Superficial cuts and bruises don’t require medical attention, but might fester and become worse if not treated on time.
However, when one has no immediate access to first aid, it is quite easy to fashion a first aid tool box from common ingredients found in your kitchen. Here are two extremely useful ingredients, and how they can be used to treat common ailments.
Saline water - This easy to make solution serves a wide variety of purposes which even medical personnel vouch for. For one cup of water, one teaspoon of unscented, non iodised salt should make for a mild saline solution.
Boil water for 10 minutes to remove impurities, and then add the appropriate amount of salt in it.
Once the salt has dissolved, let the solution rest until it reaches room temperature. Consume it whenever required.
Saline solution is used for rinsing contact lenses, nasal irrigation, gargling, cleaning new piercings and washing wounds.
The solution can also be used for insect bites and other skin infections. Also, if you have eaten out and think the food is making you sick, there’s a way to induce vomiting using saline solution.
Mix hot salt water with cold water, and drink immediately. This in fact, is a noted practice in Yoga called Kunjal Kriya and is used to cleanse the digestive tract.
Turmeric - Or arisina as your grandmother calls it, is the quintessential remedy for everything. Dr Randy J Horwitz, the medical director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, wrote a paper for the American Academy of Pain Management in which he discussed the health benefits of turmeric, illustrating its properties as a powerful anti inflammatory, anti septic and anti oxidant.
Wounds heal faster if treated with turmeric, as it helps fight bacteria. Alternatively, turmeric mixed with honey or milk when suffering from the flu is a booster shot of sorts to your immune system.
And once the flu has passed, continue to incorporate turmeric into your diet in the liquid form, as it has numerous long term benefits as well, including fighting off cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s etc.
However, it is not recommended in large quantities for those who have a history of gallstones.
