Hold your nose closed for the running and sneezing of a virus cold. If you do this soon and often enough, it will kill off the virus, which cannot survive the body’s heat inside the closed nostrils. You can get through a cold in a few hours instead of several days if you do this.
If you get into a severe problem with a tightly stuffed nose, take a tad of horseradish by mouth every two or three hours. Stay away from sprays and drops which can make matters worse, unless it is just plain water or saline solution.
When your fingers develop those painful cracks around the nails, tips, and joints from cold temperatures and low humidity, cover them with plain adhesive tape 24 hours a day for two to three days. This will relieve pain and encourage quicker healing.
Watch for nose bleeds when cold dry air–both indoors and outdoors–dries out the mucous membranes. This bleeding is usually small and drippy and only occasionally heavy. Don’t panic. It is not at all likely due to high blood pressure. It is simply a small capillary that has broken open on the partition that separates the two nostrils.
Directing pressure on the side of the nose with your finger pressing against the septum on the bleeding side will almost always stop it. You may have to hold it for a few minutes and repeat it for a few hours or so. If too heavy or recurrent, your doctor can prescribe a hormone cream which toughens up the capillary walls so they won’t be so fragile.
Be on the alert for wintertime bronchial irritation and cough from the smoke of wood burning. If humidifying the air does not help and the problem is severe enough-especially for children, asthmatics, and emphysemics–it may be necessary to stop word burning for home heat.
A country remedy for the diarrhea of winter (and summer), intestinal viruses, and food indiscretions, is a small glass of water containing a teaspoon of baking soda and black pepper.
After more than 40 years of country doctoring, the best gargle for a sore throat is still a small glass of water, as hot as you can take it, that contains on-half teaspoon of salt, one-quarter teaspoon of baking soda, one-half dozen drops of tincture of Merthiolate, and two crushed aspirin tablets. Gargle with small amounts as far back in your mouth and throat as possible. Keep your throat relaxed as you gargle. Allow the vapors to breathe into your nose. Use the entire cup and repeat as often as necessary. Leave out any of the ingredients you may be allergic to.
