know your herbs Summer Woes
Q - I try to be careful and protect my chil- dren from the sun but sometimes sunburns do happen. What do you suggest as natural remedies for soothing the pain and healing the skin?
A - Parents know to cover children with pro- tective lotion and limit the amount of time they spend in the sun, however, even the most careful parents can let their families get overexposed. If sunburn does occur, there are several wonderful natural formulas that can easily be prepared or purchased.
Apple Cider Vinegar Bath
For large sunburned areas an apple cider vinegar bath works wonders. Use a brand from the health food store that has been wood-aged, rather than one from the supermarket that may have been chemically- aged. Apple cider vinegar helps to balance the skin’s pH factor (its acid/alkaline bal- ance). As with all parts of the body, when there is chemical balance, healing is sup- ported.
• Add 2 cups apple cider vinegar to a bath- tub of warm water.
• Let your child soak for 15 minutes. The skin will be calmed and soothed, and much of the pain will be immediately relieved. • After the bath, you can use one of the fol- lowing soothers to promote further healing.
Yogurt Skin Healer Yogurt is the antidote for the burn of hot,
spicy food in Indian cooking by re-estab- lishing acid/alkaline balance and works the same way for sunburned skin. For sunburn, I use compresses of natural yogurt to help cool and hydrate the skin. • Wrap whole-milk, full-fat, plain yogurt in several layers of cheesecloth and compress the burn.
• Replace with fresh compresses as the yogurt warms on the skin.
• Repeat compresses until the skin is cooled and soothed. • Yogurt can be spread over the entire body, turning an upsetting, painful sunburn into a fun spa treatment that girls, especially, will love. (And boys, too: my son Brian always enjoyed our herbal “spa treatments” when he was a child.) Leave the yogurt on for 10 to 15 minutes, then rinse off in a cool shower.
Baking Soda Sunburn Soother
Like apple cider vinegar and yogurt, baking soda helps to balance pH, the skin’s acid/alkaline balance. • Add ¼ cup baking soda to a warm bath for an effective sunburn-healing soak. • Have your child soak for 15 minutes.
Lavender Oil
The essential oil of lavender is one of the only essential oils that can safely be applied to the skin without diluting it in a carrier oil (almond, sunflower seed, or grape seed oil, for example). Applying lavender oil will take the sting out of the burn, and heal it quickly. Its calming aromatherapy properties will help to ease the emotional upset of a painful burn. Keep in mind that lavender oil can be used for any kind of burn…you don’t have to save it for a sunburn.
Aloe Aloe has the unique ability to help skin
renew itself by stimulating cellular metabo- lism, thereby promoting oxygen exchange and increasing the absorption of nutrients. Aloe contains the anti-oxidant vitamins A and C; the minerals copper, selenium, and magnesium; and zinc, a powerful virus fighter. The following method works well for a localized burn.
• Rather than cutting from the tip or half way down the stalk, cut it at its base, where it is the fullest.
• Slit the stalk horizontally, exposing the gelatinous interior. • Using the thickest, juiciest section for the burn, cut a piece large enough to completely cover the burn and its surrounding tissue. • Place the entire piece on the area (gel and peel, gel side toward the burn). • Cover the aloe with roller gauze and surgical tape to keep it firmly in place. (See NOTE, below). • Leave on overnight or, if burn occurred early in the day, cut a fresh piece of aloe to make a new dressing and leave on overnight.
Andrea Candee, MH,MSC
34 Natural Nutmeg August 2012
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