A first-aid kit doesn’t simply have to be about bandages. Here are 6 must-have natural first-aid remedies you should have on hand for your family.
1. Aloe vera
Aloe vera gel has wonderfully restorative effects on skin and it can also be taken internally. It helps soothe and heal minor burns, itchy insect bites, nappy rash, cuts, scratches and sunburn, and can be taken internally for colds, ear infections, sore throats, toothaches and asthma attacks. Aloe vera plants are easy to grow, so it’s great to have one growing in a pot inside the house or in the garden, as you only need to break off a leaf to use it.
2. Bach’s Rescue Remedy
A combination of five flower essences, Bach’s Rescue Remedy has an immediate calming and emotionally stabilising effect in stressful conditions. Use it during traumatic events, before public speaking, before tests, for an over-active mind before sleep, and after arguments. This naturopathic remedy is completely safe to use in pregnancy, during labour, by breastfeeding mothers and to give to babies. It is useful with an overtired or over-stimulated baby, a baby woken by a fright, an upset colicky baby, a toddler throwing a tantrum or a child upset by injury or nightmare. Available in a long shelf-life alcohol version or shorter shelf-life water version. If using the alcohol version on children, it’s good to dilute a few drops in water.
3. Calendula
An antiseptic (kills bacteria) and analgesic (pain-reliever) that is globally renowned for its soothing healing of injured skin, dry, chapped skin, cuts, abrasions, rashes, and blistering and minor burns. It helps stop bleeding and promotes healthy skin texture and tissue repair to reduce scars. Fantastic for all types of skin healing.
4. Garlic
When fresh garlic is crushed, it releases allicin, but this compound only exists for a few hours (and alters with cooking). Mixing a little fresh well-crushed raw garlic into infant milk, juice or food has been shown to display fantastic antifungal and antibiotic powers, and can be used to treat oral thrush, streptococcus, colds, flus and children whose systems have become antibiotic-resistant.
5. Olive leaf extract
One of nature’s best broad-spectrum medicines, with compounds that are antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-retrovira—arguably the world’s best cold and flu natural remedy! It is particularly effective against viruses, bacteria, fungus, yeast infections and worm parasites.
6. Tea tree oil
Tea tree oil is recognised as a very effective antiseptic and antibacterial agent, fungicide and germicide. Used externally and internally, it also promotes tissue regeneration. Tea tree oil has many uses, including treating burns, thrush, cuts, nappy rash, ear aches, insect bites and stings, pimples, scaly scalp, sinus and bronchial congestion, eczema, splinters and sunburn.
Any advice given is general in nature and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice and must not be relied upon as such. For any healthcare advice, always consult a healthcare practitioner.
