First aid from the kitchen cupboard

Vinegar helps against stinging nettles
Chemistry teacher Marijke Boon: “The leaf and stem of the nettle have hairs with a corrosive liquid in them, which contains, among other things, formic acid. If you touch the hairs, the tips break off and they stick into the skin as tiny tubes. The acid gets into the skin and that causes the burning pain.Blisters often also form, because the acid draws moisture from the skin.If you apply vinegar to the painful area, two things happen: first of all, the walls of the tubes through which the liquid flows out, and the poison is diluted and neutralized by the much less acidic vinegar. It is smart to rinse the poisonous residues and the dissolved hairs away with water afterwards. The juice of plantain, tarragon and sorrel has a similar effect to vinegar.”

Bottle cooler on a sprained ankle
Hans van der Pols, scientific employee of the Orange Cross: “It helps to cool down with a sprained ankle, but also with other bruises. You can use a bottle cooler from the freezer for this, but also a bag with frozen peas. the latter is a bit more flexible and can be folded better around the ankle.Make sure you never put the cold object directly on the skin, because then the skin to freeze. So put a tea towel around it. Cooling reduces the pain. But beware: some people actually get more pain – then stop cooling. For a long time, it was thought that cooling would reduce swelling, but that turns out not to be the case. With a serious bruise or sprain, rest is the most important in addition to cooling.”

Cucumber on sunburnt skin
Cees van Romburgh, first aid expert of the Red Cross: “The holiday sun is often brighter than you think. You can only treat a minor burn yourself. Do you have blisters, fever, chills, headache or other symptoms, call a doctor. When burning, including sunburn, you should always cool with water first. Cucumber slices contain a lot of water, but it is easier and more hygienic to use a clean wet cloth. If cucumber already contains healing substances, it remains to be seen whether they are absorbed into the skin. A short shower with lukewarm water also relieves the pain. Ice should not be used; that damages the skin.”

IMPORTANT: If it doesn’t help, it sometimes does damage!
A few readers tipped us to put toothpaste on a light burn. “Don’t,” says Marieke Stegenga of the Dutch Burns Foundation. “Lubricate your toothpaste instead of cooling it, then the burn gets deeper.” This also applies to all other remedies such as cottage cheese, raw egg or flour. Cooling for ten minutes with lukewarm, gently running water is the only right first aid tip.

Drinking coke for stomach flu
Michèle van Vugt, internist-infectiologist at the AMC in Amsterdam: “With stomach flu you lose a lot of fluid, and that must be supplemented to prevent dehydration. Drinking is important, but that does not necessarily have to be cola. Take tap water. The cola tip comes from travelers to the tropics. There is not clean drinking water everywhere in the world, while cola is available everywhere. It has never been proven that cola contains substances that cure stomach flu. You can feel a little better because of the sugar in it. Sugar takes away the faint feeling you often have when you vomit or diarrhea. ORS, a ready-to-use mixture of salt and sugar available at drugstores and pharmacies, is the best solution. But to drink that, you need clean drinking water. If that is not available, cola won’t hurt.”

Honey for sore throat
Pharmacist Annemieke Horikx of the professional organization for pharmacists: “If you let a tea spoon of honey melt in your mouth, it provides relief from a sore throat. With a cold, the wall of the esophagus is often a bit rough, which makes swallowing painful. Honey ‘smears’ the esophagus and that feels nice. What you can also do is gargle with water in which some salt has been dissolved. The salt water moistens the throat and makes the throat feel less rough. For gargling you use a so-called physiological saline solution. is water that contains the same percentage of salt as in the blood. You can make such a solution yourself by dissolving a level teaspoon of table salt in 250 ml of water. You can also use this solution as drops for a stuffy nose. The salt water makes the nasal mucus softer, making blowing easier.Honey and salt -don’t help you faster by the way a sore throat or cold.”