Tea Tree Oil

6 Ways to Treat Acne at Home

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Unshaven Middle aged man reading a prescription label in front oAcne has been a nemesis that many have battled for years. It can show up at the most inopportune times, such as before prom, before your wedding, before that family photo shoot, or even before a first date. It is my hope that this blog will provide you with some at home therapies or treatments to help you fight acne and win.

Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil has many good medicinal properties to it that make it beneficial for acne. It can help fight infections and reduce inflammation that might be caused from the pimple. You can apply it with a Q – tip to the areas of acne. Myself, as well as others, have found that it helps to decrease the size, colour, and soreness of the pimple.

Changing Your Pillow Case

Changing your pillow case is an important habit to get into. By changing your pillow case more frequently your skin will be less likely to be exposed to dead skin, grime, etc. I tend to recommend changing your pillow case as often as possible – i.e. every day if possible. This can be unrealistic for some, and so changing it at least once per week is better than not changing it until a month goes by.

Green Tea Bag

Not only is Green Tea healthy for you internally, but it can also be useful externally as well. A green tea bag that has had time to soak in hot water AND cool down (so that it can be applied to the skin without burning), can be applied to the area of acne and help to decrease inflammation, prevent infection, and soothe the area from pain.

Green Tea Face Wash

Using a tea bag may be inconvenient and too messy for some. Alternatively, you can make a green tea face wash. This involves letting your green tea bag soak in hot water and letting the water cool down until you could comfortably apply the water to your skin. Once the water is cool enough, you can wash your face with this water, and then rinse off with your standard tap water. Doing the face wash has the benefit of being able to be applied to more areas of your face, however, may take longer to have effect over the green tea bag being applied to smaller areas.

Exercise

Acne can be caused from our body sweating and blocking pores. Therefore, by giving your body more opportunities to detoxify, such as through regular exercise, it may decrease the amount of acne flare-ups you have.

Drink More Water

Water can be beneficial for so many different things, including acne. I have found that when I am making sure to provide my body with the necessary water that it needs, acne tends to subside. This could be due to the detoxifying nature of water or the cleansing effect that water can have on your blood. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to drink water and try and achieve water consumption levels that are appropriate for you.

Have you benefitted from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in Naturopathic Medicine and wanting a different approach to your health care needs, please contact Elisha Cook (on the contact portion of this website) for more information.

Natural Remedies for Athlete’s Foot

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Summer is a great season for playing sports, getting out, and being active. With all of the excess heat, moving around, and protective gear, Athletes’ Foot can often result. You might be asking “What exactly is Athletes’ Foot, and how do I know if I have it?” It is my hope that this blog will provide you with the information you need to identify it in yourself and your family, and give you some time tested home remedies that I and my family have found useful.

What is Athletes’ Foot?

Athletes’ Foot is a form of a fungal infection that can affect the skin between the toes, and possibly spread to the toe nails. Often, you might experience itching and burning pain, with skin scaling and areas of white skin. As mentioned above, this can spread to the toe nails, where a build-up of debris can begin underneath the toe nail and even cause the toe nail to fall off.

What can I do to prevent?

First and foremost is prevention. Making sure the area is kept as dry as possible is important for preventing it from occurring. Several ways that you can do this is making sure you wear “fresh” socks (not reusing socks after a day’s worth of use), and drying your feet thoroughly after a showering. Some people have even used baking soda in their shoes to make sure that their feet stay dry.

What can I do at home to treat this?

There are quite a few different ways you can treat this at home. Below, I have provided several different treatments my family and I have used at home with success!

Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil can be applied directly to the area in order to treat the fungal infection. Alternatively, 2 drops of tea tree oil can be put into a foot bath. For the foot bath, simply leave your feet soaking in warm water (to your tolerance) for 15-20 minutes.

Epsom Salt Foot Bath

Not only are Epsom salt foot baths useful for athletes’ foot, but it is also a great way to relax after a long day at work. The salt will help kill off any infection, as well, the magnesium will help to soothe the area.

Black Tea Foot Bath

I like using black tea foot baths to treat athletes’ foot, because not only is it effective, but most people have tea bags at home that they can use without trying to find specific ingredients or products that they have never even heard of let alone used at a store. You simply add 1-2 tea bags to your hot foot bath and let soak for 15-20 minutes.

Garlic

Though this treatment can be a bit messy, it is quite effective for treating fungal infections. To apply garlic to the area, you can mince it and apply it directly to the skin. The caution I would give to you for this is that it might burn and be uncomfortable. I would use this as a last resort if the other home remedies did not work first, because of the possible discomfort involved with this.

Have you benefitted from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in Naturopathic Medicine and wanting a different approach to your health care needs, please contact Elisha Cook for more information.

 

What’s in your Medicine Cabinet?

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Unshaven Middle aged man reading a prescription label in front o

 

I keep many different Natural Health Products in my medicine cabinet for my own health, as well as the health of my family. However, among those, I have found the top 5 that I would say have been quite beneficial to have in our home:

 

1. Tea Tree Oil

Tea Tree Oil can be useful to apply to the skin for relief of itching from bug bites, aiding with acne/pimple break outs, and relieving the symptoms of Athletes Foot. Please use caution with tea tree oil as it is an essential oil and should not be consumed orally, nor be used at greater doses than 5 drops.

2. Epsom Salts

Epsom Salts are great to keep in the home in case of muscular strains or injuries, skin infections, or simply to help you relax after a long day. They can be added to your bath or foot bath as needed.

3. Ginger Candies

It may seem odd to have candies in your medicine cabinet, but ginger candies can be useful when you or your child is having an “upset stomach”. They can help relieve feelings of nausea and help with digestion.

4. Arnica 200CH

Arnica is a homeopathic remedy that is used for anything causing trauma to the body. I will usually take a pellet of this for any event causing bruising, trauma, or shock to the body.

5. Castor Oil

Some of you might be thinking, “O great I heard about castor oil. No thank you I do not want to “clean out my system””. Well, that is not why this is on the list. I often apply castor oil to any joints or muscles experiencing any pain. I also use this if I am having a cold. I will apply the castor oil to my chest (kind of like Vicks) as well as to any lymph nodes that I find are inflamed. Another great use for castor oil is for reducing inflammation in the liver and promoting detox. For more information on Castor Oil and its use, please refer to my website, specifically to the section entitled Handouts, where there is a handout on “Castor Oil Packs”: https://www.plattsvilledoctor.ca/handouts-print-media/

Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in Naturopathic Medicine and wanting a different approach to your health care needs, please book an appointment with Elisha Cook at the RSNC today and let me help you achieve your health goals.