Surprising & Unique Remedies
Unorthodox uses of many common household staples can solve an amazing range of simple health problems. Share your own discoveries.
Can You Overcome Depression with Exercise?
People with heart disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions are more prone to depression. This seems understandable. The problem is that if they do become depressed, their conditions may worsen. …
Can You Clear Rosacea with Dandruff Shampoo?
Rosacea is a common skin condition associated with easy flushing or blushing, persistent redness, inflamed blood vessels and small red bumps on the skin. People who have had rosacea for a long time ma…
Are Gin-Drenched Raisins a Big Joke?
Whoever said "Getting old isn't for sissies" certainly got it right. As we age, we often accumulate aches and pains that may be attributed to arthritis. People with arthritis are faced with a horrible…
Can You Cure Your Plantar Warts with Hot Water?
Plantar warts are those that appear on the soles of the feet. You might catch the human papillomavirus that causes plantar warts if you go barefoot in a shared locker room or swimming pool area. Likew…
Show 1155: Can Bacteriophages Save Your Life?
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been cropping up around the world. These superbugs cause serious problems, especially when they fail to respond to increasingly potent medications. One approach may …
Will Milk of Magnesia Help Under-Breast Itching?
Under-breast itching is often an extremely irritating problem. You certainly can't scratch the itch, and figuring out how to treat it is tricky. Doctors don't always have solutions for this stubborn p…
What Is the Right Dose of Baking Soda?
We love simple remedies using ingredients you already have on hand in your pantry, so long as they work and they are safe. One time-honored approach to ease indigestion is taking a baking soda solutio…
Can You Stop Bleeding with Black Pepper?
We have been collecting home remedies for more than 40 years. One of the most unusual came to us from Nell Heard, who told us about a camping trip to Yellowstone National Park. She went with her siste…
Special Creams Fail to Fight Pain
Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars on specially formulated topical pain creams. Medicare Part D paid more than half a billion dollars for such prescription products in 2015. Doctors may p…
Can Acupressure Wrist Bands Help You Get to Slee…
Far too many Americans sleep less than the recommended seven hours a night, according to the CDC. Are you among them? Sleep difficulties can come from having trouble falling asleep or from waking in t…
Have You Tried Castor Oil to Clear Nail Fungus?
Toenail fungus can be very tough to treat. Even with prescription medications, you have to have a lot of patience. Toenails grow slowly, as you may have noticed, and you need to keep treating the fung…
Will Honey and Chocolate Ease Your Cough?
A persistent cough can be hard to manage. Lots of people would like to find a remedy, and some individuals have found sweet ways to calm a nasty cough. Would you believe honey and chocolate could ease…
Can Mindfulness Help You Manage Chronic Pain?
People in chronic pain often feel abandoned by the medical profession, especially as physicians are cutting back on prescribing opioids. They may be interested in some nondrug approaches that could …
Do You Need Help for Hiccup Cure?
What do you do when you have the hiccups? Do you have a hiccup cure that works well for you? One reader found a great technique, but you may find it easier if you can get help. Water-Drinking, Ear-Hol…
How Could Flaxseed Oil Calm Your Eczema?
Eczema can be quite difficult to treat. People with this skin condition, also called atopic dermatitis, suffer with rashes, irritation and stubbornly dry patches of skin that may not clear up with moi…
Will Chocolate Calm Your Cough?
This is the time of year when lots of people have nagging coughs. Traditional cough medicine leaves a lot to be desired. But could chocolate calm your cough? Might You Use Cocoa to Calm Your Cough? Sc…
Should You Be Peeing on Your Feet?
Warning: this remedy might be too disgusting for you. Many readers tell us that peeing on your feet can help you overcome toenail fungus or athlete's foot. Is there any evidence to back this claim up?…
Could Herbal Tea Overcome Your Nasty Cough?
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common pathogen that usually causes mild symptoms such as runny nose, fever or sneezing and wheezing. It can also cause a nasty cough in some people, especially …
What Happened to Cod Liver Oil as a Home Remedy?
The origin of many a home remedy is lost in the mists of time. Usually we don't have a good record of who started using it or when, and we also rarely have information on when and how it falls out of …
Will Therapeutic Frankincense Help You Sleep?
In the Christmas story found in the Gospel of Matthew, wise men come from the east seeking the newborn king. They bring him presents: gold, frankincense and myrrh. This part of the story with these pr…
How to Calm a Cough Naturally
Do you know how to calm a cough naturally? At this time of year, lots of people are coughing. If you go to a movie or a concert, chances are good that the people around you will be hacking away. Ditto…
Seniors Swear by Marijuana Oil for Pain Relief
In an increasing number of states, the legislatures have legalized the medicinal use of marijuana. (Ten states and the District of Columbia have made recreational use legal, usually in addition to med…
Could Exercise Save Your Brain?
There are a couple of health problems that everyone dreads. A diagnosis of cancer is most unwelcome. Neurological conditions run a close second, though. If a doctor diagnoses Parkinson's disease, ALS …
Can Mindfulness Help You Lose Weight?
Mindfulness, the practice of paying attention to your own thoughts and feelings in the moment, has been praised as a way for people to manage stress. It has also been studied as a way to manage major …
Could Massage Make Your Knees Feel Better?
A weekly whole-body massage sounds like a luxury, but new research suggests it could help people with knee arthritis live with less pain (Journal of General Internal Medicine, online Dec 12, 2018). It…
Can Holding Your Breath Stop Painful Foot Cramps…
Have you often been awakened by painful foot cramps? This is a most unpleasant experience. Some people find that stretching the toes back toward the knee is enough to stop the cramp; they may not even…
Can Epsom Salts Combat Chronic Constipation?
Many Americans have difficulty with "regularity." They may pass stool infrequently or they may find their stool is hard and painful to pass. People are eager to find ways to combat chronic constipatio…
Will Lavender Oil Ease Your Anxiety and Insomnia…
Aromatherapy, the use of plant materials with notable fragrance, has long been popular in Europe. It is now becoming more widely adopted in the US as well. In this approach, people utilize the "essent…
Celebrate with a Cool Gift from The People’s P…
What is the most precious gift of all? Hint: It’s not a new car, a smartphone, an electronic gadget, jewelry or clothing. The most extraordinary gift is good health. Many of us take our health for g…
Is There a Natural Remedy for Cold Sores?
During cold season, many people suffer from outbreaks of cold sores, also called fever blisters. Perhaps when the immune system is busy fighting off another infection, the herpes simplex virus that ca…
Why Would a Veterinary Office Use Coca-Cola?
For decades, we have been warning people not to drink sugar-sweetened soda pop. Not only is it bad for teeth, those liquid calories sneak in too easily and add up too readily. However, we recently wro…
Will CBD for Pain Make You Fail the Marijuana Te…
One lesson learned from the terrible opioid crisis of the past few years: a lot of Americans are in a lot of pain. With doctors increasingly reluctant to prescribe narcotics for pain relief, people ar…
Vicks on Soles of Feet Calmed Grandkids’ C…
When young children cough all night, they may not be awake themselves, but their parents and grandparents won't be able to sleep well. Little ones don't respond well to conventional cough medicines. W…
Terpin Hydrate Helped World War I Veteran
Terpin hydrate, with or without codeine, used to be a highly popular cough remedy. It was available without a prescription from the 1880s until the 1990s. That’s when the FDA decided there wasn’t …
Should You Pour Black Pepper on Your Cut?
Who knows where home remedies come from? Most of the time, their history is untraceable. Who first thought to pour black pepper on a cut to staunch the bleeding? We have no idea. If you search the int…
What Can You Do for a Kitchen Burn?
A kitchen burn or other minor household burn is painful. They usually cause redness and sometimes blistering. Cold water is the standard first aid recommendation. In fact, cold tap water is just the r…
What Is the Alternative to Grape Juice and Pecti…
Arthritis, joint pain and inflammation and rheumatism have plagued human beings since prehistoric times. Possibly as a result, there are more home remedies for arthritis than you could count easily. T…
Can You Cure a Plantar Wart with Silver Nitrate?
Plantar warts are those that appear on the sole of the foot. They can become tender and make walking painful. Over the years, we have heard of many different home remedies to get rid of plantar warts.…
Is Chasteberry a Natural Way to Ease Hot Flashes…
Hot flashes are the signature symptom of menopause. Some women are barely troubled by them while others are incapacitated. Most women in menopause would like to find a way to ease hot flashes, though …
Could CBD Cream Relieve Your Knee Pain?
As people age, their joints often begin to hurt. They may try a variety of approaches, from taking OTC pain relievers such as ibuprofen or naproxen to swallowing home remedies such as gin-soaked raisi…