Beware Home Remedies That Hurt

Everyone loves home remedies. Whether it’s a banana peel taped to a wart or a teaspoon of sugar for hiccups, these inexpensive approaches seem harmless and amusing.
But not all home remedies are safe. Even though your great-grandparents may have used kerosene to get rid of lice on a child’s head, this is not a good idea. For one thing, the petroleum byproducts can be absorbed through the skin. For another, kerosene is extremely flammable. An open flame or a match could ignite the fumes and cause serious injury.
People have used a lit cigarette to try and coax a tick into “letting go.” Don’t do it! There is no evidence that this old-fashioned approach actually works, and some dermatologists have suggested that a hot tick may release more juices into the bite. In addition, there is a distinct risk of burning the skin in the process and making an itchy bite into a more serious wound.
Speaking of burns, people put the darndest things on them. Butter is perhaps the most famous and ineffective home remedy. Doctors generally recommend immediate application of cold water for minor kitchen burns.
Even doctors can make mistakes based on belief rather than science. For example, the time-honored admonition to make sure kids with colds or the flu rest in bed and get plenty of fluids could actually boomerang.
There’s no problem with bed rest for a child who feels ill enough to stay in bed. But forcing too much liquid on a little one, even a child with a fever, might change the balance of electrolytes in the body.
The authors of the study in the British Medical Journal (Feb. 28, 2004) conclude that physicians should be cautious about “recommending increased fluids to patients,” at least until there is more scientific research on this issue.
Another home remedy that originated in a doctor’s recommendation is the use of a Clorox solution to treat nail fungus. The problem here is not ineffectiveness as much as the danger involved in exposing sensitive skin to a solution that may not have been appropriately diluted. Some individuals have reported allergic reactions or actual chemical burns from trying this approach.
Other home remedies that worry us put a person at risk of inhaling oil or petroleum products. Although spraying WD-40 (the mechanic’s all-purpose lubricant) on stiff or painful joints is popular in some places, at least one patient developed a serious lung inflammation after spraying it on her arthritic back and breathing the fumes.
It’s clear that the most important ingredient in any home remedy is common sense. One nurse said to us in passing along her favorite, “Can’t hurt, might help.” This is a good rule of thumb, and the first principle we use in evaluating potential home remedies. If symptoms don’t improve, or if they get worse, medical attention is called for.
We have gathered together some of our favorites-from juice concoctions for arthritis to vinegar for warts. Anyone who would like our Guide to Home Remedies may send $2 in check or money order with a long (no. 10) stamped (60 cents), self-addressed envelope: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. R-1, P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027.