When there's no doctor in the house, who tells you how to stop a bloody nose or cure the hiccups? Dr. Mom, of course. But does the age-old wisdom of moms, the advice handed down generation to generation, still hold true in today's medical world?
Yes. And no. Here are some common home remedies brought up to date:
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Cranberry juice is good for bladder infections. Absolutely. It's the hippuric acid in cranberry juice that makes the urine acidic, preventing unwanted bacterial growth. In addition, another group of compounds in the juice, the proanthocyanadins, apparently prevents E. coli from adhering to the lining of the bladder.
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Cucumber slices relieve puffy eyes. Yes, but so will anything cool, moist and astringent, or capable of binding skin tissue together. A ball of cotton soaked in ice water is the simplest method. Puffy eyes in the morning may be caused by sleeping face-down; gravity causes fluid to drain into the loose pocket of skin around your eyes. To avoid puffy eyes, try sleeping on your back.
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Butter's good for a burn. No. Ice-cold water is best for minor burns. Any benefits from butter stem from the coldness of a refrigerated stick, not the butter itself. The most important thing for a burn is to immediately cool down the skin -- to literally stop it from cooking.
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Milk is good for ulcers. No again. The fat in milk increases the stomach's acid production, and acid irritates ulcers.
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Lemon juice will bleach freckles and kill fish odors. Yes on both counts. The citric acid bleaches out melanin pigment, which is what makes freckles dark; it should be wiped on the skin daily for six to eight weeks. With fish odors, the citric acid in lemon juice binds with the smelly amines of fish to neutralize them.
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Hold your breath to stop hiccups. The best solution, experts say, is to breathe into a paper bag held over your mouth and nose. (This is not recommended for children.) The bag increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the air you breathe. Re-breathing carbon dioxide suppresses the vagus nerve leading to the diaphragm. The nerve is firing inappropriately, which causes the diaphragm to spasm. And that's what a hiccup is -- a spasm of the diaphragm. Simply holding your breath sometimes works, because it relaxes the muscles of the diaphragm. But it does not address the cause of the spasm.
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Baking soda is a good tooth powder. No, it's too strong, dental experts say. Baking soda will whiten teeth by removing stains, but it's too abrasive to use regularly, and it irritates gums. Toothpastes on the market that contain some baking soda are generally safe.
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Olive oil conditions and protects hair. No. All olive oil will do is lubricate your hair and make it smell.
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Carrots are good for the eyes. Yes -- to a point. Vitamin A is critical for good eyesight, and carrots are one of the best ways to get it. But a balanced diet that includes carrots provides sufficient vitamin A. As long as you're getting enough vitamin A, loading up on extra carrots or other carotene-rich foods won't make you see better.
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Reading in poor light will ruin your vision. No, using your eyes doesn't hurt them, although eyestrain may give you a temporary headache, experts say.
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An icepack on the back of the neck stops a nosebleed. It might help somewhat. But a better remedy is a couple of puffs of decongestant nasal spray, which constricts the blood vessels. Then pinch the tip of the nose to a point of closing the nostrils; that puts pressure on the area of bleeding. Apply the pressure for 5 minutes, if that doesn't work, apply pressure for 20 minutes.