15 Popular Home Remedies and Do They Really Work?
This post is part of our Home Remedies Guide , a review of home remedies from dubious to doctor-approved. Read more here .
We’ve covered some of the best and worst home remedies in detail, but now it’s time for the lightning round: should you feed a cold and starve a fever? Drinking cranberry juice to prevent UTIs? Hold your breath to stop the hiccups? Let’s see, shall we?
Epsom salt baths
Epsom salts, or magnesium sulfate (not related to table salt), are also known as “bath salts” because they are often dissolved in a warm bath to soothe sore muscles. However, there is no evidence that your body absorbs any minerals through the skin , so don’t think of these baths as therapeutic. However, warm baths can relieve sore muscles, and scented bath salts are a great way to make your vacation more enjoyable.
baking soda for heartburn
If you have heartburn or “indigestion”, an alkaline substance like baking soda can sometimes help relieve your symptoms. But baking soda is not the best choice. It can make you feel even more uncomfortable with the way it expands in your stomach, and it’s not appropriate if you’re trying to avoid sodium in your diet (its scientific formula is sodium bicarbonate). It is better to take another type of antacid , such as Tams or Maalox.
Vitamin C for colds
If you drink orange juice or take vitamin C tablets when you have a cold, you are not alone. But the idea that vitamin C boosts your immunity has never been backed by hard evidence, and it hasn’t stood up very well to scientific research . People who take vitamin C regularly can have a slightly shorter cold than people who don’t, by only a few hours, but even so, starting vitamin C after you get sick doesn’t seem to help.
Warm milk for sleep
The Sleep Foundation says that warm milk “may” help you sleep, and that’s the strongest recommendation you’ll find. People usually find a cup of warm milk calming, but the usual explanation — the tryptophan in milk causes drowsiness — doesn’t add up . There isn’t much tryptophan in milk, and there’s no easy way for it to get to a place where it can send sleepy messages to your brain. Another theory claims that the whole power of warm milk lies in its associations in our minds: we think it will make us sleepy, so it makes us sleepy.
witch hazel for hemorrhoids
Witch hazel is a plant, but you probably know it from the liquid extract you can buy at the drugstore – between medical alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. Witch hazel is astringent, meaning it dries and temporarily tightens the skin or other tissues.
There isn’t much data on witch hazel for hemorrhoids, but what we do have suggests that it can reduce itching, pain, and bleeding. To use it, apply some witch hazel to a cotton pad or piece of toilet paper and blot it. You can also buy napkins or pads already treated with witch hazel.
Ginger ale for nausea
When you feel like you’re about to vomit, ginger ale can be a soothing drink. But does it really help with nausea?
There is some evidence that ginger root may help with nausea during pregnancy or after anesthesia. It doesn’t seem to help as much with sickness-induced nausea . But ginger ale may not contain real ginger root at all, or the dose may be very small. So if ginger ale makes you feel better when you’re sick, chances are it has more to do with comfort, familiarity, and the placebo effect, which means you can drink a different drink if you like.
Feed the cold, starve the fever
This is an archaic idea from an era when body fluids and functions were classified according to whether they were “hot” or “cold”. Fever is hot and blood is thought to hold heat, so bloodletting was part of the treatment for fever. The idea to “starve out” a fever was inspired by the same idea: take the fuel out of your body and the fire won’t burn as hot. On the other hand, if you have a runny nose, you have a “cold” and the treatment will be completely different.
We now know that colds are caused by viruses, and that fever is one of the ways our body can respond to an infection (viral or otherwise). You can have a “cold” and a fever at the same time. You also cannot bring down a fever by fasting, even if you wanted to. So, whatever you have, eat well (if you can) to provide the body with the nutrients it needs.
Cranberry juice for UTI
There are rumors that cranberry juice can prevent or even treat urinary tract infections (UTIs). Fun fact: Ocean Spray, which makes cranberry products, has also funded much of the cranberry and UTI research.
So is the rumor true? Studies haven’t shown that cranberry juice can treat UTIs , so if you’re already feeling a burning sensation, seek emergency care, not the grocery store. As for prevention, there is another question. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists notes this, but their top tips for preventing UTIs are even simpler: Stay hydrated, urinate when you feel like it, and wash the skin around your anus and genital area. ( Peeing after sex is also not on the list.)
ice bruise
If you’ve just hit your shin on something and you’re sure it’s going to bruise, ice can help reduce swelling and reduce the possible size of the bruise.
Chamomile tea will help you sleep
As famous as chamomile tea is for helping people fall asleep—one blend containing chamomile is even marketed as Sleepytime Tea—the evidence is minimal. One 2019 review of six studies found that chamomile improved sleep quality but did not help people with insomnia sleep longer. If you find it relaxing, enjoy; but if it doesn’t seem to work… it probably isn’t.
Cucumber slices for puffy eyes
Cucumber slices on the eyes is an iconic beauty treatment, but we don’t have clinical evidence to support this practice specifically with cucumbers. Cucumbers contain many nutritional chemical compounds such as vitamin C, but are there enough to do anything when applied topically? This is pretty unlikely.
Instead, it seems that when we put cucumbers on our eyes, we are applying something cool and moist, which can be pleasant and can temporarily reduce puffiness. But if you don’t want to waste a cucumber, you can just use a bag of cool gel or a damp washcloth.
Aloe for burns
Lotions containing aloe can soothe burns, and it’s not uncommon to keep an aloe plant near you so you can rip off the leaf when you burn yourself in the kitchen. But does aloe really do anything special?
The research was inconclusive . It seems that aloe might be a good substitute for other burn ointments in places where these other ointments are hard to come by. Aloe provides a moist coating to the wound, which promotes healing.
The American Academy of Family Physicians states that the best treatment for a minor burn is to hold it under cool water for 20 minutes. After that, you can apply “aloe vera cream or antibiotic ointment”. If the burn is deep, blistered, or on a sensitive part of the body such as the genitals or face, seek medical attention.
apple cider vinegar for poison ivy
There are many home remedies for poison ivy, but it’s really important to wash off the urushiol (an irritating oil) as thoroughly as possible. Dishwashing liquid or regular bar soap helps remove oil from the skin, but be careful not to smear the oil on your hands or other surfaces in the process. Your clothes should be sent to the washing machine, if possible. The good news is that you have a few hours after contact with a plant before it starts to form a rash, so you can shower after your hike rather than resorting to impromptu remedies while you’re still in the woods.
Once you understand this, it’s much easier to figure out which poison ivy remedies make sense. Is it necessary to pour vinegar on the shins immediately after touching the plant? No! It will do nothing to remove the oil and may even spread it. If you already have a rash, the American Dermatology Association recommends calamine lotion, hydrocortisone cream, colloidal oatmeal, cool compresses, and antihistamines.
Sex to relieve menstrual pain
There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that sex can relieve cramps, which means people have tried it and said it works. But if you’re looking for research to support this idea, there doesn’t seem to be anything there . Doctors often go on record saying that endorphins or oxytocin from orgasm can potentially ease cramps, but oxytocin can also make cramps worse , meaning you shouldn’t expect it to be a guaranteed cure. Sex itself can sometimes cause cramps , especially if the cervix is touched during sex.
So this one definitely falls into the “try it and see” category. If sex (with a partner or alone) helps your cramps, then great! But if it’s not, it doesn’t mean that something is wrong.
Hold your breath to stop the hiccups
Home remedies for hiccups are probably more numerous and dumber than for any other disease. Personally, I’ve never found any of these to work, but the process of going through every hiccup medication you can think of keeps you busy and entertains others in your family.
Clinical research on hiccups has focused on people with recurrent or intractable courses of hiccups. These people are not necessarily like the rest of us: often hiccups are caused by another disease, such as heartburn or even a tumor that irritates the vagus nerve. Treatment of this condition usually eliminates the hiccups.
Thus, we do not have conclusive evidence that any of our home remedies for hiccups help with common cases of hiccups. A 2015 review of hiccup treatments found several treatments that seem to work, at least sometimes:
- “Breathing maneuvers” such as holding your breath or breathing into a paper bag
- Vagus nerve stimulation, such as applying ice to the face or being scared by someone ( a frozen steak on the chest would likely have a similar effect)
- Stimulation of the nasopharynx, such as inhaling ammonia or injecting vinegar into the nose (a new use for the smelling salt I keep in my home gym!)
So, do these drugs work ? We don’t know for sure. But now you have a few more to try the next time you have hiccups.