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.

Every country has traditional cures for its diseases. From homely recipes to complicated modes of treatment are found to have evolved, depending on the geographical position of the country, its culture, minerals resources and such other factors. Through the age India’s myriad herbs, spices and plants have played a great role in the accumulation of ancient medical knowledge. By observation, experience and trail, the ancients came to posses an intimate knowledge of the properties of our plants life. We have been drawn to traditional methods of treatment methods of treatment for numbers of years, one basic reason being my great love for plants especially medical plants.Even as the young person much before joining medical school we have felt intrigued with traditional home remedies.

It used to fascinate us grandma suggest a turmeric and chuna liniment for a sprained ankle, adadoda decoction to cure a cough or mulathi infusion for early rheumatism. This interest has been growing steadily since decades we have ample opportunity to collect first hand information from various sources. No side effects will be occurring by using any of the treatment described here.basic ingredients used are easily available in nearest market.

This home recipes are advocated by vaids and hakims with their rigid dietic restriction have been excluded as well as medical practices based on occult beliefs. Any lay person could easily prepare the remedies prescribed here at home before resorting to more sophisticated,complex,modern therapy. Actually,most of minor ailments require to be treated only with simple home remedies and for most common ailments simple home remedies are available.

Many of these remedies are still in use in rural India. These in fact form the basis of health care in greater party of India. In some remote areas, home remedies of elderly females in the family is all that is available by the way of medical help. And often the treatment works; cures is complete. Only when disease get complicated and goes beyond the ability at that time this home remedies do a needful work.

Most of the home remedies are not measured precise but the ingredients used are harmless a little more or less does not really matters.Home remedies have great advantages that they help the body mechanisms to fight disease unlike modern medicines which,without waiting for the body defence to tackle the problem, directly and in the process greatly weaken the system.

The modern urbanite, from infancy through adulthood to old age subjected to continuous chemical bombarding. Whether due to the use of artificial manures,disinfection of land,water and vegetation with the chemical pesticides or the excessive ingestion of synthetic man-made drugs as tonics and medicines,the human system gets saturated with chemicals. Without resorting to retrograde steps one should try to minimize this influence. At least in the field of health care, home remedies can check unnecessary synthetic drugging.

The idea of publishing this web page is to reach simple Indian home remedies to our urban homes where, alienated from traditional practices, patients are often drugged and even over drugged for the most trivial of health problems. Partly due to the patient’s impatience and party due to the utter callousness of commercial medicines.

Folk medicines is an intergral part of wealth of medical knowledge available in any cultural group. It should be given its due place of impotance as it forms the backbone of traditional health care in any population group.