Mosquito bite itch-stopper

I don't know about you, but we have a lot of Mosquitos around my house.

I told you a while ago how I keep them away with TerraShield. 
And that works great. 

Except when I forget to put it on. 

And actually, there's been a few times lately it hasn't been quite as effective as I'd like. At first I was worried that my oil was getting old or something, but then I talked to a friend who was also out that night and the mosquitos were eating through her chemical repellent. Then I didn't feel so bad.

Anyway.

When I get a bite, I just use Peppermint Essential Oil. 

I touch the oil bottle right to the bite, making sure that the oil wets the area.

Super easy.

But this can't be just any peppermint oil off the internet or from the store. I tried a friends' cheap internet oil and didn't notice a difference at all. I personally like TruEssence peppermint essential oil the best. I don't sell this one, so you can go to healyourbody.net and get it from my friend Holly. Now, normally I buy and sell doTerra and BeYoung. But after a lot of experience with a lot of different peppermints, I must say that TruEssence has hands down the best and strongest peppermint. Now, If you have doTerra, it will work fine as a distant second. And I just tried BeYoung's peppermint, but it was too late in the season to tell for sure if it's stronger than TruEssence. But don't even bother with the cheaper ones, those don't work worth squat for this particular ailment. Mosquito bites are actually the best way I've found to test peppermint quality.
     I do this as soon as I realize I'm itching it, and I usually find relief within minutes. This is probably the main reason I carry peppermint in my little oil first aid kit. 


Warning - Do not use the good peppermint on babies younger than 1-2 year old. Their little bodies can't handle the strong menthol. I used Lavender on my baby's bites.

The Miracle of Fevers

Last week, E. had a fever. 

On Wednesday night before she went to bed, I noticed she was a little warm. When she woke up the next morning, she was hot. I had to borrow a thermometer from a neighbor, since my digital forehead one is freaking out. I love those things when they work, but it seems like they don't last very long.

Anyway, she had a fever of almost 102 F, was fussy and tired, and wouldn't eat or drink except to nurse. I called the doctor, and the nurse said there was something going around. It starts out with a fever, and then diverges into different symptoms, like a cough, or flu. She said that it was a virus, and there wasn't really anything they could do. She said I could give her children's Tylenol to bring the fever down, but beyond that I really just had to wait and keep her hydrated. I asked her about the fever and when I should be worried or bring her in. She said there wasn't really a number to watch for, but if she became unresponsive and lethargic, then I should be worried and call.

I used all of this information, along with my instincts to decide what to do:
    1.   I decided to let her fever run its course - In general, our bodies get fevers for a reason, and usually that reason is to create a hostile environment for the pathogen. I monitored her fever and behavior for the next 24 hours, and did not give her the Tylenol.
    2.  Based on the assumption, corroborated by a muscle test, that this was a virus, I put an essential oil with oregano on her feet. Oregano is great for viruses, but it's pretty strong, so I couldn't use it by itself. Normally I use doTerra's On Guard for this sort of thing, but since it doesn't have oregano, I used Be Young's Spice of Life instead. My husband actually likes this one better when he's sick, I just like the smell of On Guard better.
    3.   I nursed her whenever she wanted. - Normally we just nurse in the morning, before bed, and after nap time, but since she wouldn't eat or drink anything else, I nursed her a lot more. I think it helped because she didn't seem to get dehydrated.
    I also tried to give her WPD, but since she wouldn't drink it, that was unsuccessful. 

By late in the evening, her sleeping schedule was all messed up, but she seemed to feel a little better. She didn't wake up as much that night, and by morning, her fever was gone. She seemed her normal happy self, and even ate some crackers and drank some juice. She has since gotten a little cough and runny nose, but I'm not entirely sure it's not from all the smoke up here. But the diffuser with Breathe from doTerra in it is clearing that up quite nicely. 

So who's the big winner for this round? 

I'd have to say its a tie between the fever, and Be Young's "Spice of Life" oil.

It was really pretty impressive to watch her little body work to heal itself, with a little help from us. 

Of course, the real winner is E. 
I'm so glad she's feeling better.


For now, if you want this oil, you can email me or comment and I can get it to you. I haven't quite figured out my back office for their site yet, but as soon as I do, I'll add a link here.

Healthy Mosquito Repellent - Great for Babies!

Mosquitos are everywhere.

Last year, I would spend half an hour killing them before bed, only to have them magically reappear as soon as I'd lay down. I was worried about our baby, because she was only six months at the time, and I didn't want to use harsh chemicals on her, but she (and we) were being eaten alive. So I used an essential oil.
It's called Terra Shield. It is an oil blend specifically for bugs and mosquitos. I put about fifty drops in a four ounce spray bottle with tap water, and spray it on all of us before we went to bed. I know it works, because every night I forgot, we woke up with bites, and the nights I remembered, we didn't. It was pretty convincing. Now, if you're going to use it for an evening outside, you need to keep it near you and re-apply every hour-ish. But even doing that, I didn't run out of my bottle all summer, even using it practically every day. I think that's pretty good if you ask me.

Non-toxic mosquito repellent

Again, this is another oil I sell. Only because I think it's awesome.

If you are local, you can buy the oil and bottle set for fifteen even. If you're not local, you have to pay shipping, or you can find your own bottle and just buy it from http://www.mydoterra.com/sarahschi, but trust me, a nice spray bottle is worth it. I started out using one of those hairspray type bottles, and it's just too hard on your hands to do that much spraying, and gets annoying real fast.


Anyway, I really like it. Let me know what you do for mosquitos; I've heard that witch hazel is a good repellent, I've been thinking of adding some of that to the blend and using less water. Another friend takes a drop of peppermint internally. Haven't tried that yet, and it wouldn't work for a baby, but it's supposed to be great.
I'd love to hear what else works!

Lavender Essential Oil for Diaper Rash

One day, E got a diaper rash.

Shocking, I know, this has probably never happened to you.

Anyway, she got a diaper rash. In the past, we've put diaper rash cream on it, but I hate doing that because it's so thick it probably hurts going on. So last time, I used olive oil and Lavender essential oil instead. It worked great! I only put it on once, and within hours, it was better (sorry, no pictures this time). I just put a few drop of Lavender in my hand, added a dime-sized drop of oil, mixed with my finger, and rubbed it on her red little bottom.

Awesome Stuff

Now, I do happen to sell Lavender essential oil, full disclosure, but the only reason i signed up was because I love to use them, and this way I get the wholesale prices. But you can order some from me here: http://www.mydoterra.com/sarahschi

You can also order a travel "first aid kit" with lavender and seven other oils and a small olive oil as well for fifty dollars plus shipping, but email or comment for more info on that. (It comes in black if that's a concern for anyone)

I keep this on my keys and carry it with me everywhere!

A note on essential oils: Many people have brands that they believe are the very best, and everyone else's is crap. I am not one of those. I personally use three brands, all of which I think are great for different reasons, and each have oils that i love. They are also all in about the same price range. I would definitely beware of cheap oils or health food store brands, I haven't found one of those that are any good. If you would like more information on oils, or just more about my opinions, feel free to email or comment. This will not be my last post on oils.

First-Aid Kit

Hello,

Our Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Blog recently mentioned first-aid kits. How those tiny kits filled with band-aids that you buy from the store aren't going cut it in an emergency. And I don't mean end of the world emergency, I mean like someone got hurt and there's a storm, or I just burned myself, or whatever.
So anyway, I thought to myself, hey, I have a pretty good first-aid kit, maybe I'll get it out and see what's in there and then comment my suggestions. As I was looking, I realized that I've got a lot of some things, but others are missing.

Here is my kit:

It's just an orange tool box from Home Depot. I put a duck tape cross on the front.

Looks pretty distinctive, doesn't it?

In it, I have:

finger-splints and tube bandages and gauze (clearance from the grocery store), various size bandages and gauze (get those at the dollar store), band-aids, liquid bandage, butterfly band-aids, wart-freeze (coupon), moleskin,

solarcaine, saline solution, cold pack, silver solution (antiseptic), Redmond (betonite) clay (more on that another day, but you can google it if you just can't wait), iodine solution (antiseptic), sanitary pads (can be used for a large bandage), isopropyl alcohol,

safety pins, eyeglass kit, cough drops, bulb syringe, tape, hydro-cortisone cream, gloves, a glow stick (in case it's dark and there's no electricity) alcohol wipes, and more band-aids.

Phew.

Still need to add a non-digital thermometer (especially since my cool digital forehead one is broken), burn cream, more gauze, handkerchiefs, a few pain killers (most of my pills are currently kept elsewhere), and maybe a suture kit.

What do you think? Do you have any other suggestions?



P.S. - this kit does not include things for flu - that is a whole 'nother kit that I will tell you about next time!

P.P.S. - this also mainly includes my conventional medical supplies. Supplements, oils, and other alternative therapies are separate. 

Best Flu Solution EVER

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but there seems to be a nasty bug going around.

A few weeks ago, My family all gathered for my Grandmother's LDS Mission Farewell. She's going to Salt Lake City, UT for geneology. Well, we spoke, sang, ate, and had a good time together. Then on Wednesday my brother got sick: nausea and diarrhea. Then I get home and my husband is sick: nausea, diarrhea, headaches. Then I feel slightly nauseous sometimes. Then my dad and other brother get sick: same thing. Now, this isn't like a regular flu. We didn't throw up a lot (or at all some of us), and it went on forever. Over a week. My dad and brothers just took it easy and waited it out, but my hub and I took this thing called BetterWPD (It used to be called MMS). Awesome stuff. My husband took it a few times and it helped him feel better and normal quicker. As for me, I took it towards the end when I was tired of the nausea. The first time I did it work great and I felt better. Then I stayed up too late and was sick again the next day. My bad. So I took it again, went to bed early, and that was that.
 







What it is is a chemical that kills pathogens. So even if this was a virus, which some say it is, it still worked for us. And even though it's a chemical, it's better for the body than the pathogen is.









I love this stuff. My parents are getting some, and I am pretty much convincing everyone I know to get some because it's good for so many things (unofficially and anecdotally of course). Plus, it's officially for purifying water, and lasts a lot longer than most other options out there, so it's a great thing to have just for emergency preparedness. Plus it's cheap. Can't get better than that.



Now, from how I'm raving about this, you'd think I sell it. Nope. Just a fan.

Get it from their website www.betterwpd.com

P.S. -the mini size is great for 72 hr kits too!

"Regular" Health

Well hello again!
I don't think I've told you yet, but I have a little girl. Let's call her E. (I realized that if I'm going to share health information about my family, they might not appreciate me including their names.) Anyway, E. is 1 year old, and today was a rough day for her. She hadn't gone to the bathroom in 2 days. Which isn't that long, especially for a baby, but she had several tries that were painful and unsuccessful. So we went to the grocery store to the pharmacy section and got a little tub of baby suppositories. I put one in and within 15 minutes - success. Now she's fine. It was so easy to do, and cheap too; it only cost a few dollars. I know that glycerin and mineral oil aren't considered by some to be "natural" health, but sometimes I feel that if I can do it myself and it's not "drugs", it counts. I also know that some people become dependent on these and use them in place of nutrition, but I feel we've learned our lesson: More fruit, and no more than one string cheese per day!

What do you think?

Hello World!

Hi! 
My name is Sarah, and I am a stay-at-home housewife/mother with a degree in Home and Family Living, and a Physics Senior Thesis. That's right, I studied Optical Physics for 4 years. It's a long story. But I do have a background in science, and I love seeing how these natural remedies and alternative methods are based in science. This blog is for me to share with you the adventures I've had exploring alternative and complementary health methods. These are for informational/anecdotal purposes only, as I am not a doctor and do not give medical advice. 
I hope you enjoy coming on this health adventure with me!


P.S. If you want to try any of the things I talk about (at your own risk of course), most of the things will be widely available, either at the health food or grocery store. But sometimes I will use products that I sell. Just so you know, I only sell things I like, I use, and that I think work. Anytime I use one of these, I will include a link in the post. To see my products, go to sarahschi.com or solex.com/sarahschi