Hello there! I am very excited to be writing this post today, and I am very honored that I have been asked to do so. I began my holistic journey in February of this year (2013) and since then I haven’t had any modern medicines or used any modern beauty products. I can say that my life has truly changed for the better. Soon after I decided to take the jump into holistic living I decided to create a blog where I could share my recipes, or recipes I reviewed and tweaked to my liking, for free with anyone who wanted to take this same journey. There are so many recipes and suggestions out there for holistic health and beauty remedies but I preferred simple/ effective recipes. What society now calls alternative medicine used to be the only type of medicine. Certain Egyptian Pharaohs’ were buried with their essential oils in vases to take with them to the afterlife. You see essential oils and natural remedies were the only types of medicines needed before toxic health and beauty products hit the shelves, sometime during the last one hundred years.
I am writing this herbal first aid kit list as a place to start. If you are new to holistic remedies I suggest you begin here, these are some of my most used recipes and they cover a wide variety of ailments. This will be a very simple list, but an extremely effective one.
As a child I remember my mother’s huge metal, red and white, first aid kit that hung on the wall in the kitchen. Inside you would find everything from medical tape to icepacks. I am pretty sure the herbal first aid kit would fit perfectly inside one of those if you still have one on the wall but if not and you want to keep all of your first aid supplies together use an old messenger bag or plastic container; you could also dedicate a single kitchen shelf to your first aid supplies so they are always on hand and your family knows where to find them. Unlike my mother’s first aid kit all of these remedies are 100% safe for children. If you need to use these on toddlers my only advice would be to administer a third of the recommended amount.
So without further delay, lets get started preparing our herbal first aid kits!
Sterile Items, no recipe required:
-cotton swaps, also known as q-tips.
-Band-Aids, or off brand version
-gauze pads
-medical tape
-small pair of scissors
For these items I personally use off brand products, with my natural Neosporin (healing salve) recipe I rarely use any of these items; but they are important to have on hand for extreme situations.
Healing Salve:
-This recipe has to be the most used recipe I have made thus far. This ointment is so versatile it will actually cut out several products. When you have healing salve in your first aid kit you no longer need disinfectant, Neosporin, sun burn cream, burn cream, bug bite/ sting ointment, or rash cream. Healing salve will reduce a lot of first aid kit clutter and quickly become a favorite amongst your family, trust me!
This recipe includes lavender essential oil which is a natural disinfectant. Frankincense which heals old scars and prevents the formation of new ones. Tea tree (also known as Melaluca) essential oil among other healing properties relieves pain which can be very useful. For more information about why each ingredient in my healing salve recipe was chosen please check out this link, I have detailed information about each ingredient along with the recipe.
Two tips which can be helpful with the healing salve; first if you want a thinner consistency use less beeswax when making the recipe, second make sure to either wash your hands or grab a cotton swab to apply. I keep mine in a container with a lid that is easy to use, I can simply squeeze out the amount I need and close it without contaminating the entire jar.
Muscle aches or sprains:
This recipe is very simple, only two ingredients are required. Dandelion infused oil (we call it “dandy oil”) has amazing healing properties. I use this anytime I have a muscle ache, sprain, and surprisingly any time a member of my family has a toothache (rub on the outside of the check where the pain is). As long as the dandelions in your yard have not been sprayed with any chemicals one of the ingredients will be free for you! You can use any type of carrier oil you like for this recipe (sunflower oil, extra-virgin olive oil, jojoba oil, etc) but the dandelion heads will need to infuse the oil for a few weeks so I like to stagger the production at our home. This is simple if you think about it, before you mow your lawn in the summer grab a cup or two of the bright yellow dandelion heads, when I plan it this way I have a fresh batch that I can pull off of the window sill every other week during the summer. Follow this link for more information about the history and use of dandelions, and the recipe for dandy oil!
Natural Pepto-Bismol:
I don’t currently have this recipe on my website but I am willing to share it because it is so amazing, and simple. For this recipe you will need extra-virgin olive oil and rosemary essential oil. Mix 5 drops of rosemary essential oil with every tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and shake. Rosemary is beneficial to every part of our digestive tract, from our esophagus to the lining of our stomach, and colon care. I’m sure you have seen the pepto commercials nausea, heartburn, upset stomach, diarrhea… well a tiny rub of this mixture helps all of that plus gallstone pain*, constipation, gas, ulcers, acid reflux, and food poisoning. I keep my mixture in a glass bottle with a cork; I simply remove the cork, place my finger where the cork was, and shake the bottle. I use the oil that remains on my finger once I have shaken the bottle and no more. It works very fast and has been a miracle recipe in my home.
*Gallstones: My husband has gallstones, when he feels a gallbladder attack coming on using this recipe has literally stopped the attack in it’s tracks. I’m not sure about you but I have had gallbladder issues and I wish I would have known about this treatment then. I have never known of a treatment that helps this type of pain/ problem but since he has started using this recipe for gallstone attacks he has had them less frequently. He went from having an attack once a week to once every two months and the time between keeps getting longer. The rosemary essential oil mixed with the olive oil helps to mend the lining of your intestines and coats the stones so they can pass. I am not a physician only a concerned wife who has witnessed the power of this recipe, please contact your physician if you have extreme gallbladder problems because you could require surgery.
Surprisingly, that sums it up. I know there were only a few recipes here but these three recipes are amazing and so versatile. Feel free to e-mail me at info@apothekayla.com if you have any specific needs for your family first aid kit that I did not cover. Also check out www.apothekayla.com or join us on facebook (www.facebook.com/Apothekayla) , twitter (www.twitter.com/apothekayla) , and pinterest (www.pinterest.com/apothekayla) to keep up with new posts.
Again, I’m very honored to be able to share this information with you all here, thank you Tiffany for asking me to be a part of your website and I hope you all find this post useful! Thanks for reading! –Kayla; from ApotheKayla
