Month: November 2009 (Page 2 of 2)

Healing From Surgery, Part 3: Topical Skin-Healing Remedies

November 9, 2009 / Lindsey / 0 Comments

From left: Tea Tree Oil, Goldenseal extract, Homeopathic Bone Strengthener, Homeopathic Arnica Gel, Homemade Herbal Wound-Healing Oil, & Virgin Coconut Oil

Time for another installment in the series!

For an introduction to the series, and the pre-/post-surgery homeopathic regimen I created, visit Part 1: Homeopathy.

For instructions on how to make your own Antiseptic Herbal Wash and Herbal Wound-Healing Oil, visit Part 2: Herbal Wound Remedies.

Part 3: Topical Skin-Healing Remedies

After the bandage was removed, I didn’t really put anything onto the actual incision sites (except my Antiseptic Herbal Wash) until they were more healed (therefore, less risk of sealing in any infection).

I kept my incisions clean by washing them with gentle (castile) soap and water; the nurse I talked to urged me not to use either hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol to clean or “sterilize” my wounds; they’re too caustic and harsh on the new tissue that’s forming.

If a wound looks like it’s getting infected (pain, heat, swelling, oozing/draining, and/or bright red color around incision), the essential oils of Tea Tree, Manuka, and/or Lavender can be used neat (full strength) right on the wound (or diluted, if you prefer). I used them a few times on my wounds just to help prevent infection. You can also use a thin layer of regular ol’ triple antibiotic ointment; in my experience, that stuff really does work. However, you don’t want to totally slather it on, because it might trap moisture inside the wound.

As a side note, I also exposed my wounds to direct sunshine when I could; MRSA (drug-resistant Staph) is killed by sunlight. You can read an article with similar implications here: CBS News: Blue Light Kills MRSA. (Though, the sunlight method isn’t totally foolproof since MRSA bacteria can cluster together and form a protective cover over itself called a biofilm, sheltering it from its environment.)

(Obviously, when in doubt, have your incision looked at by your doctor, since infections aren’t to be taken lightly.)

Goldenseal extract is another good topical remedy for infections. It has broad-spectrum antibacterial properties, but keep in mind that Goldenseal is not a systemic antibiotic. In other words, Goldenseal does not course its way through your blood, killing bacteria in its path. Rather, it acts as a contact disinfectant — killing bacteria, fungi, parasites, and protozoa that it comes into direct contact with in the mouth, GI tract, urinary tract, and on the skin.

Also, Goldenseal is one of the most over-harvested and endangered wild medicinal plants in North America. Even so, many (most!) of the Goldenseal that is sold is “wild harvested” or “wildcrafted.” While these terms sound enticing, do avoid them! Instead, only purchase Goldenseal that is “certified organic” or “cultivated.” Herb Pharm puts out a nice, certified organic Goldenseal extract that does not contribute to the demise of this precious healing plant.

Fortunately, Oregon Grape is a more abundant plant, with very similar properties. Oregon Grape root is a great replacement for Goldenseal root!

Anyway. Twice a day for a month or more after the bandage was removed, I put homeopathic arnica gel and virgin coconut oil (which is great for skin) all over my foot, avoiding the incision sites. The arnica gel definitely reduced the bruising discoloration, although my foot still felt bruised to the touch. The coconut oil was great for moisturizing. I noticed that since my foot was swollen, it would get very dry and itchy (like, scratch-it-with-a-steak-knife itchy) unless I was careful to keep it moisturized twice a day.

Once the incisions healed more, I began spraying my Homeopathic Bone Strengthener spray directly onto the skin over the bones that were healing. I also continued to take the spray under my tongue.

And lastly, I began using my homemade Herbal Wound-Healing Oil on the incision sites, and continue to use it daily. I also massage Vitamin E oil (from a punctured capsule) onto the scars.

All in all, my foot looks great! It’s not swelling too much, it’s not visibly bruised at all (though as I said above, it does still feel bruised to the touch…for me, arnica takes away the ugly color, but not the pain), and the scars are healing quite well. Of course, I’m not sure what my foot would have looked like without all these remedies. But since the incisions are healing so well, I definitely feel that they’ve helped.

Do you have a favorite natural skin-healing remedy? I’d love to know!

Philosophy Friday: How to Fix A Dismal Mood

November 6, 2009 / Lindsey / 0 Comments

How to Fix A Dismal Mood

Time for another Philosophy Friday!

So the past couple days I’ve felt “off”, with feelings of depression, hopelessness, and despair. On the occasions when I dip into little funks like this, I’ve often have a hard time pinpointing the cause, which is frustrating. What I’ve discovered is that it’s usually not just a single thing, but a combination of things that cause the balance to tip.

It seems really elementary, but it’s something I’ve only recently discovered. I know when I feel “off,” of course, but in the past, I didn’t really think through the reasons why I might be feeling that way. I just knew how I felt, and sort of just rode it out. But when I actually started thinking about it, and noticing the things that seemed to tip my balance, they were — hark! — often the same things each time! Like I said, it seems so obvious now.

For instance, I can deal with too little sleep. Or with physical pain. Or with hormones. But when they happen all at the same time, I fall apart so much more easily!

It’s helpful to develop a little mental list of your own “frequent offenders” that tip your balance — maybe a lack of sleep, your cycle, a yucky day at work, physical pain, too much on your plate, etc. When you recognize that you handle daily stressors differently when you’re overtired, for instance, you come to understand yourself better. And with that comes being gentler with yourself when you’re feeling down.

Then, when you can actually identify what’s causing the bottleneck, you can begin working to regain your balance.

So when you feel out of whack, you can say “Okay, well, by looking at the calendar, sure enough I’m at that “sour spot” in my cycle…and yep, my feet were really painful today and I know that wears me down, and oh yeah…that’s right…I’ve been awfully short on sleep lately.” Bingo! You have identified 3 concrete reasons that are likely contributing to why you feel low. It’s so much easier to fix a problem when you know what it is, wouldn’t you agree?!! Once you know what’s wrong, you can take logical steps to fix it (tired? time to go to bed early!). This process brings the “I feel yucky” from a vague, nebulous feeling down into a concrete, solvable problem. Sometimes even just identifying why you feel bad is enough to make you feel better! 😉

It’s also a good time for some Good Medicine. Today, one piece of good medicine for me was reading Karen Bishop’s energy update. We all have different ways of getting inspiration, of course, and Karen’s updates are one of the very few things I read religiously. They give a more cosmic picture of what’s currently happening on Earth (her website was formerly called What’s Up On Planet Earth?), and her explanations & her own experiences of what’s going on are often very reassuring to me.

But anyway, the next time you’re feeling blue, take the time to actually notice some likely causes. It really is worth the time and thought to come up with your own list of ‘frequent flyers’ that tip your balance. 🙂

Happy Friday!

How to Prepare Your Vegetable Garden for Winter

November 2, 2009 / Lindsey / 0 Comments

Lindsey's garden after the first frost. Pretty, huh.

The first frost. What was green and growing yesterday, is today a jumble of limp and blackened leaves. Overnight, your pride and joy has become something of an eyesore, and you’re staring at the mess thinking “now what?”

When the vegetable garden dies in the fall, what’s the best course of action? Actually, doing pretty much nothing is both the easiest and best way of preparing your veggie garden for winter.

Here’s how I prepare my garden for winter…and why:

1. Cut off any dead stalks/vines at the soil level — no need to pull out the roots, and no need to till the soil. There are a few reasons for this. First, I aim to keep soil disturbance to a minimum. Whenever soil is disturbed, an ecosystem is disturbed…and so some of its worms and microorganisms die. The decay of dead worms and microorganisms leads to a flush of available nutrients that plants can use. While there’s never a good time for mass death among our helpers in the soil, autumn is the worst time to turn the soil, since there are no growing plants to enjoy the newly-released nutrients.

Another reason why I leave the roots place is so that they can break down, replenishing the soil with what they removed during the growing season. Leaving the roots in the soil also means that they become a nice habitat for soil microbes.

Plus, it’s much easier than removing the plant material in the autumn, composting it in the far corner of the yard, then hauling it back to the garden in the spring. Easier to just let it sit there and compost in place!

(Click below to continue reading…)