Erysipelas

July 3rd, 2024

The decoction of sarsaparilla has proved useful in cases of erysipelas. Take two ounces of sarsaparilla, one of sassafras, one of burdock root, and one of liquorice; boil them slowly in three pints of water, keeping it covered close, until reduced to one-half. Take two table-spoonsful four times a day.

While taking medicine for the erysipelas, meat and all strong food should be avoided, and every thing that has a tendency to inflame the blood. Dusting the parts affected, with rye or buckwheat flour, sometimes has a cooling effect, and bathing with camphor or spirits will allay the irritation.

Nettle rash is very much like erysipelas, and the same treatment is good for both. Slippery-elm bark, chipped, and let to stand in cold water till it becomes thick, is a very cooling drink. It may be filled up the second time. Barley water is also a suitable drink.

Erysipelas is frequently brought on by violent exercise, and the perspiration being checked too suddenly. Persons that have once had it, should avoid extremes of heat and cold, and pay strict attention to diet–not eating any thing that disagrees with them. All acids, particularly pickles, are improper.

The stomach should be cleansed by emetics. Small and frequent doses of senna and salts, if taken just at going to bed, will not occasion much sickness, and tend greatly to relieve the system of this unpleasant disease. Where the case is slight, the rhubarb pills sometimes give relief. The pores of those that are subject to it are generally open, and flannel should be worn all the year, to prevent too sudden a check of perspiration.

Source: Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers, Elizabeth E. Lea

Nettle Rash

January 15th, 2023

Nettle Rash, though not dangerous, is a very troublesome and annoying complaint. It breaks forth, as its name implies, into an eruptive rash, discovering itself in large red patches, mostly white in the centre. The irritation is very great, resembling that of a sting of a nettle, and is most troublesome when the patient is in bed, or before a fire, or heated from any other cause. It is a very uncertain complaint, often appearing on one part of the body, and then leaving that and appearing on another part.

The most popular remedy for this complaint is nettle tea, made by boiling a good bunch of stinging nettles in three pints of water, till reduced to a quart.

Dose– Half a teacupful or more, three or four times a day.

Nettle rash mostly appears in the spring. Sometimes, however, it is not so easily got rid of; when this is the case make the following: Take two ounces of sarsaparilla, one ounce of clivers, and one ounce of the herb archangel; boil in three pints of water till reduced to a quart, strain and keep in a bottle. Dose— A large wineglasaful three or four times a day.

When the irritation is very great, ease may be obtained by washing with a strong decoction of common garden parsley; boil about half a pound of the green herb in a quart of water till reduced to a pint, apply this to the body as a lotion, warm, just before going to bed. Celandine tea will have the same effect, so also will camphor water. A slight purgative should also be taken, about twice or thrice a week. Under this treatment it will seldom last more than a week or so, but if neglected, will sometimes poison the blood, causing scrofula, or some other constitutional complaint.

Source: Baldwin’s Herbal Guide To Health, G. Baldwin

The Jaundice

May 4th, 2015

Wear leaves of Celendine upon and under the feet.

Or take a small pill of Castile-soap every morning, for eight or ten days. Tried.

Or beat the white of an Egg thin; take it morning and evening in a glass of water.

Or half a pint of strong decoction of Nettles. Or of Burdock-leaves, morning and evening.

Or boil three ounces of Burdock-root in two quarts of water to three pints. Drink a tea-cupful of this every morning.

Source: Primitive Physic: or an easy and natural method of curing most diseases, John Wesley.

  • About

    NOTE: these remedies are listed only for information and/or amusement. They are not to be construed as medical advice of any type, nor are they recommended for use. Consult your doctor or other medical professional for any medical advice you require.