This is part of our Nature’s Cures mini-series, which features all-natural remedies for common ailments. Catch up on previous posts here.
If you’ve still got some of that garlic leftover from treating the common cold, you can use it if you’re suffering from a nasty earache. You’ll also need a bit of olive oil. Simply rub some of the oil behind the ear and around the outer ear area. Lie with your painful ear up, take a relatively large size slice of fresh garlic and gently rest on the outer ear, against the opening of the canal (not so small that the slice falls into the ear). Let this sit and seep in for about ten minutes.
Another closely related culinary cure is made from garlic’s doppelgänger…the onion. The point here is to extract the onion’s natural juices, so you’ll want to either bake or steam an onion with its skin still on. Once it feels soft, you can peel the skin away and mash the onion just enough to get liquid to come out. If you’re not getting enough, you can add a bit of lukewarm water to the mix. Then, using a dropper, tilt your head earache side up and let the onion juice drip into your ear. You should notice almost instant pain relief.
