Natural first-aid kit: get fast relief from 14 common ailments with these effective remedies - Consumer guide: how to be an educated consumer

Natural Health, April, 2003 by Rapaport Karlson

What's the Proof: In clinical trials zinc lozenges have been shown to reduce the length of time cold sufferers endure sore throats, runny noses, sneezing, and other symptoms. In one small double-blind, placebo-controlled study in the August 2000 Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers found that patients who took zinc lozenges containing 13 mg of zinc every few hours at the start of a cold slashed its duration almost in half, from eight days to 4 1/2 days. (You do not need to consume that much zinc in your lozenge to see results, our experts say.)

How to Store It: If you keep zinc lozenges in the package they came in and store them in a cool, dry place, they should stay potent until the expiration date.

Splinters

What They Are: They're a thin fragment of a foreign material (usually wood) embedded in your skin. Splinters will eventually come out on their own, but you risk infection if you leave them in.

How To Get Fast Relief: Enzymes in banana peels produce a drawing action that pulls splinters out of your skin. Use surgical tape to attach a piece of fresh, ripe banana peel--skin-side up, pulp-side down--over the splinter before you go to bed, and leave it on overnight, says Andrea Candee, a master herbalist in South Salem, N.Y., and author of Gentle Healing for Baby and Child (Pocket Books, 2001). In the morning, the splinter should be sitting on the surface of your skin so you can pull it out. Candee adds that if a splinter is deeply embedded, you may need to apply fresh peel for another night or two.

What's the Proof: This old folk remedy hasn't been scrutinized in a lab, but Candee and other experts agree that it works.

How to Store It: Keep bananas on your kitchen counter or in a hanging basket. They're best for extracting splinters when they're yellow with a few brown spots.

Tension Headache

What It Is: At some point in their lives, 90 percent of all adults experience this nagging pain in their head, neck, shoulders, or scalp. These headaches are caused by muscle contractions brought on by stress Or exertion.

How to Get Fast Relief: Peppermint essential oil (Mentha piperita) is one of the most effective headache busters around, our experts say. Place a drop of the oil on the tip of both your index fingers and then use those fingers to rub your temples for three minutes, up to three times a day. (Allow a 15-minute interval between each application.) Some people experience relief with just one application, Marohn says.

What's the Proof: Studies have found that peppermint oil relaxes muscles and contains a mild local anesthetic. A 1996 German study of 41 people showed that those who applied peppermint oil to their foreheads and temples experienced significantly less headache pain than those who used a placebo.

How to Store It: Keep peppermint oil in a tightly closed dark-glass bottle away from light, moisture, and heat. It should last up to two years.

Consider This

When to See a Doctor

Most of the time you can successfully self-treat the ailments in this guide. But the following symptoms indicate that a problem is beyond self-care, and you should seek a doctor's help, says Rich Liebowitz, M.D., medical director of the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine in Durham, N.C.