Herbal Remedies Blog

Little infants are very prone to it due to milk indigestion. The Indian mother has stock of home remedies for helping an infants suffering from colic. How often we have seen the mother-in-law or grandmother run into the kitchen to get asafoetida and Castor oil. She warms a little piece of asafoetida in Castor oil, powders the piece and mixes it well in a little warm Castor oil. She applies this medicated oil all around the suffering infant”s navel and gently massages the abdomen.

Some mothers use a combination of Bach, ‘harir’ and nutmeg ground to a paste as a carminative, antispasmodic medicine. Goar Bach is the rhizome of sweet flag, a popularly known semi aquatic plant. It is antispasmodic and digestive in small doses. The slight warmth on the abdomen brings on peristaltic movements of the intestines which help to expel any caught-up gas. A speck of asafoetida is a well known anti flatulent medicine.

In larger doses it produces vomiting due to the essential oils in it. The usefulness of goarbach in controlling diarrhea and dysentery us due to the large amount of tannin present in the rhizome.A more experienced mother rubs a piece of ‘gorbach’ just once or twice on a grinding stone and applies a bit of paste on the baby’s tongue to cure colic. By experience she knows how much will needed to relieve the colic.

The seeds of mint are very useful to relieve abdominal gripe due to indigestion in older children. After a heavy meal or indiscriminate eating if a child complains of fullness of belly and pain, the child may be given a quarter teaspoonful of seed to chew and swallow with water. Even chewing a few leaves of mint has carminative effect. Mint is rich in menthol and is a source of peppermint oil. Commonly used as a spice in cooking, It has valuable digestive properties.

For grown-ups warm mustard oil doubled be used to massage the abdomen. The counter irritants action of mustard decreases pain inside the abdomen. The warmth produced by massaging expels any wind caught up in the intestines.
Some suffer from pain in the abdomen due to over irritation of stomach. For such people my maternal aunt had a demulcent or soothing drink. She would take a tumbler of pain starch water obtained from cooked parboiled rice, and add a teaspoonful of cow’s ghee to it. Even for those suffering from an onset of dysentery she would use this home remedy for quick relief of abdominal discomfort.Among South Indians there is an interesting prescription for quick relief of abdominal pain. A teaspoonful of fenugreek seeds is powdered, mixed in buttermilk and taken internally to relieve pain and help digestion.
For frequent gripes in the belly many north Indians take Isabgol. Isabgol seeds with husk are soaked in water or milk for a few hours. The liquid is strained and taken at night. The high mucilaginous content in isabgol forms a covering inside the intestinal wall which protect the lining mucosa and helps in the healing of ulcers. Irritation and gripe thus decreases.

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