Alternative Medicine: Holistic Healing & Natural Home Remedies

What are the benefits of integrating holistic practices like acupuncture, herbal therapy, and mindfulness into a traditional wellness routine for long-term health?

Lavender spa

Essential Oils That Naturally Repel Fleas & Ticks

Using essential oils to repel fleas and ticks helps eliminate the amount of chemicals you and your family are exposed to. Some botanical oils are suitable for direct skin contact, while others work best sprayed on clothing or under rugs and cushions.

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Fresh oregano on a dark stone background

Oil of Oregano for Fungal Infection

Oregano essential oil, also known as oil of oregano, is steam-distilled from the leaves of the oregano plant. The earthy, aromatic liquid contains the highly concentrated properties of the oregano herb.

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Essential oil with rosemary and fresh green leaves

Essential Oils That Have Drawing Properties

Essential oils known for their drawing properties are useful cosmetically and medicinally. Also known as astringents, these essential oils help tighten skin tissue and close pores while drawing excess oil from greasy and acne-prone complexions.

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Aroma teraphy incense sticks in glass bowls

The Benefits of Smelling Frankincense

To inhale frankincense is to inhale tradition. The ancient resin, obtained from trees native to Southern Arabia, was used in biblical times for ritual, healing and as a perfume fixative. Modern herbalists use the essential oil obtained from the resin as a topical application.

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Spa oils in bottles on sunset

Substitutes for Essential Oils

Essential oils command the prices they do because of the large amounts of plant material that go into the making of each small vial. Often, this cost exceeds what the beginning herbalist or fragrance crafter wants to pay.

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mint sheaf

Herbal Mint and Blood Thinning

It’s “natural” to forget herbal teas or botanical capsules when your doctor asks you what drugs you may be taking. Nevertheless, prescription blood thinners can be either negated or dangerously amplified by certain herbs.

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Substitutes for Epsom Salts

Epsom salts, a crystallized mineral derived from magnesium sulfate, often appears in "detox" bath blends and salt scrub products. Its exfoliating, softening action also helps release impurities from the body while adding mineral content.

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Herbs for Skin Whitening

Botanical remedies for lightening and whitening the skin have existed for centuries. Some people seek an all-purpose formula to whiten hands, body or the complexion, while others look for natural whiteners to fade age spots and freckles.

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How to Make Dandelion Root Tea

Dandelion root tea works to stimulate appetite and aid digestion, and can be brewed from dried or fresh roots on your stovetop. If you make the herbal tea with fresh dandelion root, you'll likely find no shortage of the weedy plant in your own backyard.

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Essential Oils for Blackheads

Blackheads and other forms of acne affect teenagers and adults alike. Contributing factors include bacteria, inflammation, clogged pores and an excess of an oil known as sebum, notes the American Academy of Dermatology.

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Essential oil

The Best Essential Oils for Swelling and Lumps

Lumps and swelling can stem from a number of maladies. Lumps can apply to a range of skin conditions, including boils, cold sores, breast lumpiness, hemorrhoids and acne. Swelling might refer to those issues, or to a more generalized swelling, as with fluid retention.

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Thieves Essential Oil Benefits

“Thieves oil” essential oil blends may be marketed as proprietary formulas today, but herbalists have passed along recipes for the famed “four thieves” remedy for literally hundreds of years. The date and place of the "Vinegar of the Four Thieves"

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