Green Options

We’ve published some excellent natural health articles on Eco Child’s Play this year, and I’ve picked out 9 of the best, covering quite a few natural and home remedies for both kids and adults.

A great place to start when looking for ways to prevent sickness in the home is to go over the top 10 places that harbor cold and flu viruses in your home and clean them thoroughly. Household surfaces can spread common cold and flu viruses from person to person, with some germs lingering for days. This can mean a world of misery for families, so start today to keep those places sanitized.

Last month, I shared with you the household herbal remedies I used to treat my daughter’s first canker sore. One of the natural items my herbalist friend recommended was licorice root, specifically glycyrrhiza extract, which I did not have on hand. Now, I have discovered a canker sore product made from glycyrrhiza extract that is all natural:  CankerMelts.

CankerMelts not only heal canker sores in 1 to 5 days, but they help relieve the pain too. These slow natural dissolving discs adhere to the oral sore and provide anti-inflammatory pain relief.  Recently, my daughter thought she had another canker sore, although I could not confirm it by peering in her mouth. I let her try CankerMelts, and she did not complain about the sore again.  CankerMelts are not limited to canker sores, as they can be used on any sore in the mouth, such as from braces or biting one’s cheek.  It is advised not to use CankerMelts with children under six years of age, due to choking hazards.  CankerMelts are made in the USA.

My daughter has been complaining that her mouth hurts, and I thought nothing of it because she said she scratched her cheek with her fingernail. Yesterday, I finally looked in her mouth, and there was a huge canker sore, which is a small mouth ulcer. Canker sores can be caused by a minor injury to the mouth, such as my daughter’s fingernail, as well as bacteria, a faulty immune system, stress, certain foods (chocolate, coffee, strawberries, etc.) and/or a diet lacking B vitamins. I wondered if the flush of strawberries from the garden had been impacting my daughter’s canker sore, as well as her weekend full of ballet performances added stress to her little body. There is also some evidence that toothpastes containing SLS, like Tom’s of Maine, may contribute to canker sores.

Most canker sores heal on their own within two weeks, but due to my daughter’s pain, I decided to treat it naturally with herbs and homeopathy that we already had in our home. There are other recommended herbs not included in this list, but this list reflects our current regime without making a special trip to town.

1. Calcarea Carbonica: This homeopathic remedy is often recommended for canker sores, but like all homeopathic remedies, the remedy needs to be selected based on the individual’s symptoms beyond the sore itself. Homeopathy takes a holistic approach when choosing the correct remedy. Borax is more often used for canker sores than calcarea carbonica, but since CC is also a remedy for cradle cap, we already had it.