Guide to Herbal Remedies

The perfect skin goes far to make a woman look beautiful. The hygiene of the skin reflects the general hygiene of the body. But even when there are skin diseases like black heads, blotches, pimples, a sallow, mothy or greasy skin, there is a cure.
Health comes first as a good skin requisite, health born of exercise, wholesome food, plenty of soap and water. Take care of the skin locally. Avoid the direct rays of the sun; avoid exposure to wind, and dirt, lest your skin turn coarse and rough. Water does not injure the skin, nor dry out its natural oils. Use soft water for cleaning face and hands. If the water you have available is hard, soften with salt, borax or baking soda, add bran or a quarter cup of almond meal to make water more soothing to a tender skin.
If chapping, warm a bath, tepid water, a soft soap, plus olive oil massage or toilet powder will remedy it. Cold water in the morning (it stimulates) and warm water at night is a good washing rule. Never use a cheap, but always a good soap, Castile preferably. Green soap (potash soap) is meant for oily scalps and only irritates dry skins. Though medicated soaps are useful for some skin diseases, they should be used only on a doctor’s orders.
Thorough, careful drying lends color to the cheeks and increases circulation, and cream and powder are good skin protectors if rightly used and removed. If the skin has been exposed to sun or wind; rub cold cream well into it. Then remove with a damp cloth, and follow by washing in cold water.  Vanishing cream, greaseless, is a good face powder foundation, and a skin protector. Always remove cream from the face before going to bed, and in general use it only every alternate day. No complexion stands cream day in, no day out, or does cream take the place of soap and water. Cream, if not removed, clogs the skin pores. Clogged pores mean black heads, and black heads cause other skin affections. Clogged pores, too, are responsible for yellow, sallow complexions.
Oily skin, often accompanied by enlarged pores, black heads and pimples, should be treated before worse ensues. Use a soap made of a cup of oatmeal or boiled oats, a pinch of sulphur, a pinch of powdered benzoin, and a teaspoonful of Castile soap, shaved fine, mixed, in a small cheesecloth bag. An application in warm water twice a day, should correct the oily tendency.

We all want to have good health. What we really have to understand is that we have to work at it until it becomes a habit. This habit involves a regular exercise regime, a proper diet and regular visits to the doctor for basic medical checkups.
It is no secret that all our organs are precious and deserving of our proper attention. The heart is possibly our most precious, but really, we cannot live without a single one! So, it is just common sense to follow a lifestyle that will enhance the longevity of our body period. This is where a balanced approach is vital. We need to look after our entire body, not just one part.

Kidney and Heart Disease
Our kidneys and our heart are closely aligned, especially when it comes to examining diseases that affect one or the other. This is because the kidney acts as a complex filter which ensures purity of fluids that flow through the body. The blood stream, if not filtered properly will affect the heart adversely. If the kidney is not functioning properly, major heart problems may follow. The kidney can be affected in a variety of ways. Let’s look at some of them now:
- Clogged arteries that restrict the flow of blood may, as a follow on effect, cause a kidney and heart disease.
- Blocked renal arteries prevent oxygen distribution. This is called acute tubular necrosis (ATN).
- Metals, harmful chemicals radio waves and some prescription drugs can cause irreparable harm to the kidneys.
- Excessive intake of alcohol causes higher than usual levels of Myoglobin in the urine (myoglobinuria). The kidney will suffer from the long term effects of these excesses.
- Acute damage to the kidney from traumas like accidents or sports like boxing.
- Bacterial infections like such as acute septicemia.
- Blood diseases which impact directly on the kidneys and heart have obvious results in causing kidney and heart disease.
It is obvious that we need to take a careful, healthy approach to avoid the combined threats of kidney and heart disease. Watching diet is a central theme in this.

Prevention is Better Than Cure
Regular check ups are vital, as outlined above. Sometimes it is just so obvious that we either forget or ignore the benefits of this simple principle. Once your doctor highlights a potential problem at an early stage, it is so much easier to do something before it develops into a problem.
If you think along the lines that you are actually in danger, it is easier to accept that regular prevention is the best approach. You don’t want to wait until you are faced with an acute episode of kidney or heart failure to make you wake up to yourself. Think of your family if you don’t care about yourself. Look after yourself for them.

When an insect has found its way into the ear, place the patient upon the opposite side, and pour sweet-oil into the ear, until the insect becomes visible; then take it out with a small roll of paper or a pair of delicate forceps.
Extraneous bodies, such as gravel, shot, beads, cherry-stones, pieces of wood, peas, pins, etc., are often put into the ear by children. If attended to before they excite inflammation and swelling, they can generally be removed by very slender forceps or buy a hair-pin, the curved end of which has been bent so as to form an obtuse angle, like the heel of a spoon, and to which a handle has been made by sticking the points of the pin into a cork.
Place yourself behind the ear, draw it upwards and backwards with one hand, and at the same time away from the head, that you may look into it as far as possible; dip the instrument into sweet-oil, and pressing the bent part against the back part of the internal ear, push it in till it passes behind and around the object; then lift a little, and the end of the pin will take hold of it from behind, like a spoon, and bring it out. If you cannot succeed in passing the hair-pin behind the object, you may sometimes be able to remove it by means of a small syringe, with a slender nozzle; fill it with warm water, pass the point of the nozzle alongside the object and inject the fluid with moderate force.
If with children, particularly if there is a round object in the ear, it is better to push the hair-pin along the back part of the internal ear; with grown persons it is generally better along the upper surface. When the object is visible it can be seen where best to insert the instrument; but if not visible carefully feel for it. If anything has been wedged into the ear, it may sometimes be removed by a second hair-pin, prepared as above, inserted opposite to the first and both drawn out together. In all the manipulations great gentleness and care must be used, lest the object be pushed further into the canal.
If pain and inflammation of the ear remain, give Arnica, and after a few hours, Pulsatilla. If the inflammation is already very considerable, and the ear-canal so much swelled that nothing can be got out, Pulsatilla is also of service. In some cases, when the children are in great pain, have much fever, speak incoherently, or are delirious, give, if Pulsatilla does not suffice, Belladonna, and afterwards if there is still some pain left, Sulphur

If a foreign substance lodges in the throat, endeavor to make the patient throw it up, by beating him between the shoulders; let him open his mouth, press down his tongue with a spoon and look into the throat, in order to ascertain whether there be anything that can be seized and brought out with the fingers. Blowing into the ears is said to produce reflex action in the throat or gullet, and so the foreign object is forced out.
If, after the object has been removed, the sensation as if it were still there remains, particularly after pointed substances, it shows that a wound has been made, and all acrid or highly seasoned things must be avoided in food and drink.
If a large piece of food remains fast in the throat on account of its size and hardness, it is advisable to excite vomiting, particularly if upon retching, you perceive the obstruction move upward. Tickling the throat will sometimes affect this, if not, put snuff on the tongue, or give an injection of tobacco. When it can be felt on the outside of the throat, a gentle pressure upward may force it out. At first you ought to endeavor to make the sufferer throw up again whatever has been swallowed, but do not proceed with too much violence. If the substance has already descended so far that it cannot be felt in the throat, and it seems as if it were sticking fast in the chest, it must be forced down into the stomach, particularly if it is soft, smooth and soluble, and is only arrested on account of its size. If the sufferer feels that at times it slips down, it should be allowed to glide of itself into the stomach, or be assisted by occasionally swallowing a little water, provided it is a substance which will not swell; otherwise a little melted butter or sweet-oil. If the symptoms, however, become too troublesome, endeavor to push it down. For this purpose take a smooth, twig and tie to the end of it a bit of sponge. To be able to fasten it on well, cut a few notches in the stick, and use waxed thread or silk. Rub some sweet-oil on this instrument, and introduce it cautiously into the throat, pushing gently against the back of the throat.
If a contraction of the gullet takes place, which prevents the substance from being moved, or if pains, difficulty of breathing, and other symptoms make their appearance, give Ignatia; and if this fails to relieve, Chamomilla; then sweet-oil or butter; and after this, try again to push the substance down; if the face is pale, if there is nausea, worse after speaking, give Cocculus; if the face is red and if there is a constant inclination to swallow, Belladonna.

Washing the eye with water will be beneficial if dust or any insoluble substance has got into it, but will be injurious if the substance is soluble, as the washing will only tend to diffuse it.
Rubbing the eye should also be avoided, as it merely increases the irritation. Press gently on the inner comer of the eye towards the nose, at the same time drawing the outer comer downwards. The tears will then wash the foreign substance towards the inner corner, from where it may be removed. Immersing the eye immediately in a vessel of cold water and holding it there, will frequently remove the cause of irritation and afford relief. Sweet-oil will mitigate the irritation, when acids or caustic salts have caused it; but it is injurious when caused by the powder of flies, or dead insects. The white of eggs is very good when sharp, dust-like mineral substances, paint, or small pointed particles, get into the eye. For ashes, some kinds of dye-stuffs and perhaps tobacco, cream or sour milk is the best remedy. For lime, the eye should be washed with vinegar and water, or sweet-oil may be freely used.
If a hard substance gets into the eye and cannot be removed by the above means, but continues to cause irritation and pain, draw the eyelids apart, while at the same time the eye is slowly moved in every direction, and you can ascertain whether there is anything adhering to their inner surface; then roll up a bit of paper, so as to have a soft point, with this, as with a camel’s-hair pencil, you may take away the offending particle. Fine blotting paper will answer best for this purpose, as the foreign body will more readily adhere to it. Should it be necessary to push the pointed paper far back under the eyelid, moisten it first with saliva.
Cinders in the Eyes. A few grains of flaxseed placed in the eye will swell and envelope the cinder in a glutinous substance, and it may be soon washed out. Rubbing is injurious at all times; in order to avoid it, put on a linen compress dipped in cold water. Sleep sometimes diminishes the pain. If the eye is red and inflamed after the removal of the foreign body, give Aconite, which is also of service if it cannot be got out, and will diminish the pain until you can procure a surgeon, or till the night is passed, when day-light will enable you to examine more closely. If, after giving Aconite several times, the eye continues sensitive and red, give Sulphur, and in case this does not prove efficacious, Calcarea or Silicea.
If the eyelids are spasmodically closed, and will scarcely let tears escape, Belladonna generally relieves; sometimes it will be necessary to give Hyoscyamus afterwards.