Anyone who was able to look forward to a good harvest on the herb and vegetable beds last summer can look forward to the ubiquitous colds at this time of the year with great equanimity. With a supply of chamomile, thyme, buckhorn & Co., we have the perfect ingredients for natural and very effective medicines when your nose is tingling or your throat is scratchy. A trip to the doctor can be avoided, at least in the case of minor illnesses, and it is better to avoid antibiotics and their often criticized side effects anyway.

If you have a lot of herbs in the garden, you don't need to go to the pharmacy when you have a cold, just go to the garden

Before any use of synthetic antibiotics, it should be checked responsibly whether there are herbal alternatives for the disease, especially in children. Homemade cold medicine is therefore very trendy and can be made easily and with just a few ingredients. We would like to remind you of some of these home remedies.

Chamomile and onions for earache

The well-known onion pad has proven itself over generations. For this purpose, pieces of a peeled onion are pressed together in a handkerchief or using kitchen paper until the juice escapes. Then briefly warm this packet to body temperature (an inverted saucepan lid is sufficient) and carefully place one of them on the sore ear. A slightly thicker cloth is placed over it, which remains in place for at least 20 minutes, secured with a headband. Instead of onions, dried chamomile blossoms are also suitable for this self-therapy. They are placed in a cloth bag and heated to body temperature with steam from a saucepan.

Fever-reducing pulse wraps with arnica

If the fever rises towards the 39° mark and you feel faint, the classic calf or wrist wraps have proven their worth and are particularly effective for children. You will need two larger towels that can be wrapped around your wrists or ankles at least three times. They are moistened with warm apple cider vinegar (1:2 ratio), arnica essence (diluted 1:9) and/or 250 ml juice of a squeezed lemon. The temperatures for adults and children should be 10 or 3 to 5 degrees below the current body temperature. The application time is between 10 and 20 minutes.

Linseed for inflamed mucous membranes

The moist heat applications with chamomile, as we described for the earache, help as a pad on the painful areas of the face, as does a porridge made from flaxseed, which only takes a few minutes to prepare. You need:

  • flaxseed (if necessary, from the pharmacy or a health food store);
  • a pack of disposable tea filter bags;
  • six to eight textile handkerchiefs;

First, 1 1/2 cups of flaxseed are stirred together with 2 cups of boiling water. After a short cooling, the resulting porridge is divided into six to eight filter bags, which you then place individually in the handkerchiefs and fold into a stable packet. In the case of inflammation of the jaw or frontal sinus, spread two of these previously reheated packets parallel to each other on the painful areas. This therapy can be repeated up to four times a day until the pain subsides.

Combat cough with black radish

The distinctive, typical spiciness, which has a particularly expectorant and cough-relieving effect, has the vitamin-rich black radish from its sulphurous, medicinal mustard oils, which were already appreciated in ancient Egypt and well before our era. For first aid for coughs, first cut off the top cap of your radish, then hollow out the inside of the radish in the shape of a funnel and poke a channel down with a knitting needle. Now the radish is placed on a glass and filled with honey so that the juice that comes out with the mustard oil can drain into the glass overnight. A teaspoon full, taken several times a day, will noticeably relieve the cough after just a few days.

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Care tips