Natural remedies for Traveling with Kids June 24, 2009

Whether you’re camping, heading to the beach, or staying close to home this summer, you’ll want to know about these natural remedies for kids (and adults too!).

Sunburn:

1. Mix 1 drop of lavendar essential oil per tablespoon of aloe vera gel and apply to burned areas.

2. For a full-body burn, combine 2 cups of baking soda with 10 drops of lavendar essential oil in a tepid/cool bath and soak for 20 minutes. Apply a soothing hypoallergenic body lotion to skin afterwards to seal in moisture.

Bug Bites:
1.    Prevent bug bites with a homemade bug spritzer:
•    2 drops each: Essential Oils of Wintergreen, Citronella, Cedarwood, Peppermint, and Lemongrass.
•    Mix with ½ cup distilled water and ¼ cup almond oil (or other yummy oil) and put in a spritzer bottle.
2.    If stung, remove stinger with credit card or fingernail and apply ice quickly to prevent swelling and spread of toxins.  If wheezing or dramatic swelling occurs, call 911 immediately.
3.    Apply lavendar essential oil topically (undiluted, 1 drop)
4.    If itching occurs, combine ¼ cup of witch hazel extract with 20 drops of peppermint essential oil and 20 drops of lavendar essential oil and apply as needed with a cotton ball.

Cuts/Bruises:
1.    If the injured area is bruised, apply arnica gel or cream there 2-3 x’s day until the bruised sensation is getting better.  Can also do homeopathic arnica acutely.
2.    If the injured area is bleeding/open, clean the area thoroughly with soap and water.  Apply calendula salve 2x’s/day until a scab forms, then you can apply comfrey salve and arnica gel to continue the healing process.  Never apply arnica or comfrey to an open wound.

A little hiatus for a little reason. December 8, 2008

If you’ve been reading my natural health blog, you’ve noticed that I’ve taken a little hiatus. This year there have been 2 running jokes. I have been the pregnant midwife…and the pregnant obstetrics instructor. In early October, I stopped being both and started being Iris’s mama! She’s doing great, I’m doing great, and I’m back at work in my office, seeing patients with a new lens on life.

9 months, 12 months, 3 years later June 6, 2008

Every once in a while, I’ll be out grocery shopping or doing some other errand and run into a family whose birth I attended. It’s always such a a fun experience to see how the family has evolved and who the baby turned out to be. Family medicine is a big part of what I enjoy doing. In my line of work I spend 9 months getting to know a family and this new person joining their family through mom’s abdominal wall, and often there are aspects of their personality apparent during this time. The family dynamics are already there.

There are the quiet ones, the late-night partiers, the ones who play games of hide and seek when you’re trying to listen to their heart rate, the ones who kick and punch for attention. Oh, how I wish someone could do a study on personality traits before and after birth!

They say that how you come into this life often predicts how you live it. It’s interesting to ask your friends and family members if they were “early” or “late” or right on the due date, and see if that still holds true for them. Informal surveys point to many yes answers. For example, I have a friend who was born exactly on her due date, and she is always exactly on time for everything. Not early, not late. I have another friend who was born exactly one minute before midnight. Can you guess this one? She gets things done right at the last minute, but always just before the deadline. It’s fun to think this way.

Getting back to the whole running into people out in public—there’s just nothing like that sense of community, especially here in Portland. It’s a truly special thing to be able to talk to someone (even if they are only 3 years old) and say,” I saw you take your first breath–and now look at you! You’re running and making mud pies and have oh-so-very strong opinions about what mom is putting into the grocery cart.”

I wouldn’t trade my job for anything.