Salty tea towel for sore throat

When I was a child a sore throat my mother wet a tea towel with hot water. She folded it up like a scarf, sprinkled it with table salt and placed the salty side against my neck and throat. She then fastened the cloth with a large safety pin and wrapped a towel around it. The next day the sore throat was gone or at least a lot less.

GP Wim Opstelten: “A salty wet tea towel can do no harm, but it seems extremely unlikely to me that this helps against a sore throat. cold virus or a bacteria usually causes a sore throat. A sore throat is usually harmless and the symptoms will go away on their own within a week. Make sure you drink well. Food is less important. Paracetamol and popsicles can help with the pain.”

Toothpaste on a burn spot

As a child I was taught to put toothpaste on a burn from hot steam or something like that. Is that really a good tip?

“No, you definitely shouldn’t! Don’t put anything on a burnAlso no toothpaste. It has been proven that for wounds, all remedies such as Biotex, pulling ointments and soda baths even slow down wound healing. What should you do? Cool burns as soon as possible with gently running, lukewarm tap water for at least 10 minutes. Remove as much clothing, jewelry, shoes, etc. as possible once the skin has cooled. And don’t break blisters.”

After cooling a burn, see your doctor if:

• A yellow-white dry spot develops that does not hurt.
• You have a moist, red burn or blister on your face, hands, or genitals.
• The burn is bigger than the palm of the person who got burned.
• After a few days, yellow-green fluid comes out of the burn.
• The burn becomes redder and more painful after a few days.
• A baby or toddler has a burn.

Good to know: do contact your doctor immediately in the event of a possible internal burn caused by inhaling steam or hot air.

Cleaning tablet against calluses

A tip I once got from my grandmother: dissolve a tablet for cleaning teeth in water and put the feet in it for half an hour in the evening. Remove the calluses, apply greasy ointment to the soles of the feet and sleep with socks on. The next day you will have baby soft feet.

“You can remove calluses with a callus grater, pumice stone or knife. This is easier after applying salicylic acid cream to the callus. Your doctor can prescribe this cream. Dental cleaning tablets probably have a similar effect. The disadvantage is that the entire foot is in the foot bath. submerged, so that the normal skin also becomes soft. The pedicure can help with severe calluses.”

Camphor spirit against blisters

My father gave me this tip against blisters, which helps me a lot when I walk the Four Days Marches in Nijmegen. I start dabbing my feet with camphor spirits once a day a week in advance. During the Four Days Marches I do it in the morning before putting on the socks and in the evening after showering. Then talcum powder over the toes and the blisters stay away.

“Many people have good experiences with this, but it has not been proven that it really helps. The same applies to self-adhesive bandages and tape. The advice of general practitioners: make sure that the chance of friction is as small as possible. Wear shoes that fit well with the running temperature, being broken in and ventilating Neoprene insoles can prevent blistering.

Socks should be darning, seamless and fit snugly; pleats promote blistering. It is best to wear well-tried socks. These can be regular socks or thin seamless undersocks made of acrylic or polyester (they wick away moisture well, keeping the skin dry) with thicker special hiking socks over it. It goes without saying that good care of the toenails important.”

Butter on a bump

Smear butter on a bump after a fall. I got this tip from my mother; she had learned it again from her mother. I have used this a lot for my children. You can just see the swelling go away.

“A bump after bumping or fall It is caused by a build-up of fluid or blood. Cooling with cold water immediately after the accident and applying a pressure bandage could limit the swelling. But a bump will always go away on its own, no matter what you do. Butter can’t hurt, but it seems unlikely to help.

If children have a bump on their head after a fall of more than one meter or have been unconscious for a while, the doctor should always be consulted. Also contact your doctor if you are taking blood thinners and develop a bump.”

Vinegar against fungal nails

My grandmother’s advice at fungal nails: put a drop of vinegar on the nail every day.

“If the fungus that causes fungal nails has only superficially affected the nail, vinegar can help. Fungi do not like an acidic environment. At least it can’t hurt. Or try the antifungal agent miconazole (available at the drugstore) to treat the fungus. The fungus is often much deeper and then only pills will help. Consult with your doctor; anti-fungal pills do not always help and they can cause many side effects.”

Do home remedies help?

“Most minor ailments and discomforts will go away on their own, even if you do nothing. If you have used a home remedy, it may seem that it has promoted healing. Whether that really is the case, you can only prove by scientific research where the one group of patients gets the home remedy and the other group gets nothing. Such research has not been done for the remedies in this article. We do not know whether they really help.”

dr. Wim Opstelten is a general practitioner, senior scientific employee of the Dutch College of General Practitioners (NHG) and co-author of the book children’s ailments.