As a Mom, it's always distressing to see your little ones down with a flu, cold or worse... I have unfortunately been there with many illnesses (some quite serious) early on, but thankfully once our diets were changed and all use of medicine were halted, everything came right again.
It's been years since myself or anyone in my family has taken any form of chemical medicine - when we have the need, and often even if we don't, our healer's helper of choice is to use gentle herbs. With children there are so many to choose from, but usually there are only so many things a kid comes down with, so we can use the same or similar herbs to great effect.
This week my children are down with late summer colds - a tiny fever, chills, laying low, snotty noses and the usual cold symptoms. I knew a virus was about last week (well, I am an Intuitive, so it's what I do) because they were acting up, frustrated and generally not themselves for a couple days.
All of this 'out of the normal behaviour' usually signals a virus or bug coming into their bodies. So, I was kind of expecting these colds this week. And, with such a healthy diet, they don't often get really 'sick', just feeling a bit miserable for a little while.
I wanted to bring this up because it is always beneficial to have a medicine cabinet - mine might look a bit different from most peoples's (perhaps I should take a photo...hmmm). Because I have very different things in there we use to treat ALL and any thing that might need help.
I am not one for creams, lotions or potions - so my only creams are comfrey and calendula made with natural bees wax and honey. These can be used for bruises, rashes, sunburn, boo-boos and comfrey cream works really well for aches and pains too.
Next I have a good selection of essential oils, mostly these are used in the bath as they can't be used neat on the skin (you can dilute a good many of them with olive or almond oil). Our most versatile oil would be lavender, the tea tree and also melissa which we do use on skin.
Some of the other one's we use are bergamot, clary sage, peppermint, juniper, ylang ylang, rosemary, clove, wild oregano, frankincense and so on. Any of these are lovely in the bath, for anything from infections, detoxing, rashes, relaxation and general well being.
I also love to smell them in the house and often have an oil diffuser burning.
The herbs I am using this week for the children (in very small doses) are feverfew, chamomile, nettle, elderberry, marigold, vervain and peppermint. This is a mild tasting tea made in a pot with fresh boiled water - I try to get them to sip on it throughout the day, but especially at bedtime.
None of these herbs will cure the cold, nor will they take away the fever - using herbs just makes the process of have a flu more manageable, they get some sleep at night (so do we), the fever is not over the top and they probably recover a bit faster.
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| Marigold in the herb garden |
The entire purpose of using herbs is to work with the body processes. There is often a very good reason for the cold in the first place such as coping with change, a growth spurt and other stressors. The herbs come in to support your body fully in all it is already doing and not interfere with healing.
In the rest of my medicine cabinet there is a first aid kit with some plasters, a bandage, scissors and the usual components of such a bag. And that is about it.
Anything else I do in terms of treatment is only common sense - no dairy products (we only ever use goat's or sheeps milk and cheese), lots of water to drink, let them lay low for a couple of days, make some special 'soups' to eat and sleep in my bed if they want.
The worst of the cold is usually over in a couple of days and then you have it!! LOL
Have a healthy day,
April
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| Feverfew in the garden |
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