The Native Americans had a lot of experience with itching. They lived in a wild environment, filled with insects, harsh weather, and allergy-causing pollens. They didn’t have antihistamines or calamine lotion, so they had to find their own ways of getting relief.
Try an herb soother. Perhaps the quickest way to stop itching is to brew an herbal wash, using witch hazel, goldenseal, licorice root, echinacea, comfrey, or chamomile, and apply it directly to the skin or as a wet compress.
Calm the skin with oats. Native Americans didn’t have the luxury of bathtubs. If they had, you can be sure they would have tried what many herbalists recommend today: taking an herbal bath by adding a couple handfuls of breakfast oatmeal to the bathwater. A neater alternative is to wrap oatmeal in cheesecloth or tie it in an old cut-off stocking and drop it into the tub.
Cleanse the system. Itching isn’t always caused by external factors. Conditions such as eczema and psoriasis can create almost unbearable itching. (For more on these conditions, see page 182-183.) To give yourself an “internal” scratch, you may want to try a tea made from Native American herbs such as echinacea, dandelion, yellow dock, stinging nettle, licorice root, burdock, or red clover. These herbs help cleanse the blood of bacteria and toxins that may contribute to these conditions, says herbal authority Daniel Mowrey, Ph.D.
Care for your skin. Dry skin often causes itching, so it’s essential to keep it moisturized, especially in winter when the air is dry, says Hillard Pearlstein, M.D., a dermatologist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Native Americans took care of this by rubbing their skin with bear or mountain lion oil. Today, there are less gamey options, and any commercial moisturizer will work well, Dr. Pearlstein says.
It’s best to apply moisturizers right after bathing to help lock in the moisture, he notes.
This Home Remedies For Itching Skin article is taken from :
Healing Secrets of the Native Americans - Porter Shimer
