□ ARTHRITIS
• Fresh celery : A cup of juice a day is good for arthritis. Celery soups and salads also have a beneficial effect.
• Foods : Celery, parsley, bitter gourd, beetroot, asparagus, yeast, wheat germs.
• Fruits : Banana, pecan, grapes, raisins, cherry, strawberry, guava and musk melon.
• Fresh vegetable juice : Carrot, spinach, beetroot and cucumber. A combination of vegetable juice is better than having one only for arthritic conditions.
• Warm a leaf of the castor plant and place it over a painful joint. Change frequently.
• Turmeric paste application over a painful joint is soothing.
• Fenugreek, i.e. methi seeds, are specially recommended for arthritis. One teaspoon of seeds taken with water early morning, or methi seeds ground into a chutney or soaked for a few hours/ overnight and made into a main dish preparation are helpful.
• Saffron soaked in hot milk.
• Use apple cider vinegar instead of synthetic vinegar.
FOR PAINFUL SWELLING OF JOINTS
• Fresh tamarind leaves crushed and ground into a paste can be locally applied as a poultice for a few hours.
• Lemon grass crushed and mixed with coconut oil for local application.
• Crushed garlic mixed with warm mustard oil for local application.
• Ground pepper added to warm sesame oil as a liniment.
• A few grams of camphor mixed in warm mustard oil, apply locally for sprain.
Caution : Do not massage vigorously. The technique of massaging should be learnt as an incorrect method can do more damage than good.
Wounds/burns/scalds/brits/whitlow/eczema : All these effected areas must be washed with clean water
WOUNDS
Remember first to wash your hands with soap and water before rendering this first aid.
Betel leaves
Crush a handful of betel leaves and extract fresh juice. Pour this over the wound, cover with another washed, cleaned, dried betel leaf and bandage. The juice has certain ingredients that arrest bleeding.
Garlic
Its juice has wound cleaning and healing properties. One part of fresh garlic juice to three parts of water can be used to clean a wound and a few drops of diluted garlic juice applied as a base for dressing also stops bleeding.
Ginger
A piece of fresh ginger peeled and ground into a paste with a little sugar can be applied to a fresh cut or wound and bandaged. Now keep the bandaged area absolutely dry for three to five days. Remove after five days. The wound heals. This is only possible on small wounds. Large wounds will bleed and till the bleeding stops they are difficult to heal.
Parsley
Suppurating wounds can be cleansed by pouring a slightly warm infusion of parsley leaves. Freshly washed, bruised parsley can be applied to dress a wound. This dressing should be changed every two to three hours as it soaks up the pus.
– Fresh juice of a fresh turmeric root makes a good antiseptic dressing. In the absence of a fresh root, home ground, clean, washed and dried turmeric root powder can be used.
Liquorice
A bit of liquorice powder mixed with pure ghee and a few drops of honey to make a paste is another helpful remedy.
Fresh cactus
Cutting a fresh cactus stalk or succulent leaf will have juice flowing out from the cut edge. Let this juice be dropped directly on a fresh wound. It helps to clean the wound especially in the absence of clean water. It also helps the small cut blood vessels in the area to contract and controlling the bleeding. Now slice a fresh piece of the cactus taking care the prickly hair/thorns are removed and place the cut surface on the wound and bandage. Remove after two to three hours. The bleeding would have been controlled. The wound can later be cleaned and dressed the normal way.
– On a fresh wound the pulp ofAloe leaf obtained by splitting open the leaf and applying twice daily on the injured area helps in good Cactus healing. Alternately, cut a leaf into two, sprinkle fresh turmeric powder and apply this to the wound and bandage.
-The lajwanti plant or mimosa grows wildly in a garden — its leaves crushed and applied twice daily too can be used.