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Ear infections, and the sore throat that results from it draining into your throat, can be nasty. But sometimes you don't have time to see the doctor, don't want to take another possibly useless or damaging antibiotic, or dont have the money to see a physician... so here are some relatively cheap ways you can treat your ear infection at home. 

**Important Note**
NEVER treat an ear infection at home if there is any kind of discharge, pus or blood oozing from the ear. In these cases the infection is quite serious and requires professional medical attention. 


These remedies, particularly the Garlic Oil is safe, gentle, and effective for treating ear infections in children. Keeping garlic tincture and/or oil around will allow you to swiftly and safely treat ear infections, which ultimately reduces the length of the infection and decreases your child's chances of needing tubes put in their ears.


 
Obviously we all would prefer to use preventive measures when it comes to pink eye, like washing your hands regularly especially when handling fecal matter of any kind, but sometimes you end up with an infection despite your best efforts. So what can you do to treat the infection without having to go to a doctor?

Truth is, there isn't a whole lot you can do other than keep it clean and prevent it from spreading to your other eye, getting worse, or infecting others. One of my favorite resources for home remedies is Home-Remedies-For-You.com. Im not sure where to get some of the things they mention in the treatment suggestions, but I thought I would include them just in case someone might know where to get it. Here is what they have to say about treating pink eye:

Indian gooseberry is believed to be one of the most effective natural remedies for pink eye. Squeeze out the juice of an Indian gooseberry and mix it with one tablespoon of honey. Drink this concoction at least four times in a day to attain relief at a quick pace. Green vegetables are also effective pink eye remedies. 

Include green vegetables such as spinach, cabbage and peas among many others to your diet and see the difference in a matter of two days. Carrots are also highly beneficial for reducing the pinkness of the eye. Apply a few dried leaves of coriander on top of the eye for five minutes. The coriander leaves work as a coolant and relieves the infection at a much faster pace. 

The water of soaked coriander seeds also imparts a cooling effect and cures pink eye. The infected eye should be rinsed several times a day with coriander water. Include vitamin A in your diet which consists of milk products, tomatoes and mangoes among many others. 

Apart from the remedies, it is very important to concentrate on some preventive measures that may avoid aggravating the condition further. 

Avoid watching television, reading a book or using the computer till the infection goes away. Also avoid swimming, but if you need to go, use a good pair of swimming goggles and make sure that the water does not enter the eye. The chlorine present in the water may cause severe infection. Wash your eyes with cold water every hour and dry it with a soft cloth. Consume plenty of fluids all throughout the day. Do not rub your eye as it may increase the infection. Home remedies for pink eye are the best treatment for the same.


WebMD's take on the situation focuses more on keeping the eye area free of drainage to promote swift healing and treating discomfort. Here is what they have to say:

Home treatment for pinkeye will help reduce your pain and keep your eye free of drainage. If you wear contacts, remove them and wear glasses until your symptoms have gone away completely. Thoroughly clean your contacts and storage case.

Cold compresses or warm compresses (whichever feels best) can be used. If an allergy is the problem, a cool compress may feel better. If the pinkeye is caused by an infection, a warm, moist compress may soothe your eye and help reduce redness and swelling. Warm, moist compresses can spread infection from one eye to the other. Use a different compress for each eye, and use a clean compress for each application.

When cleaning your eye, wipe from the inside (next to the nose) toward the outside. Use a clean surface for each wipe so that drainage being cleaned away is not rubbed back across the eye. If tissues or wipes are used, make sure they are put in the trash and not allowed to sit around. If washcloths are used to clean the eye, put them in the laundry right away so that no one else picks them up or uses them. After wiping your eye, wash your hands to prevent the pinkeye from spreading.

After pinkeye has been diagnosed:
  • Take steps to prevent the spread of pinkeye by following the instructions in the Prevention section of this topic.
  • Do not go to day care or school or go to work until pinkeye has improved.
    • If the pinkeye is caused by a virus, the person can usually return to day care, school, or work when symptoms begin to improve, typically in 3 to 5 days. Medicines are not usually used to treat viral pinkeye, so preventing its spread is important. Home treatment of the symptoms will help you feel more comfortable while the infection goes away.
    • If the pinkeye is caused by bacteria, the person can usually return to day care, school, or work after the infection has been treated for 24 hours with an antibiotic and symptoms are improving. Prescription antibiotic treatment usually kills the bacteria that cause pinkeye.
  • Use medicine as directed. Medicine may include eyedrops and eye ointment. See a picture of inserting eye drops  or inserting eye ointment.
 
Just as some carbs are good and some carbs are bad, some low carb diets are good, and others can actually be dangerous. So what low carb diet is safe?

I dont know of any particular low carb diet that does this but here are the things you should avoid, not just as part of a low carb diet to help you lose weight but as a healthy lifestyle change. The information I am using in this article is taken from EverydayHealth.com.

The most important simple carbohydrates to limit in your diet include:
  • Soda
  • Candy
  • Artificial syrups
  • Sugar
  • White rice, white bread, and white pasta
  • Potatoes (which are technically a complex carb, but act more like simple carbs in the body)
  • Pastries and desserts
Meyerowitz says that you can enjoy simple carbohydrates on occasion, you just don't want them to be your primary sources of carbs. And within the simple carb category, there are better choices — a baked potato, white rice, and regular pasta — than others — chips, cakes, pies, and cookies.

Healthy carbs are a little harder to identify but the best and easiest way to do this is to look at the glycemic load of that food. Here is what EverydayHealth.com had to say about this topic:

Carbohydrates in the Diet: The Glycemic Load Factor

Describing carbs as being either simple or complex is one way to classify them, but nutritionists and dietitians now use another concept to guide people in making decisions about the carbs they choose to eat.

The glycemic index of a food basically tells you how quickly and how high your blood sugar will rise after eating the carbohydrate contained in that food, as compared to eating pure sugar. Lower glycemic index foods are healthier for your body, and you will tend to feel full longer after eating them. Most, but not all, complex carbs fall into the low glycemic index category.

It is easy to find lists of food classified by their glycemic index. You can see the difference between the glycemic index of some simple and complex carbohydrates in these examples:
  • White rice, 64
  • Brown rice, 55
  • White spaghetti, 44
  • Whole wheat spaghetti, 37
  • Corn flakes, 81
  • 100 percent bran (whole grain) cereal, 38
To take this approach one step farther, you want to look at the glycemic load of a food. The glycemic load takes into account not only its glycemic index, but also the amount of carbohydrate in the food. A food can contain carbs that have a high glycemic index, but if there is only a tiny amount of that carb in the food, it won’t really have much of an impact. An example of a food with a high glycemic index but a low glycemic load is watermelon, which of course tastes sweet, but is mostly water.


The glycemic index is not just a tool for diabetics to make sure they arent getting too much or too little sugar, its also a fantastic tool for ensuring that a non-diabetic is eating a healthy diet. Simple carbs give up their sugar very quickly and cause spikes in blood sugar. Spikes in blood sugar give you a burst of energy but a crash afterward. Complex carbs take longer to digest and give off sugar slower, giving your body a more sustainable energy source, keeping your blood sugar more stable. When your body is overloaded with sugar, so much so that it cant use all of it right then it stores it in the body...in what? Fat. 

A documentary called FatHead, which can be found in clips on YouTube and the complete documentary on Netflix, goes into the how and why of getting fat.  Click on 'Youtube' in the previous sentence to watch a clip from the movie that explains how high carb diets, such as what is recommended by the FDA, is actually what causes excess weight gain. Its really an eye opening documentary. The only part of it that I do not agree with, however, is the portion in which he talks about the Juice Diet. This is a diet I have used and absolutely love. Its where you replace all, most, or part of your diet with raw, fresh made fruit and vegetable juices. I can explain this diet in depth in another article. There is too much information I want to share on it to include it in this article. 

So low carb is not necessarily a bad diet. In fact, most diets are not inherently bad for you... if they are only done for short periods of time. Many diets, if maintained for long periods can cause some serious damage. These sorts of 'extreme' diets should only be used to achieve initial weight loss. To keep the weight off will require over all changes in your eating habits, what I like to call Lifestyle Changes. You cannot expect to keep the weight off after using an 'extreme' diet if you just go right back to the way you were eating before. These lifestyle changes, for some people, means portion control while for others it means avoiding certain foods. But for most people it means a combination of the two.
 
*IMPORTANT* If you have never had a yeast infection and suspect that you have one be sure to consult your doctor or buy a vaginal pH test kit from your local pharmacy. Many sexually transmitted diseases can present with yeast infection like symptoms but will not go away with the use of yeast infection treatments. Save yourself some discomfort, maybe even your fertility and uterus, and have your first suspected yeast infection confirmed by a doctor. This way you'll know for sure what is a yeast infection and what is not.

This is a bunch of home remedies for Yeast Infection that I found at this link http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/remedy/Yeast-Infection.html.

I have not tried any of these, personally, but I can attest to the effectiveness of Tea Tree Oil in treating skin infections. Tea Tree Oil is commonly used in topical ointments, creams, and gels used to treat fungal infections, so I'm sure it would be effective in treating a yeast infection.


Yogurt
Take a tampon and dip it in yogurt. Insert in the vagina, twice a day. Continue this remedy for an extra day after your symptoms go away. Make sure that you consult your doctor before you decide to use this yeast infection home treatment method as it is thought to be helpful only in cases of yeast infections and may actually aggravate a bacterial infection. A definite diagnosis is therefore essential before the method of Yeast Infection Treatment can be decided. However, yogurt can be included in a yeast infection diet or a bacterial infection diet to help control the infection. Yogurt is one of the most well known home remedies for vaginal yeast infection. Yogurt is especially useful in treating a Candida yeast infection and must be included in a Candida yeast infection diet.

Tea Tree Oil
A few drops of tea tree oil poured on a tampon and inserted in the vagina can provide some relief. It is important to dilute the oil before using it as tea tree oil is extremely potent and can cause inflammation if it is used in its undiluted form. Tea tree oil can be diluted by mixing a few drops of this oil along with a teaspoon of olive oil or sweet almond oil. Tea tree oil has anti fungal properties and will help to control the yeast infection as well as reduce yeast infection symptoms such as itching. Tea tree oil is one of the most effective vaginal yeast infection home remedies but it is necessary to first consult your doctor as some women may have an adverse reaction to this oil. Tea tree oil can also be used as a male yeast infection cure. 

Try mixing it with Coconut or Cinnamon Oil for a double whammy. Read the section on these to oils to see why.

Garlic
For non-vaginal yeast infections, you can apply garlic paste directly on the affected parts. This remedy is for other affected parts of the body and not for the vaginal yeast infection. If you do not have fresh garlic, you can dilute garlic oil along with Vitamin E oil and a few drops of coconut oil and apply this blend of oils to the affected skin. While garlic oil helps to control the infection, Vitamin E oil helps to fortify the skin and coconut oil helps to provide it with several fatty acids that help to prevent the infection from spreading. Yeast infection home cures can be used alongside other treatments to help speed up the recovery process.

Cold Coconut Oil and Cinnamon Oil
These are two of the best natural cures for yeast infections in both men and women. Cold coconut oil or cinnamon oil can be applied on the infected areas 2-3 times a day to get rid of a yeast infection. Both these oils have effective anti-fungal properties which are very helpful in killing the yeast.

Vinegar
A hot sitz bath along with some added vinegar is a great way to relieve skin irritation and itching caused by a yeast infection. It is also an effective remedy to arrest the growth of yeast and restore the PH balance in the body.

Vinegar douches can also be used but douching generally is not recommended. Consider discussing this treatment option with your doctor before using it to treat a yeast infection.


Diet for Yeast Infection
Yeast Infection : Home Remedies suggested by users
No Specific Diet
There is no specific diet that we are aware of for this condition. Of course, eat healthy, lots of fruits and vegetables, as always. Avoid processed foods as far as possible and avoid refined flour and refined sugar products completely. These foods can aggravate the yeast infection symptoms and can even cause the infection to spread. Drink plenty of water throughout the day as this will help to flush out the urinary tract and help to control the spread of the yeast infection. A diet for yeast infection should also contain plenty of vegetable juices as this will help to boost immunity levels and help you fight off the infection.


Suggestions for Yeast infection

Loose fitting undergarments: To avoid yeast infection avoid wearing tight underwear or other tight acrylic garments everyday. Use loose fitting cotton underwear and panties. Avoid wearing jeans, legging, panty hose every day.

External stimulants: If you suspect infection, stay away from deodorant sanitary pads and tampons. Avoid sprays and other such external agents as that could cause irritation.

Wet clothes: Do not remain in wet clothes for a long time. Change into dry ones as soon as possible and dry your affected body parts before changing into a new set of dry clothes.
 
This remedy was submitted by our reader Veronica A., she says: This remedy basically saved our lives (ok, not really) when Violet and I got head lice last year.  We tried all the shampoos and they wrecked our hair. We made a blend of essential oils and coconut oil (you could use whatever carrier oil you like) and left it on our hair for one hour, rinsed, and the lice never came back, granted we still had to remove all the nits but the oils made that a lot easier. 


Natural Head Lice Remedy:
Five Teaspoons Carrier Oil, Coconut Oil works great especially when solid
Five Drops Lavender Essential Oil
Five Drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil
Five Drops Rosemary Essential Oil
Five Drops Tea Tree Essential Oil
Five Drops Peppermint Essential Oil

Mix together and spread on hair generously. Cover hair with plastic cap and leave on for one hour. Rinse out of hair and make sure to continue nit searches nightly. 

This can also be made into a spray for around the house or the car by replacing the Coconut Oil with Olive Oil and Water and putting in a spray bottle. Use the same recipe minus the Peppermint Oil and Eucalyptus for children under five as it may affect their breathing. 
 
Colds are no fun, and neither are the congestion and mucous that usually accompany one. They can really mess you up and take a while to go away. Over the counter cold medicines usually only mask your symptoms by relieving discomfort and delaying your fever, but they don't really speed up your recovery. If anything, they slow it down. If you're pregnant, don't like taking medications, or have a heart condition, there are a couple things you can do to help loosen things up without pumping yourself full of drugs that dehydrate, raise your heart rate, and make you drowsy.

Remember, I am not a doctor, so when considering using any remedies mentioned on this site, please consult your doctor if you have any concerns. Some of these remedies may not be safe to use during pregnancy, so be sure to do some research...