BY CAROLINE ITTNER

Summertime never fails to draw kids outside, which can mean your child’s next injury is right around the corner. Moms are expected to heal all wounds, but sometimes a kiss isn’t enough to alleviate the pain. If your medical knowledge is more pertinent to Grey’s Anatomy than bee stings, look no further. We’ve got easy remedies for almost every type of pain, ache, or cut, and they can be found right in your home!

Burns

How many times has your child reached for a treat fresh out of the oven only to burn a hand on the cookie sheet en route? There are many remedies that will help heal skin faster than just cold water, and all can be found in the kitchen! Place honey on the burn for 10-15 minutes. Thanks to vitamin B found in the honey, not only will the pain decrease, but the blister won’t hurt the next day. An old housewife tale suggests holding a piece of a peeled potato to the burn. The key to this remedy is the juice, so make sure and cut the potato open and expose the juice to the wound. Hold it on there until the pain subsides, which shouldn’t be long!
stings

Can I get mustard, pickles, and onions on that please? Believe it or not, moms all over the country suggest placing these everyday condiments (separately) on the bee sting for ten minutes. The pain and swelling should go down. If your child can’t stop scratching that mosquito bite, whip up a paste of unseasoned meat tenderizer and water. When insects bite, they leave proteins in the skin. The meat tenderizer will break down the proteins, kill the sting and end most of the itch. If you have no meat tenderizer on hand, salt-water, diluted ammonia or liquid soap can be applied to the itch to alleviate the irritation.

Poison Ivy

Poison ivy can ruin an outdoor family-fun weekend in an instant, especially if no calamine lotion can be found. Believe it or not, white shoe polish can be used to stop the itch. It contains pipe clay and zinc oxide, which have similar effects to calamine lotion and should lessen the irritation. Other Moms swear by oatmeal; either cooked as a paste and applied topically, or put in a warm bath to help the itching.

Ticks

There is nothing worse than the sinking feeling you get when you realize that the speck of dirt on your child’s neck is actually a tick. If the thought of putting a match to the skin is too much for you to bear, try something else. Put a drop of gasoline or alcohol on the area for 10 minutes. It will irritate the tick, which will cause it to loosen its grip. You can suffocate it by covering it with nail polish for 24 hours. After the gasoline or nail polish have done their job, use your handy work with tweezers to finish it.

Splinters

We’re all familiar with this equation: Outside playtime + wood deck + bare feet = opportunity for splinters. The fastest, easiest and least painful way to remove a splinter is scotch tape. If any part of the splinter is sticking out, just place a piece of tape over the area and press it firmly onto the splinter, making sure that the pressure does not force the splinter further into the skin. When the tape looks like it is adhered, slowly pull the tape away and the splinter will come with it. You can also let a bit of glue dry over a splinter and then just peel it off.

Goose eggs

Goose eggs inevitably appear on kids of all ages, and if your kids refuse to hold ice to their wound, try a different option. Wet a cloth with vinegar and hold on to the bump for five to ten minutes. The acetic acid in the vinegar will help minimize the swelling. Another variation? Some moms have found success in mixing butter and salt to deflate the area. If you’re a die-hard believer in ice, keep metal spoons in the freezer. When your child falls, put the back of the spoon on the injury – its easy to hold and novel to your kids!

Bruises

There’s nothing you can do for a bruise besides watch it turn from a deep purple to a nasty yellow color, right? Wrong! There is one thing you can do to speed up that process. Adhere the inside of a ripe banana peel to a bruise and sleep with it overnight. Although there’s no scientific research behind it, many swear it will miraculously look as though days have past!

Cuts

Afternoons of playing outside often result in minor cuts in your child’s skin. The most important thing to do is to apply pressure to the wound for at least 60 seconds and then rinse it in cold-water. Run out of Wiggles Band-Aids? An easy solution is to apply toothpaste. It protects the area while allowing it to get air. The paste will dry and flake off, leaving a clean scab, which speeds the heeling.

SunBurns

The heat comes early in Austin, and that means sunburns do too. No aloe vera in your medicine cabinet? No problem. Place a generous amount of vinegar on the burned area. Then rub a dollop of sour cream into it. Once the sour cream dissolves into the vinegar, wash the mixture off the skin. The red color may still be there, but the heat and pain should be gone!
Who knew vinegar, honey, and oatmeal could be such lifesavers? Just remember to put them on your next grocery list – right after the chicken noodle soup.