10 Strange But True Pain Remedies That Grandma Taught Us

Don’t reach for the Ibuprofen, do THIS instead!

No one likes to be in pain, but it’s worse when you feel like there is no end in sight and nothing you can do about it! If you’ve ever had a headache and no aspirin available, or a burn with no ointment around, you’ll appreciate these 10 quick fixes for alleviating all kinds of pain!

Apply Mustard For Burns And Rashes

Just a spoonful of mustard applied directly to the skin helps immediatly cool burned or irritated skin. This is due to the vasodilators in mustard, which increase blood flow to the injured area to help relieve soreness.

Rub Oatmeal On Your Hands For Arthritis Pain

Mix oatmeal, warm water, and honey into a paste and apply to the affected area for 20 minutes. Then, rinse off with fresh water. This hot-cold treatment is helpful in alleviating pain and inflammation of the bones and joints. You should also be eating oatmeal on a regular basis as it helps strengthen and repair damaged bones and joints.

Eat Ginger For General Pain

Instead of gulping down Ibuprofen or Advil for inflammation and pain, try eating some ginger! A recent study showed that ginger extract was as effective an anti-infammatory agent as betamethasone (the active ingredient in Ibuprofen), without the nasty side-effects like weight gain, heart arrhythmias, depression, etc.

Rub Ice Between Fingers

By rubbing an ice cube between the space of your thumb and index finger, you can calm gum and tooth pain. This is good for headaches too! This works partially because of the shock of the cold, and also because of pressure points along the thumb and index finger.

Put An Onion In Your Ear

While there is little scientific evidence of why or how this works, mommy bloggers and parents everwhere have raved about the miracle ear ache cure that comes from onions. The method is simple. Heat up an onion and press it against your ear. You can also heat up the onion and take out the center and stick that into your ear. People claim that nothing would soothe thier child until the warm onion treatment was given.

Chew On Garlic For A Toothache

While this will certainly give you some lovely garlic breath, the price might be worth it if you’re suffering from a toothache. The idea is to chew on a peeled garlic clove or rest the clove on the aching spot to reduce the pain. This method works because garlic kills the bacteria in your mouth, which may be the underlying cause of the soreness. If the garlic is too strong, try mixing it with some peanutbutter and applying that on the tooth for a few minutes beore rinsing off.

Use Baking Soda On Splinters

Simply make a paste with baking soda and water, apply it to the area, and cover with a bandage. The baking soda helps to swell the skin and draw the splinter to the surface. After about 24 hours, the splinter should be sticking out enough to pull it out with tweezers.

Tension Headache? Put A Pencil In Your Mouth

When you’re stressed and anxious, you probably subconsously clench your jaw which often triggers a tension headache. If you put a pencil between your teeth and don’t bit, you automatically relax your jaw ease pain.

Apply Vicks VapoRub To Painful Zits

We’ve all been there – we go to bed with a clear face, ready for the family photo shoot the next day, only to wake up with a huge, nasty, painful zit that isn’t ready to pop. Luckily, we have a cure! Just put some Vics VapoRub on the area and within a few hours the pimple will either be gone alltogether, or it’ll come to a head and you can pop it.

Take Activated Charcoal For Food Poisoning Or Hangovers

Activated charcoal is the new miracle cure of the last few years. From face cleansers to toothpaste, is there anything activated charcoal can’t do? In this case, taking activated charcoal in pill form can really help with a nasty hangover or a bad case of food poisoning. The charcoal soaks up the toxins in your body leaving you feeling better, faster!

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