When I moved to Tonga, my third child was 11wks old. Some people thought I was cray-cray. My biggest fear was that one of us would get really sick and be forced to use the medical system, so I took lots of home remedies with me, and I was lucky enough to be taught by an old Fijian healer, while I was there, so I thought I’d share with you the three remedies that have been the most invaluable to me, through my years of living in a developing country, and now on a farm, raising young and active children.
1) CAYENNE PEPPER (Ground, powdered). Yes, you read that right 🙂 Cayenne pepper has the most incredible ability to stop uncontrollable bleeding. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve used this on deep cuts, especially on the hands, from kitchen knives, machetes (used a lot in Tonga), power hand tools. The blood will literally start to clot within seconds.
Cayenne pepper not only controls bleeding, it acts as an analgesic, and it stops infection in the wound. Yes, it does sting for a few seconds, but your wound is likely already stinging, and after a while it works to deaden the pain.
2) ACTIVATED CHARCOAL. Most people know how effective AC is for food poisoning, accidental poisoning, or contaminated water….but did you know that it does miracles when used topically for poisonous bites and stings?
I have, so far, used it successfully on centipede bites, wasp and bee bites, poisonous stonefish bite and numerous other bites/stings of unknown origin.
It pulls out the poison, and the pain starts to recede within minutes and results in minimal swelling.
I was lucky enough 🙄 to be bitten by centipede on 3 separate occasions while in Tonga. I would dab on a little coconut oil (helps the charcoal to stick to the skin), then a dab of charcoal (this is basically what I do for all bites & stings – dab of coconut oil, then dab of charcoal).
I once ran into a friend, who had been bitten 3 days earlier by centipede. His hand was swollen to twice its size and an ugly purplish colour. That’s when I realised what a miracle-worker charcoal is – my bites had never even swollen up, after using charcoal on them.
In Tonga, we lived right beside the ocean in a fishing village. One day, a woman came running to the front of our house, and asked if anyone could please rescue her husband, he had been diving near one of the small outlying islands, and bitten on the foot by a poisonous stonefish. He needed medical attention. As my husband rushed to get fuel for the boat, I rushed inside and put some activated charcoal in a small zip-lock bag, and gave to him, before heading off.
My husband told me later, that he had arrived to the little island, found the man rolling and writhing in pain, unable to stand. My husband immediately put the charcoal on the bite wound, and half-lifted, half-dragged the man into the boat. On the way back to the mainland, my husband turned around to find the man sitting up, and in very little pain (yay for charcoal!). When they arrived at shore, the man was able to walk ashore, and his wife thanked us profusely, and drove him away, presumably to hospital, but the activated charcoal had already worked its magic 😉
3) ARNICA. Almost 16yrs of raising 6 children – 5 of them boisterous boys, and not a single bump or bruise when using arnica, despite many tumbles and accidents. One of my son’s ran full-speed into the sharp corner of a table, collected him just above the eye. Put arnica cream on it, and there was not so much as a bump, or hint of a black eye. That’s just one of many, many times that arnica has saved the day at our house.
I mostly use the cream, but pillules are handy if you’re not sure where the bump occurred/it’s too close to the eye/or the skin is open.
If you regularly go camping, bushwalking or travelling, or live in a rural area, I highly recommend keeping all of these on hand, especially if you need to wait for medical aid. It may save a life.