
Ask HN: What home or herbal remedies have worked for you? - neoplatonian
The effectiveness of many ancient medicines, like those practiced in ancient India, China or by the tribes of South America, has not been scientifically validated. But this does not mean they do not work. On the flip side, there&#x27;s a lot of snake oil selling going on there. So what has worked for you?
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Khelavaster
Strong agrimony tea blocks alpha-1 adrenal receptors and strongly fights
resipiratory inflammation.

Dried yarrow underneath gauze and bandages directly against the skin to
strongly reduce scarring from burns and quickly stop bleeding.

Valerian Root extract absolutely works as a GABA booster to help sleep--though
it leads to tolerance by the third day in a row.

Chewing/"dipping" yarrow as an antiviral/antibacterial, especially for
respiratory, oral, and digestive systems.

Ginger's great to settle stomach sickness and stimulate healthy digestion.

Strong chamomile tea's boosts sleep quality when it would already be at least
"good", and improves recovery from immune system activity. It seems to reduce
unhelpful inflammation too.

Garlic fights skin infections (and strongly boosts gut health, and helps in
all sorts of other ways >.>) when it's chopped finely, left to sit in the air
for 5-10 minutes to activate enzymes, and then cooked for just a minute (no
longer) to extract active chemicals into more stable food, so they survive
through digestion and don't stress the stomach.

Mahabhringraj oil daily helps avoids hair graying, and helps greatly reduce
hair loss. Its 11 herbal ingredients [two primary ones--Mahabhringraj and
North Indian Brahmi] are all medicinally sound, as is the 50% sesame/50%
coconut oil blend in which they're dissolved.

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a-saleh
Can more or less confirm all of these except for Valerian Root and
Mahabhringraj oil.

Rest, we used in my family for past three generations, this was the stuff my
mom tells me her grandma used when taking care of her.

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salawat
Lemon Balm, chamomile, and Valerian root I've done as nerve tonics.

Echinacea/Goldenseal is my go to for a brewing sinus infection. Typically as a
tincture in hot water. I do 3 droppers per big ads coffee cup worth of water,
3 times a day minimum once an infection is in full swing. If I catch it early,
two droplets in some hot drink at least 3 times a day for a week or until
symptoms stop usually does the trick.

I ended up resorting to it originally because every doc I went to refused to
prescribe anti-biotics, and the infection had gotten to the point I could
barely swallow, and a case of bronchitis and the asthma issued that come with
it were about two or three days out.

Cinnamon is an okay anti-fungal in some cases. Usually use it on plants.

I can't tell you if it's all placebo effect or not, (except for the
Echinacea/goldenseal) but the rest have all generally behaved as described in
most herbal formularies as you find them in places like Tractor Supply. I've
also got a copy of Gerard's Herbal (modern reprint of an old herbal guide from
Elizabethan times I recall) for cross referencing with modern literature just
to help with figuring out what is modern meme, what is unconfirmed
academically, but was important enough to a several hundred odd year ago bloke
to commit to paper and duplicate (effort to duplicate gives some level of
credibility in my calculus), and what gets updated or preserved knowledgewise
between back then and now.

I also experimented only with stuff I grew myself for the most part, and would
only buy supplements after I'd determined the plant itself would do anything.

Plants, in short, are awesome. Not a substitute for a good doctor, but can go
a damn sight further than a bad or no doctor.

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a-saleh
Most often I did have cold or some respiratory inflamations.

I am used to curing myself with large ammount of herbal tea. Ginger. Mint.
Chamomile. Thyme. Sometimes I suspect it really is more about heating up with
hot liquid (and then swetting it off in a mild fever) than actual enefits of
those specific herbs.

Recently I become a fan of cleaning my nasal cavity with salt water. Seems to
help with runny nose a lot.

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rasikjain
Ginger for soar throat, cold, inflammation etc.

Amla - I used to have spring allergies. I tried eating Amla (boiled) 1 to 2
months before the spring season. This helped a lot in relieving the symptoms.

Turmeric, Fennel seeds, Jeera, Cummin, Mustard seeds, Fenugreek seeds, Garlic
etc - Regular usage during the usual cooking. It improves overall immunity.

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codegeek
My mother (Indian) gave me tips for my extremely dry skin/psoriasis. Mix
Coconut Oil and Camphor (kapur in Hindi) and apply it on the skin. It has done
wonders and cured of all my dryness/psoriasis patch including scalp. Apply
twice a day for best results.

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neoplatonian
Some commentators are just forwarding wisdom passed down from their ancestors
and grandma's. Please mention only stuff what you have personally, empirically
validated and invalidated - otherwise this thread is only as good as any
random google search.

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PaulHoule
Fish oil helps manage my triglycerides.

Ashwagandha is a bit like Valium except I think the side effect/effect ratio
is worse -- that is, it makes me chill, but it also makes me clumsy, stupid,
and error prone.

Stinging Nettle is good for my urine flow too.

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mrpotato
I've used a brand of herbal tea called Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat
which worked great at reducing my symptoms of a soar throat and/or itchy
throat (not sure on the medical name for itchy throat...)

Also, fisherman's friend.

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yamrzou
> has not been scientifically validated, but this does not mean they do not
> work.

I’m wondering the same, but for the opposite : What things did you notice
badly affect your health, but has not necessarily been scientifically
validated ?

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bnorton916
Peppermint oil for cough.

I skeptical of essential oils in general, but my wife is not.

Daughter(16) up half the night with a bad cough, wife put a little oil on
upper lip. She immediately stopped coughing and went to sleep.

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aidaoftheheart
Whenever I have a sore throat, I always grab some honey and hot water.
Definitely helps relieve the pain. I probably do that more than take aspirin
in that case.

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paktek123
White turmeric is great to treat any sort of inflammation on skin or internal.
Completely kills off abscess.

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Goatherd6
water-only diet cured bladder infection in three days

ginger (any form except powdered) works pain relief like narcotic (imported
powdered garlic is chemically sterilized and hurts me - I don't do imported
powdered spices)

