Soy sauce alleviates burns

Q. Soy sauce for burns really works! I was changing the air filter in my car and my metal watchband accidentally arced across a battery terminal.

I got a severe burn in the shape of my watchband at the point of contact. I remembered the recommendation of soy sauce for burns. I slowly poured it on the burn for about a minute and had no pain then or afterward. I went back and finished my project.

A. We always suggest putting cold water on a burn first. Soy sauce thereafter can help ease the pain from a burn, as you discovered. Anyone who is interested in more details about this home remedy and others will find them at www.peoplespharmacy.com. Severe burns require immediate medical attention.

Q. My friend, my daughter-in-law and I have been able to stop all our prescription nasal sprays and inhalers for sinus problems and allergies since using a neti pot daily! I get bronchitis easily, but I have been cough-free for two months since I began rinsing my sinuses nightly with a mixture of 1 cup of warm water and 1/4 teaspoon of plain salt.

A. The neti pot looks a bit like an Aladdin’s lamp. It is a traditional technology for nasal irrigation to cleanse the nasal passages and sinuses. Ayurvedic medicine has used neti pots for regular nasal cleansing for hundreds of years.

In using a neti pot, the head is tipped forward and slightly to the side so that water can be poured into one nostril and allowed to run out the other. Nasal irrigation may also be accomplished with spray equipment from the drugstore. A small study in the Wisconsin Medical Journal (April 2008) suggests that many people with chronic sinus symptoms get benefit from daily nasal irrigation.

Q. Let me add to a recent article describing the benefits of applying a hot-water compress to subdue severe itching. I suffer with terrible and prolonged itching from fire-ant bites (usually bitten when fishing in the South).

Several years ago, while suffering dreadfully from the itching of about 30 concentrated fire-ant bites, I jumped into the shower, adjusted the water to as hot as I could stand and, using my hand-held pulsating shower head, ran it up and down the affected area on my leg. Amazingly, the itching stopped, and I never had to chance the consequences of possible infection and scarring that might result from unabated scratching.

I believe that this method of relieving severe itching may be even better than the hot-compress application. Not only does the hot water alleviate the itching, but the pulsating water also safely satisfies the urge to scratch.

A. Brief exposure to hot water (a few seconds) can ease itching from bug bites or mild poison ivy. The hot water interrupts the itch signal from nerve endings for a few hours. Do not use hot water for hives, however, as it could make matters worse.

XIn their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of The Vindicator or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is “Best Choices From The People’s Pharmacy” (Rodale Books).

2008 King Features Syndicate Inc.