10 Home Remedies That Might Do More Harm Than Good

This post is part of our Home Remedies Guide , a review of home remedies from dubious to doctor-approved. Read more here .

Some of what we think of as time-tested home remedies are actually bad ideas. Doctors no longer recommend that parents keep ipecac syrup in their medicine cabinet, and it’s been a long time since anyone but your grandmother recommended butter for burns. Read on for home remedies that can actually make you sick or worse.

Ipecac syrup

It used to be a first aid kit. Families were told to keep a bottle of ipecac with them to induce vomiting in case of accidental poisoning. But the National Capital Poison Center says that ipecac is not a good remedy for the poison and is no longer recommending its use .

Some substances will cause additional harm when lifting, for example, if a child has swallowed something caustic. But even when used properly, ipecac didn’t seem to help: people were just as likely to get sick with or without ipecac-induced vomiting. Moreover, sometimes ipecac made people vomit for a while after the poison was out of use. For example, it may make it impossible to take medication to treat the symptoms of poisoning.

Ipecac is no longer sold by prescription or over the counter.

Egg white or oil for burns

As a child, I remember watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon where Jerry (the mouse) burns his ass as a result of some stupid prank. He sits down on a stick of butter at the dinner table, and as the butter melts, his face is blissfully relieved. My parents couldn’t ignore this pro-oil quote: “Never put oil on a burn,” I remember one or perhaps both of them telling me. (Now you know where I developed the exposure reflex.)

It’s time to expand on this advice a bit: don’t oil your burns and don’t use egg whites . Really, just keep your food away from burns, okay? Egg white may contain salmonella . Butter can hold heat in your skin just when you should cool it under cold water. Both are full of, well, crap. Do you want shit in your burn? You do not.

Breast milk as a panacea

If you are someone who produces breast milk and you put it on your own baby’s rash or whatever while the milk is fresh, you get a pass. For everyone else, my God, what are you doing?

Breast milk is sometimes offered as a panacea for rashes, cuts, burns, warts , conjunctivitis, and more. But let’s not forget that breast milk is another person’s bodily fluid . It can carry many of the same diseases as blood or other bodily fluids. And if you get a bottle of this drink from a friend and then don’t take care to properly store it in the fridge, you could increase the chances of bacterial growth. It won’t help your conjunctivitis in any way.

Arnica tea

If you want to use some arnica ointment on the bruise, I don’t mind. (It may or may not do anything, but it probably won’t hurt.)

But in large doses, such as in the form of tea, it can be dangerous. Arnica can prevent blood clotting and is dangerous to take if you are also taking blood thinners or planning to have surgery. The poison control center says :

Arnica should not be taken with other medications or herbal products that can thin the blood, such as aspirin, clopidogrel, warfarin, enoxaparin, apixaban, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, ginger, garlic, or ginseng, just to name a few. If you are taking arnica and are about to have surgery, tell your surgeon and stop taking arnica at least 2 weeks before your procedure. If you are not sure if it is safe to take arnica with your daily medications, ask your pharmacist to check for an interaction.

Arnica gel can also be harmful when applied to broken skin and cause skin irritation. Arnica is also considered unsafe to take during pregnancy.

Acetic compresses

Vinegar may seem harmless, especially since we use it all the time to clean toilets and make salad dressings . But on the skin, it can cause irritation and even burns.

The Poison Control Center says the child was treated with vinegar compresses for a fever, leaving him with first-degree burns to his neck, shoulders and back. They also talk about the case of a woman who used a vinegar poultice on her sprained ankle and suffered burns so severe that a skin graft was required.

Oysters to induce miscarriage

Aborting a pregnancy is becoming more and more difficult in our current legal climate, leading to desperate hopes such as the use of toxic home abortion remedies .

One might suggest that a gentler approach is to follow the opposite advice for a healthy pregnancy. You should avoid eating oysters during pregnancy, for example because of the risk of miscarriage. But the Poison Control Center reports that toxoplasmosis, the disease you avoid by not eating oysters, can lead to liver and brain damage in addition to miscarriage.

Gel for teeth

Babies fidget as their teeth grow and it’s hard to watch them deal with pain. Frozen washcloths and popsicles are a good way to relieve pain, but topical medicines containing benzocaine are not.

The FDA has issued a warning that children under the age of 2 should not use benzocaine products such as Anbesol and Orajel. They can cause a rare condition called methemoglobinemia, in which a person’s blood can no longer carry enough oxygen. Adults can also get this condition, especially if they are older or have heart or breathing problems. Oh, and by the way: the FDA says gels don’t help babies feel better anyway.

St. John’s wort and other medicinal herbs

If you are taking an herbal medicine because you think it might do something, you must admit that you are taking the medicine. And drugs can interact with each other, and sometimes they can have effects on the body that you did not expect.

St. John’s wort is one of them. It may interact with birth control, making it less effective. It can do the same with antidepressants, which is ironic because people often take the herb to help with depression. Other medications known to interact with this herb include statins, heart drugs such as digoxin, and a variety of other medicinal and recreational drugs.

I call St. John’s wort here because it’s common and has so many known interactions, but any herb you take for its medicinal properties should be considered medicine. Be sure to ask your doctor and/or pharmacist about possible side effects and interactions.

Hydrogen peroxide for cuts

If you’ve been taught to pour hydrogen peroxide on a wound (and watch for a spectacular hissing reaction), I’m sorry to say you were taught the wrong way. While it’s true that hydrogen peroxide can kill germs, it turns out that it also kills some of our body’s own immune cells . These cells are responsible for healing, so using peroxide can actually interfere with wound healing. Experts say it’s best to rinse the wound with plain water and apply a clean bandage.

baking soda for stomach problems

Baking soda is alkaline (the opposite of acidic) and is sometimes used as a remedy for heartburn or stomach problems. But baking soda can exacerbate gastrointestinal problems and, in extreme cases, can cause your stomach to rupture.

Chemically, baking soda is known as sodium bicarbonate. The body reacts to the high concentration of sodium by drawing excess water into the digestive system. This can cause vomiting and diarrhea. If large amounts of sodium enter the bloodstream, it can cause cramps, dehydration, and kidney problems.

There is also bicarbonate. If you’ve ever poured baking soda and vinegar down your sink drain, you can see why mixing baking soda and stomach acid inside your body isn’t a good idea. In severe cases, the gas can expand enough to cause the stomach to rupture.

If you have received specific instructions from your doctor on how to use bicarbonate, follow those instructions; they should keep you safe. But if you just want a cheap, easy homemade stomach sedative, get yourself a bottle of Tums insetad.