HERBAL FIRST AID TO THE RESCUE

Try these time-proven remedies straight from nature for burns, headaches, sprains, motion sickness, and more.

- KARTA PURKH SINGH KHALSA, DN-C, RH

Boo-boos, tummy aches, and skinned knees have been around forever. Ever wonder what was in a first aid kit before modern medicine came around? Likely a selection of roots, berries, herbs, and oils.

Today’s versions may be sold in a store rather than gathered in the woods or plucked from your garden, but they’re just as effective. Here are the top botanicals to pack in your kit.

MINOR BURNS

LAVENDER

Lavender essential oil is an effective remedy for minor burns. Aromatherapy had a modern rebirth in the 1920s, when the French chemist René-Maurice Gattefosse burned his hand and, by chance, found the damage to be relieved by a soak in pure lavender oil. You can use undiluted lavender essential oil to hasten the healing of just about any burn. Lavender also helps to treat bruises, strains, and even scrapes as it acts as a disinfectant. As a general trauma oil, try equal parts of the essential oils of lavender, blue chamomile, geranium, tea tree, and helichrysum, at a 2 percent dilution (2 drops of essential oil per 100 drops of a carrier oil).

HEADACHES

PEPPERMINT & EUCALYPTUS

Herbal essential oils can also help relieve headaches when applied topically. German scientists found that when peppermint and eucalyptus were swabbed on the temples, the oils had a muscle-relaxing effect. In another study, researchers tested a topical mixture of camphor, clove, menthol, and cajeput for headaches. This essential oil blend was found to be as effective as acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) after three hours.

TRAUMATIC INJURY

ARNICA