People's Pharmacy

For more up-to-date information on drugs, herbs and home remedies visit The People's Pharmacy Home Site at peoplespharmacy.us

Lowering Cholesterol With A Bit Of Cinnamon

Posting Date: 08/22/2005

Soaking your feet in a vinegar (one part vinegar to two parts water) or baking soda solution for fifteen minutes daily may help. Epsom salt solution is another time-honored soak to help with smells. To fight off the fungus, tea tree oil may be helpful. Topical garlic and olive oil can also discourage athlete?s foot.

We are sending you our Guides to Nail Care and Solutions for Smelly Feet for more details. Anyone who would like a copy, please send $2 in check or money order with a long (no. 10) stamped (60 cents), self-addressed envelope: Graedons' People's Pharmacy, No. HF-312, P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027.

Q. I read one of your articles about a successful method to remove warts. I have an 11-year-old granddaughter with warts on her hands. She is self-conscious about them and I would like a natural way to get them off.

A. One approach that has been written up in the medical literature is duct tape. Cut a piece of tape just the size of the wart and put it on the wart, leaving it in place for a week. Remove it, soak the wart in warm water, scrape it with an emery board and apply a new piece of duct tape the following day. This may take a month or two to work.

If duct tape is not ?natural? enough, you could try painting the warts with white iodine or castor oil and covering with an adhesive bandage. Some parents report success by taping the inside of a banana peel to the wart for a few days.

* * *

In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.org. Their newest book is The People's Pharmacy Guide to Home and Herbal Remedies (St. Martin's Press).