Amish Folk Medicine
It's well known that the Amish often use their own centuries-old remedies when ill. My father recently gave me this great little book called The Wisdom of Amish Folk Medicine, by Patrick Quillen, PHD, RD. While the information contained in the book is for educational purposes only, I thought I'd post some remedies. These are directly from the book, and I haven't tried them yet. Since its summer, I thought these were applicable.
Insect Bites and Bee Stings:
- Make a poultice paste of equal parts bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and vinegar (Okay, I'll admit I have tried this and it works).
- Apply a fresh cut onion to the sting.
-Make a poultice by mixing 2 oz. olive oil, 1 dram carbolic acid, 1 dram pennyroyal, 1 dram cedar oil, 2 drams citronella oil, 2 drams tincture of camphor, and 1/2 dram acetic acid. Apply to bites to lessen sting, or as an insect repellent.
- To relieve itching, moisten a bar of soap and rub it on the sting.
- As an insect repellant, apply citronella on skin. Helps pets, too.
There are several more, which I'll post next week. If any of you have tried these or any other natural methods for bites and stings, comment below.
'Til next time,
Kathleen
Toothpaste also works great and if you take an asprin and make a paste out of it with water will work wonders as well....
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We use citronella candles to repel bugs. I have tried a baking soda remedy, except we use baking soda and water instead of vinegar. It works great to get the stinger out.
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I'm not sure how many of these are actually exclusively Amish as my grandparents also used folk remedies such as the baking soda paste. However I do know that there are a lot of folk remedies that we should use rather than running to the doctor for everything!
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Make a paste of water and meat tenderizer. It takes the sting out almost immediately!
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The baking soda paste works for sure....didn't add vinegar tho....I got stung at work a few years ago....we had some baking soda in frig. so made a paste and it really works
Now I have a question for you Kathleen, what home remedy for a sick stomach is in the book ? I think I just may go buy this book
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Folk remedies:
Both of these work; I've used them often.
Insect stings: Wet a small amount of tobacco and place it over the sting with a bandaid.
Splinters: Use a bandaid to hold a piece of raw bacon over the splinter. The bacon will draw the splinter to the surface where it's easier to remove.
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I think some would work, while others wont. Richard from Amish Stories.
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Kathleen, I use lemongrass oil as an insect replellent, and just one tiny drop of the oil poured onto a tissue and dabbed or rubbed on bare skin keeps bugs away so that you don't get bitten in the first place. Then I keep the tissue in a pocket. The oil has a strong enough scent that insects stay away.
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Mona, here's a link to the book on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Amish-Folk-Medicine-Peoples/dp/B0006PG77E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1313326467&sr=8-3
I haven't read through the whole thing but I remember seeing some stomach remedies in there.
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