50+ Lost Natural Remedies From Grandma's Medicine Cupboard You'll Want To Save: Master List

Below, you'll find a comprehensive quick guide to common ailments with over 50 different natural remedies to help. Do yourself a favor and save this, print it out if possible. We never know what is going to happen, and having a quick guide to herbal medicines in print will be invaluable in a number of situations.

Natural is bestPhoto byRichelleg

Plants, common sense, and a little know-how were the tools our ancestors utilized to alleviate all kinds of pain and suffering. They did it naturally, with few to no side effects, and with whatever they grew or had on hand. Let's get started!

Congestion

Eucalyptus Steam

Boil a saucepan of water and add a few drops of eucalyptus leaves or oil to create eucalyptus steam. To relieve nasal congestion, cover your head with a towel and breathe in the steam. Don't get burned.

Horseradish

Take fresh horseradish and wrap it in cheesecloth. Apply lotion to your forehead and under your nose. Apply the horseradish cheesecloth to these areas for about 15 minutes, or until you feel a slight burning sensation. Remove and discard.

Vitamin C: Fill a cup with the juice of half a lemon, its pulp, and its peel too. Pour in a teaspoon of honey and some boiling water in the cup. Stir, taking in the steam, and then, as it cools, slowly drink.

Coughing and throat pain

Basil: If you have a dry cough, chew on some fresh basil leaves.

Gargle: Use warm water and salt or freshly squeezed lemon juice and salt, to make an easy-to-use but powerful mouthwash. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

Honey Tea: To make honey tea, combine two teaspoons of honey with either warm water or your preferred herbal tea. Drink twice daily. (Not for infants younger than a year old.)

Licorice Root Tea: To relieve a sore throat and quiet a cough, boil a piece of licorice root in water for a few minutes, drain, and drink.

Nutshell Tea: Fill a teapot with five ounces of nut shells, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Take a slow sip to ease your throat. 20 almond nuts with shells (or 30 with no shell)

Pine needle teaPhoto byRichelleg

Pine Needle Tea: One cup of needles, rinsed and chopped finely. Then, in a saucepan, bring two tablespoons of corn syrup, a half-cup of water, and a pinch of salt to a boil. Combine ingredients with a whisk, then bring to a boil without stirring for one minute. After taking the pan off of the burner, add the pine and soak for two to three hours. Take two tablespoons of the syrup to ease a sore throat and cough.

Bruises, Cuts, and Scrapes

Aloe vera, chamomile tea, or honey can be applied right to bruises, scrapes, and cuts.

Banana Peels: Clean the area and apply the inside of the banana peel.

Bread with Apple Cider Vinegar: Apply bread soaked in apple cider vinegar to the affected region to promote healing.

Turmeric Paste: To make a paste, combine some water and turmeric powder. Use it on the injury to encourage healing and stave off infection. It will stain, be careful.

Plantain: Rub or crush leaves in the area.

Fevers

Apple Cider Vinegar: Soak your socks in it. After that, place them on your feet and wear them for roughly twenty minutes. Every 30 minutes, you can continue the procedure with new vinegar until the temperature goes down.

Onions: Slice an onion and stuff the slices inside your socks to make onion socks. Use these throughout the night to help induce fever.

Nutshell teaPhoto byRichelleg

Headache

Ginger Powder: Combine two teaspoons of water with ginger powder to create a paste and apply it to your forehead.

Lavender Oil: To reduce headache pain, apply a few drops of lavender essential oil into your temples.

Pure peppermint oil: the aroma has the ability to release congealed blood vessels in the head, reducing headache discomfort.

Potato Slices: Place two or three raw potato slices on your brow. If needed, secure them in place with a bandana or scarf. Squeezing any liquid from a grated raw potato into a glass of water is another method. Drink the water from the potato.

Indigestion/Stomach Issues

Apple Cider Vinegar & Honey: To relieve gastrointestinal pain, mix one spoonful each of honey and apple cider vinegar into a cup of warm water and slowly sip.

Baking Soda: To reduce indigestion and neutralize stomach acid, mix one teaspoon of baking soda into a glass of water and sip.

Caraway Seeds: Eat a handful of caraway seeds to relieve the pain associated with bloating.

Lavender and violetsPhoto byRichelleg

CRAP Foods: By this, I do not mean foods with an awful taste. I refer to the abbreviation for cherries, raisins, apricots, and prunes. Because of their high fiber content, these fruits facilitate easier digestion.

Fennel: Chew on a few raw fennel pieces to help ease gas and cramps in the stomach. It is also good for bad breath.

Peppermint: This traditional remedy has long been used for unsettled stomachs. Try sucking on a piece of peppermint or drinking peppermint tea.

Ginger: Anything ginger will settle stomachs. Gingerale, gingeraid, fresh ginger, dried ginger tea, ginger candy, gingerbread—you name it.

Activated Charcoal: This is great for absorbing toxins and the yuck you may have in your tummy and getting it out.

Bug Bites

Apple Cider Vinegar: Dab or roll a cotton ball into the sore or irritated region to apply apple cider vinegar.

Baking Soda & Water: Combine the two to form a paste. After applying it to the bite location, let it dry.

Flower powerPhoto byRichelleg

Basil: Rub the area with crushed basil or sage.

Lemon Juice: To lessen swelling and itching, apply fresh lemon juice directly to the bite.

Slicings of raw onions, leeks, or cabbage should be applied straight to the bite or sting.

Parsley, Honey, and Salt: Combine the parsley, honey, and salt to make a poultice, then apply it to the affected area.

Tea Bags: Apply a previously used tea bag to the bitten site until the itching stops.

Plantain: Rub or crush leaves in the area.

Lack of sleep

Dark Red Cherries: Melatonin, a hormone that aids in controlling the body's sleep-wake cycle, is abundant in fresh dark red cherries and their juice. To help you unwind and have a restful night's sleep, eat cherries or drink tart cherry juice around one hour before bed.

Valerian Root Tea: To help you fall asleep, have a cup of tea prepared from valerian root about an hour before going to bed.

Chamomile, lemon balm, and lavender are all great for sleepy time tea too.

Dark red cherriesPhoto byRichelleg

Small Burns

Aloe Vera: Gently apply the juice from an aloe vera plant's cut leaves to the burn or sunburn.

Apply the inside part of a banana peel to the area that is burned.

Egg: To relieve burned skin, apply a raw, beaten egg to a cloth or towel.

Honey: Apply a thin layer of honey to the burn.

Mustard: Drizzle a thin layer over the affected region.

Onion: Cut an onion into thin slices, then carefully massage the exposed area of the skin.

Potato: Arrange sliced potatoes over the burned region.

FlowersPhoto byRichelleg

Muscle Soreness and Aches

Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts can all hasten the removal of inflammation from an uncomfortable area of the body.

Epsom Salt: Soak for fifteen minutes, or until the water has cooled, in a warm tub of water with one or two cups of Epsom salt. (First, see your doctor if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or a heart condition.)

Hot Pepper Cream: Apply a mixture of unscented lotion and crushed cayenne pepper to aching muscles to ease discomfort. External use only; keep away from eyes, nose, and mouth; and wash hands thoroughly before using the restroom.

Magnesium: Make a magnesium oil out of one cup of magnesium flakes and one cup of boiling water. Stir until dissolved. Apply it to sore muscles as needed.

Adding a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses to your morning tea or coffee is one way to increase the amount in your diet.

You may also try preparing traditional "switchel" using this recipe:

Combine 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup molasses, and 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar in a bowl.

Pour in two quarts of water and stir to dissolve.

Serve cold or with ice.

Cuke and orange polticePhoto byRichelleg

Skin Rashes and Irritations

Chamomile Tea: Using a cotton ball, apply chilled or cooled chamomile tea to the affected area.

Cucumber: To relieve rashes and lessen redness, apply slices of cold cucumber to the afflicted region.

Oatmeal: If you have chicken pox, heat rash, psoriasis, poison ivy, or oak, specifically, add some oatmeal to a warm bath to help calm and lessen itching.

Walnut Leaves: It has long been known that using walnut leaves to skin issues can help. For fifteen minutes, boil green walnut leaves in water. After cooling, strain it. Then use a clean piece of gauze or cloth to apply the liquid to the skin.

Toothaches

Clove Oil: Apply clove oil to the painful area after soaking a cotton ball in it.

Cloves whole: Chewing a few cloves can also be therapeutic.

Garlic: Garlic is an additional natural dental pain reliever. All you have to do is apply pressure with a garlic clove to the aching tooth. Garlic juice functions as an organic anesthetic.

Use peppermint tea bags to relieve mouth pain and irritated gums.

Salt Water Rinse: To lessen toothache pain and disinfect the area, dissolve a teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water and use it as a mouthwash.

Medicine cabinetPhoto byRichelleg

Citations:

Herbs and Supplements: MedlinePlus. (n.d.). https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/herb_All.html

A Guide to Common Medicinal Herbs - Health Encyclopedia - University of Rochester Medical Center. (n.d.). https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=1&contentid=1169