HOME REMEDIES APPROVED BY DOCTORS

HEADACHE: Try do-it-yourself acupressure. Feel along your trapezius, the large muscle that runs from the high point of both shoulders and joins your neck. Use your thumbs, index, and middle fingers to squeeze the muscle just below where it attaches to both sides of your neck. You'll be releasing "trigger points," tiny muscle spasms that can cause neck tension and are a common cause of headaches. Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute—or have a friend do it for you. Or try: massaging one or two drops of peppermint (Mentha piperita) oil into the same trigger points and the lower neck. Peppermint oil relaxes muscles in spasm says Benjamin Kligler, MD, MPH

FOR BAD BREATH: Drink up to ¼ cup pure aloe vera gel dissolved in about half a cup of water or apple juice. Aloe vera contains an anti-inflammatory compound called B-sitosterol that soothes acid indigestion, a common cause of bad breath. But go easy; in large doses, aloe vera can work like a laxative says New York-based herbalist Letha Hadady, DAc, author of Healthy Beauty

FOR WHITE TEETH: Combine ½ teaspoon baking soda with 1 or 2 drops of peroxide. Brush on, let sit for a few minutes, then rinse (don't swallow). Baking soda serves as a safe, light bleach. A baking soda and salt mixture can also restore the shine of dingy teeth (dip a wet toothbrush into ¼ teaspoon soda and sprinkle with up to ⅛ teaspoon salt) as effectively as it polishes your pots and pans. However, the peroxide recipe is safer for people on no-salt diets.

MOSQUITO BITE: Rub liquid laundry detergent on the spot and let dry. The liquid soothes the skin, dries the bite to reduce irritation, and seals the area from outside irritants says Paul Lyons, MD, associate professor of family and community medicine at Temple University School of Medicine

DANDRUFF: Douse it with a cup of antioxidant-packed green tea, which will naturally exfoliate dry flakes without dehydrating skin. Steep two bags of green tea in 1 cup hot water for 20 minutes to overnight. Once it has cooled, massage the strong tea into your scalp says Letha Hadady, DAc

SUNBURN: Take a lukewarm bath with 1 cup added ground oatmeal (grind it with a mortar and pestle; instant oatmeal works fine), 1 cup whole milk, 2 tablespoons honey, and 2 tablespoons aloe vera gel. Oatmeal is anti-inflammatory, honey is antiseptic, milk's proteins and fats soothe skin, and aloe numbs pain. Afterward, moisturize with a cream containing hydrating shea butter and aloe says Doris Day, MD.

Source: www.prevention.com