A reader says: Use 1 tablespoon vinegar to 8 ounces of warm water for a sore throat. Gargle every hour and swallow after gargling, twice. I got this from Vermont Folk Medicine by D.C.Jarvis many years ago. If started at the first hint of a sore throat, it always works, usually within a night.
Take equal amounts of honey and cider vinegar, stir or shake until dissolved. Take a tablespoon at a time to cut mucuous in the throat.
This reader writes: My grandmother swears by vinegar as an antiseptic for abrasions, to reduce itch from poison ivy or mosquito bites,and to help rehydrate sunburned skin.
This reader says - I hate to wear gloves when gardening (except, of course when working with roses, blackberries or thistles) and once in a while I get a nick or scratch. Since I shoveled most of it INTO my garden, I know what my hands are in, and I'm 120 yards downhill from the bathroom sink and the disinfectant! My trusty spray bottle of full strength white vinegar to the rescue.
Stings for a second or two, but I don't have to stop what I'm doing and make a special trip back uphill. I've NEVER had an infection in a scratch since I discovered this trick.
Another reader wrote: I am allergic to crabs. I have found that when I dip crabmeat in vinegar, I don't get an allergic reaction. This may not work for everyone, but it works for me.
1 tsp cider vinegar with one tsp honey three times daily helps with arthritis. It dissolves the crystal deposits of uric acid that form between joints (and also in muscles as with muscular rheumatism).
Vinegar in drinking water is effective in eliminating the low-grade fevers that are present in Chronic Fatigue sufferers. It also helps eliminate thrush in the mouth. Mix four tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to a gallon of drinking water. Drink up to one gallon each day.
From another reader: After years of suffering from athlete's foot, consulting doctors, and spending hundreds of dollars on so called cures (some presciption, some over the counter), I read to try soaking in vinegar. Something was said about it changing skin ph so that the fungus could not grow. I soaked three evenings in a row. No more fungus and that has been several months ago.
Medicine for toe nail fungus can be very costly, but you can use one part vinegar to one part warm water and soak your feet.
Another reader writes: My daughter had toe nail fungus, causing the nail to grow up instead of out, like it should. I started putting a few drops of white vinegar on it several times a day. Her nail is almost normal again!
Use 2 cups of cider vinegar in the tub to soak sore muscles and add potassium to muscles.
My grandmother was from Scotland and used vinegar on a cloth placed on her forehead to stop hangover headaches after weekly family get to-gethers.
Grandma used to give me a straight teaspoon of vinegar to stop diarrhea. Once the vinger was taken the visits to the toilet stopped after about 30 minutes.
A nurse told me molds grow in humidifiers used in sick rooms. After a couple of days' use, she rinsed out a humidifier, then refilled it, adding 1/4 cup vinegar. She would run this for a couple of minutes in the bathroom with the door closed and the window open. Then she'd rinse it, run it again with clear water, rinse, and declare it fit for service again. She was also adamant about not just pouring more water in to refill, but rinsed the reservoir each time to retard growth of nasty stuff.
Quite often muscle cramps, or "charlie horses", are caused by too low a level of potassium. I take a tsp. of vinegar when suffering from a muscle cramp to quickly bring my potassium level back up and relieve the cramp.
When making soup stock (as all good frugalites do), squirt in a tablespoon of white vinegar, to leach (extract) calcium from the bones being used. There's no vinegar taste, and most of us can use the additional calcium.
It's never failed me yet: Mix two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with one cup of honey and store this mixture in an air-tight container. Anytime you have trouble drifting off, take two teaspoons of this mixture and you'll drift off in less than a half hour. And you won't be groggy in the morning like over-the-counter sleep aids.
A teaspoon of vinegar relieves hiccups more effectively than anything else, including lemon juice or sugar. Another reader writes: I've found that gargling with cider vinegar will stop the most horrible case of hiccups!
A half cup of vinegar, two tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide, and one teaspoon of seasalt mixed together relieves swelling and brings a boil to a head.
For burning urination caused by bladder infection, drink 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water in a juice glass 3 times a day. Burning and infection will cease.
When the weather changes and my sinuses start running I get that nagging cough, I take 2 tablespoons of vinegar and that nasty cough stops.
Another reader adds this: To help stop a nagging cough due to post nasal drip, breathe in the vapors of apple cider vinegar straight from the bottle and dip a cotton swab in it full strength and wipe inside your nostrils to leave a thin coating. Also wipe some directly under your nose. This stops the urge almost immediately and lasts for hours!Also put about 3/4 cup in a vaporizer for added effect and you should be able to sleep the night with no interruptions..
I have a history of boils and bear the scars of them. They are quite painful and at times have had to be lanced. My family told me about vinegar tea:One tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, one tablespoon honey in a cup of hot water twice a day has dissolved more than one of my boils. Also, the recommended daily amount of water, stay away from sodas and chocolate as they seem to aggravate them. If the boil does come to a head, contuine to drink vinegar tea and water. Use hot packs on the boil for 15-20 minutes three times a day. Doing this has more than once saved an unwanted visit to the doctor. Also important is not to squeeze a boil.
Soak (rinsed and dried) egg shells in vinegar until they dissolve. Dilute with water, and drink your (very easy to assimilate) calcium supplement. Oyster shells can also be dissolved in vinegar until dissolved, then drunk, for a calcium supplement. (Pearls may be dissolved also, but this is not very frugal ;-))
When taking calcium-magnesium tablets/or powder, wash it down with vinegar diluted in water, so that it will dissolve the cal-mag, so your body can assimilate it. Any time you take vinegar internally, be sure to rinse your mouth with plain water. Acid remaining on teeth will, over time, dissolve your teeth, as it does with calcium deposits around the sink.
We use 1/2 tsp white distilled vinegar to 1 tbsp rubbing alcohol to prevent swimmers ear.
Strange as it sounds, vinegar soothes the itching and burning of hemorrhoids. Just take a cotton ball and dab the affected area with full strength apple cider vinegar! Caution: some people find the full strength solution stings. If this happens to you, just dilute the vinegar half and half with water.
Sunburn Remedy:
Cover sunburns with a towel soaked in water and vinegar and try to persuade the victim to sleep this way. Younger ones may struggle with this, because of the smell!
Put vinegar in a spray bottle and spray on sunburn. It soothes for quite a length of time, just like store bought stuff.
A reader wrote this: I used this on my son when his legs were sunburned. I saturated tea towels with half water and half vinegar and put them on his legs and he said it didn't smell too good but it took out the burning. You must do this several times but it works and then it gives you a nice tan.
Vinegar will take the sting out of a sunburn - just soak a paper towel and apply to burn. Smells bad but if you're in pain, who cares?
To relieve swelling and fluid from too much sun, mix a paste of baking soda and apple cider vinegar and apply. This reader says it will draw out the fluid.
I met a girl who was told by her doctor to sit in the sun (she had some sort of skin problem). She was to use diluted red wine vinegar to keep from burning. She was out in the sun everyday of the summer and had a nice tan.
When I went on a trip to the Keys to spend a lot of time on the water, I used a spray bottle filled with undiluted red wine vinegar. I had my friend spray my back occasionally while spraying the front more frequently. My back did get somewhat burned, but from head to toes the front of me was nicely tanned. I'm not sure, but using red wine vinegar has seemed to help me tan faster.
Vinegar is extremely effective on yeast infections. When I get an infection, I pour about 1 cup of white vinegar in my douche bottle and finish filling with warm water. I douche twice daily and in about 2 days my infection is gone. The vinegar smell leaves in about an hour. Another reader writes: I have found that the vinegar bath also cures yeast infections, not only mine but also my infant daughter. My midwife suggested the vinegar bath while I was pregnant and it hasn't come back since. Twice daily and in about two days it's gone.
Put 1/2 cup into a pan to soak your feet in before a pedicure. It softens your skin.
My son suffers from frequent and sometimes severe nose bleeds. A tissue wound into a "wick" dipped in white vinegar and inserted into the nasal cavity, will stop the bleed in just a few minutes. The vinegar stings a bit, but the results are worth it. I was skeptical until this past winter. It was so dry in my house and I found myself with nosebleeds. The vinegar worked like a charm!
When I burn myself I splash white vinegar on a paper towel and put it on the burn. It stops hurting immediately and if you keep it on, you will not develop a blister.
Use vinegar on wasp/yellowjacket stings.
Just soak a cotton ball in cider vinegar and hold to the sore spot. Within a few minutes the pain stops. It works on bee stings too, only you'd need to get the stinger out. Another reader adds this: My mother applied a plaster of baking soda and vinegar to the swollen area and allowed it to bubble out the poison.
I have been dealing irritable bowel syndrome. If I sip water with apple cider vinegar during the day, those symptoms disappear. It works for me and would certainly be worth a try for those who experience this problem.
For a stiff neck, take a half vinegar, half warm water solution, soak a rag in it, wring it out and wrap it around your neck. Put a layer of plastic wrap (to keep your sheets dry) and finish up with a towel. Leave this on over night and you will not believe the difference. For bruises and swelling follow the directions above, but use cold water. Leave on for at least an hour. The longer you leave it the better the results. I have personally used this long after ice was effective for reducing the swelling and it works like a miracle.
I suffer from migraines and take Imitrex for them. When I don't have any on hand I use vinegar and it always helps me. I take a wash cloth and put water and vinegar on it and put it over my forehead. Seems to work great for me. An old fashioned remedy for any headache was to soak brown paper with cider vinegar and apply it to the forehead. Possibly something about breathing the fumes helps in some cases, anyway.
Being a scuba diver for many years I swear by vinegar to remove the sting of a jellyfish.
Soak a cotton ball or piece of paper towel in vinegar, place it on the aching tooth... bite down - in moments the toothache is temporarily gone, giving you time to get to a dentist.
Many elderly people with high cholesterol have tried this drink with much success:
2 cups of grape juice, 1 cup of apple juice, 1/4 cup of white vinegar. Mix together and take 2 ounces before your largest meal everyday. Only 2 ounces is needed for results.
Taking a little bit of vinegar with or just before meals isolates the fat in food and it passes through your system. I learned this at a diet clinic. it works really great.
My husband's acupuncturist's recommendation for tendonitis was to soak in warm apple cider vinegar twice a day.
A couple of years ago I was suffering from a stubborn infection in both ears. My doctor tried several antibiotics to no avail. Cultures of the infection showed strong resistance to most antibiotics. They had me on a regimen of intravenous injections 3 times a day. A nurse would periodically come to my home and change the vein into which I would inject the antibiotic. This was all very nerve wracking.
My doctor learned of an ear specialist who apparently had a regimen that seemed effective in solving tough ear infections. Ironically, the night before I went to see this doctor, my mother-in-law tried to convince me to use a vinegar ear wash. Seems she had a book on "miracle" uses for vinegar. Guess what the doctor's special regimen was. Vinegar and water! Use any vinegar, white is fine, and mix in equal amounts with water. Warm so you don't screw up your equilibrium by putting cold water in your ear, but don't make it too warm. Get an ear flush bulb and flush the affected ear 2 -3 times twice a day. In a few days my infection was history!
For those very painful "Charlie Horses" and muscle cramps, use half vinegar and half water, on a wet towel. Heat in microwave 20 seconds and place on pained area. It works great.
When my son sprained his ankle playing ball, my mom suggested an old remedy using regular clay from the yard if you live in an area that has it. Mold the clay around ankle, soak with vinegar, wrap a plastic bag around the foot. By morning the swelling had gone down and our son could walk and went on to school.
I thought I had broken my ankle. It was so bad I had to crawl on my knee and my leg and foot were one! My grandmother told me to soak a brown paper bag in vinegar and wrap it around my foot all night. Incredible results. The swelling had gone down two thirds and in three days I was walking again. I just knew I had to go to the doctor!
I am 49 years old and have suffered with severe headaches since I was young. I tried many medications and remedies, but this simple thing can relieve the pain, sometimes within minutes. I lie down and rest after doing this: Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar.
Make a tent with a bathtowel over your head and breathe in the vapors, deeply and slowly. (If it makes you cough, cut back on the vinegar.) A few minutes of doing this will cure most headaches as well as pills or shots.
I have psoriasis and after I have showered, I spritz all over with a spray bottle filled with 3 parts cider vinegar and 1 part water and rinse again. There is no soap residue left on my skin and I don't feel itchy. I think it helps body odor, also.
I put a capful of vinegar in a glass of water when I am having indigestion problems. It gets rid of the gassy, bloating, diarrhea problems.
One tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water at meals can change your life completely. Apple cider vinegar contains ascetic acid which stimulates the production of stomach acid. The more stomach acid the better as it breaks down your food into smaller molecules and your intestines and liver can absorb nutrients more efficiently. When the body is stressed the stomach stops producing acid so at meal time there's not enough acid to digest the food. This creates problems:indigestion, gastic reflux, IBS, bad breath, diverticulus, fatty liver, lactose intolerance, allergies, fatigue, you name it. Apple cider vinegar gets the stomach working again.
I have suffered for 9 years with chronic sinus, ear and throat infections. I've had dozens of antibiotic treatments and corrective surgery. One day I drank a tablespoon of white distilled vinegar and noticed that I felt relief, so I took this one step further. I took 12 ounces of water and one tablespoon of distilled white vinegar and rinsed my sinuses. This was painful I admit, butI was desperate and I was getting nowhere with my physicians. I did this for two weeks twice a day. Now after 10 years of pain and suffering, I am cured. Anyone who wishes to try what I have done, be cautious as the solution stings the nose a little bit, but the pain quickly passes. While rinsing your sinuses you must have your head down or the water will pass through your mouth. Never do this with your head upright as you could drown if water enters your lungs. Please talk to your physician first.
A manager at a steel mill where I work told me that for years he had been using a vinegar soaked cloth for quick relief and disinfection of lime or alkali burns. In the steelmaking furnace facilities, lime is a very commonly used product and employees are regularly getting minor skin burns from exposure to the lime dust. Vinegar's natural acidic properties neutralize the pH of the skin when an alkali material causes a caustic burn.
When i got my belly button pierced a year ago, the artist told me that if it got infected to warm up some vinegar and soak my belly button in it. A few months later, I actually did get a little infection and after soaking my belly in vinegar, the infection left. I only had to soak it about three times!
I recently got my nose pierced. I was running out of the bottle antiseptic medicine the piercing saloon gave me. I started to use vinegar to clean the piercing and the ring in it. I only used it after I ran out of the bottle and used after about a month and a half of my piercing. I still use it for daily cleaning. Remember any person who gets pierced should follow the instructions of a quailfied piercer or their doctor.
Whenever I wake up in the morning with a hangover, I go straight to the fridge and drink pickle juice, or eat a pickle. (Pickles are canned in vinegar. --Pat)
I usually prefer plain water with my meals. But I have discovered that, in addition to ice, adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar, and 2 teaspoons of sugar (or Splenda) to my water is delicious! It's also a "free" drink with your meals when you go out to eat, and on a hot day it quenches your thirst like no other drink can.
I have had migraines all my life. I was taking 6 Excedrin tablets a day. I now take a capful of vinegar, lie down for twenty minutes and the headache is gone!
I had a nail fungus and went to the doctor. She told me it was because of menopause, hormonal changes and weaker immune system. She gave me a very expensive prescription. She told me at the time to try soaking my fingers in a bowl with enough vinegar to cover the nails for 10 minutes each night for about 2 months. Within 2 months the fungus was gone. I wondered if it was the vinegar or the medicine, and when I got it again, I didn't want to spend so much money on medication again, so I tried JUST the vinegar this time for 2 months. And YES - it worked. The fungus is gone and my nails are nice and white and look great.
Soaking your nails periodically is great to do anyway as it whitens your nails, but for removal of the fungus you MUST do it for 2 months in order for the fungus to be completely gone. The vinegar creates an acidic and uncomfortable environment for the fungus to grow and it will eventually die off.
If you have restless leg syndrome, put full strength apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle and saturate legs. It takes itching and jerking away completely so you can sleep.
Our son had a wart growing near the cuticle of his finger. After putting apple cider vinegar on a band-aid and wrapping it on the finger for about a week, the wart was gone and never grew back. Place a new apple cider vinegar band-aid on it each night.
My mother drinks this every day and does not have high cholesterol. My aunt had very high cholesterol a prescription drug for it caused liver problems. She tried this and lowered her cholesterol by 40 points: 1 quart apple juice, 1 pint purple grape juice, 1/4 to 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar. Drink 1/2 to 1 cup daily.
Douse a cold sore repeatedly with vinegar it will dry it up and eventually prevent further outbreaks.
I was having terrible hot flushes until a friend told me about apple cider vinegar. I take 1 or 2 tsp of vinegar with a glass of water 3 times a day or more and the hot flushes are gone. The taste is not bad and it doesn't upset my stomach. I feel like I'm back in the land of the living!
As a child I was plagued with sprains. My grandmother mixed apple cider vinegar with red clay, heated it and made a paste. It was placed on the sprain and wrapped with strips of cloth. After an hour the paste was soaked off with warm water and my sprain was healed.
A chiropractor who checked my urine told me it was "gunky." He said to drink 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in 4 ounces of water once a day for 5 days.
I have blepharitis, a recurrent eyelid condition that causes intense itching, redness and swelling. After trying every OTC I could think of (and reading the Vinegar Page) I tried dipping a cotton swab in full strength apple cider vineger and carefully swabbing the affected eyelid 2-3 times a day. Within a week the symptoms were gone! I told my doctor about it and he said just be careful not to get the vinegar in your eyes.
My husband had a toothache for 2 days and tried all the over the counter relief medicines with absolutely no relief. I had been reading the pages about medicinal uses of vinegar and when I read how it takes the pain out of a sprain and arthritis I figured, "What does he have to lose?" So we put apple cider vinegar on cotton balls and he put it in his mouth and bit down gently for a few minutes. To our surprise his pain was gone. My mother then told me later that her father used vinegar for his teeth. Its amazing how the old fashioned home remedies really work, and of course they are cheaper. (Note: Rinse your mouth thoroughly after using vinegar, as it deteriorates the enamel. --Pat)
For a cough that will not stop, make a remedy my brother and I always called Witches Brew, from my Great Grandmother.
1 Tbs Butter
1 Tbs Sugar
1 Tbs Vinegar
Melt together, and take while warm.
To resolve chronic indigestion or heartburn, take 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in 1 ounce of water each evening after supper.
I suffer from chronic acid reflux where I wake up usually at 2 a.m. regurgitating. I've tried many medications but always quit because of side effects. A doctor said to take two teaspoons of vinegar for the acid reflux. I did it and I now swear by it. For some reason the acid from the vinegar stops the acid from the reflux. In the last six months I have regurgitated only once when I forgot to drink the vinegar.
When I was growing up whenever one of us caught our finger in a door, Mom would get a cup of vinegar and stick our finger in it. It would sting for a bit but it helped take the pain away very quickly. I think the smell also helped calm us. As an adult I have done this and it works.
