandy beach, you aren’t thinking much about what the sun is doing to your skin – but, the truth is, the sun can do a lot of damage in a little time, especially to a fair-skinned child. First of all, always make sure your child has an appropriate amount and grade of sunscreen on, but if they still get burnt, keep the burnt skin protected by using Aloe Vera and liberally and use a spray bottle to keep the area moist with water. Another remedy to consider is diluted Oil of Lavendar, which can be sprayed directly onto the affected area.
“Daddy, we went on a jungle adventure today!”
It seems children cannot resist going into the most weed-infested corners of your property, and it is in these places that they are attacked by poison ivy or poison oak. When your kid wanders into the jungles of your backyard and comes back with a body-full of itchy souvenirs, use Witch Hazel, Slippery Elm, Comfrey,Lobelia, Marshmallow, or Aloe Vera Gel. Apply any of these topically, and give your child Black Walnut internally (as well as rubbing Black Walnut Extract directly onto the skin) to help speed recovery from poison ivy or oak.
