Natural home remedies

For many health conditions, relief can be found at home. Try these natural home remedies for heartburn, breast tenderness, carpal tunnel syndrome, muscle cramps, nausea, sore throats and more

Not everything that ails you will send you running to the doctor. Here are some do-it-yourself remedies for a few common afflictions. In the case of supplements, however, we strongly advise you to consult with your doctor or pharmacist.

Natural home remedies: Acne

Are your mornings marred by the discovery of new pimples? Then try these home remedies and zap those zits.

Natural home remedies: Anxiety

Anxious? If you are, it's understandable. But don't be a prisoner to your anxiety—instead, try these tricks to help you relax.

Natural home remedies: Athlete's foot

Itchy, smelly feet following you around? Use these natural home remedies to soothe the itch and fight the fungus that causes it.

Natural home remedies: Back pain

Back pain often strikes when something's amiss with the delicate column of bones, muscles, ligaments and joints that holds you up. But many other conditions, like strains, arthritis, hairline spine fractures and even kidney infections, can cause your back to throb. Sick of popping Ibuprofen to soothe your sore back? Banish back pain with one of these home remedies.

Natural home remedies: Bad breath

Is bad breath bogging you down? Here are some quick home remedies for a common problem.

Natural home remedies: Blisters

The eternal dilemma: Should I drain this thing or leave it alone? Follow these home remedies to relieve the pain and itching and speed healing of those annoying blisters.

Natural home remedies: Breast tenderness

As sure as the moon has phases, breast discomfort waxes and wanes. Here are some approaches to ease the unpleasantness hatched by your hormones. Vitamins, herbs and oils keep fluid retention in check and coax your hormones into a breast-friendly balance (more progesterone, less estrogen). And a few dietary changes will help you get some bothers off your chest.

Natural home remedies: Bronchitis

Anyone who's suffered from bronchitis knows what a pain it can be. But if you treat yourself right with these simple home remedies, you can help clear your body up.

Natural home remedies: Carpal tunnel syndrome

Inside each wrist is a narrow passage called the carpal tunnel. Running through this tunnel are nine tendons that move your fingers, along with the median nerve. These tendons can become inflamed and swell, compressing the nerve. Repetitive hand motion is one well-known cause of carpal tunnel syndrome, but other factors include pregnancy, birth-control pills, rheumatoid arthritis, and being overweight. Among the symptoms are numbness or tingling in your thumb and first three fingers, pains that shoot up your wrist and forearm, soreness in the neck and shoulders, and hand-weakness. Try these natural home remedies to provide relief.

Natural home remedies: Chapped lips

Do low temperatures—and other less-than-favourable conditions—make your lips dry and chapped? It happens to all of us, but we can beat it, too, with these easy home remedies.

Natural home remedies: Colds and flu

Let's face it: colds and flu are nothing to sneeze at. They can sap your energy, making you feel rundown and exhausted. Find out the difference between colds and flu, and learn what you can do to ditch the symptoms and get back to living—fast.

Natural home remedies: Coughs

Here are a few simple, natural home remedies to get rid of a cough.

Natural home remedies: Dandruff

Do your shoulders look as if you just walked in from a snowstorm? Dandruff isn’t a serious health problem, but it sure can be embarrassing. Factor out those flakes with these tips.

Natural home remedies: Dry hair

Are you plagued by dry hair? If so, you may want to consult a specialist—but first, try these solutions at home.

Natural home remedies: Dry skin

The outer layer of your skin works like a self-oiled machine, but sometimes oil production can't keep up with demand. Trouble occurs when you shower a lot, use skin-drying soap, or live in a house where the air is Saharan. What's the best refreshment for parched skin? Most moisturizers (which don't actually add moisture to the skin but serve to lock in moisture that's already there) will do the trick. Or try one of the home remedies below.

Natural home remedies: Eczema

Like so many skin problems, eczema can itch worse than a bad conscience. Here’s how to get some relief from the rash.

Natural home remedies: Foot odour

Your feet are the natural habitat of millions of bacteria, which thrive on your sweat and skin cells. By-products produced by these bacteria are what give feet that stinky smell. Try these home remedies to give stinky feet the boot.

Natural home remedies: Foot pain

You spend up to 80 percent of your waking hours on your feet, and each day your feet absorb over 2,265,000 kilograms of accumulated pressure. So it’s no wonder that, from time to time, your feet end up in a world of hurt. Virtually anything can cause foot pain, including shoes that don’t fit, diseases like arthritis and diabetes, and poor circulation.

Natural home remedies: Heartburn

When stomach acid backs up into your esophagus, you feel a burning pain. What causes acid backups? A trapdoor of muscular tissue called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) usually keeps stomach acid where it belongs. With heartburn, it allows acid to leak upward, a problem known as reflux. Large meals as well as certain foods can lead to heartburn. You’re more likely to have heartburn if you’re pregnant, overweight, or a smoker, or if you have a condition called hiatal hernia. Some medications, including aspirin, certain antibiotics, and some antidepressants and sedatives, may aggravate heartburn.

Natural home remedies: Ingrown toenails

Some people have toenails that just naturally grow in ways that set the stage for this problem. But there are other contributing factors—wearing tight shoes or socks, for instance, or trimming toenails improperly. And you’re more likely to have ingrown toenails if you have the structural irregularities known as bunions or hammertoes.

Natural home remedies: Muscle cramps

Muscle cramps are caused by overuse of a muscle, dehydration, stress or fatigue. But if calves cramp painfully when you're trying to sleep, or a muscle often locks up for no apparent reason, the root cause is a faulty chemical signal from the nervous system that "tells" the muscle to contract.

Natural home remedies: Nausea

While nausea can be caused by motion sickness, morning sickness and the stomach flu, sometimes it's no more than a natural reaction to something you've eaten—something bad the body wants to get rid of. A concussion, heart attack, some types of cancer and chemotherapy can also trigger nausea.

Natural home remedies: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

When winter hits, your mood might sink. Cold, snow and short days can be pretty depressing. But there are many ways to beat those low feelings, like these home remedies for seasonal affective disorder.

Natural home remedies: Shin splints

Runners usually develop shin splints when they’ve been running on hard surfaces or when they’ve been faithful to worn-out running shoes for too long. Stretching is essential, and so is moderation, if you want to prevent recurrent pain.

Natural home remedies: Sore throat

A sore throat burns, feels scratchy, and may cause pain that makes it hard to talk or swallow. The usual cause is a virus or bacteria, though throat irritation may also be caused by smoking, dry heat, postnasal drip or an allergic reaction.

Found this article informative? Subscribe to our magazine today and receive more Best Health exclusives delivered to your door!
Adapted from 1801 Home Remedies, Reader's Digest
Recent comments
  • My remedy for a sore throat or dry cough is to use Bradosol losenges. The also kill bacteria & come in a variety of flavours. Water is also a major key in for all ages, as it c... Read more..

Have your say

Your Email address is required for authentication purposes only. Comments are moderated for spam; so your comment may not appear immediately.

  1. Cryptographp Picture Letters are not case sensitive. Click on the image to reload the security code.
Recent Features



Sign up for our free newsletters

Start Enjoying BEST HEALTH Today! SAVE 50%

Special Online Savings Form

Fields in bold (and with asterisk) are required

Offer valid only in Canada
Privacy Policy

Subscribe today and you could win a brand-new $40,000 Audi A3