home remedies skin-deep issues and cramps and stomach aches

On purging skin-deep issues

 

In Honduras, my mom would use ashes from firewood when her siblings had breakouts or rashes on their skin. The ashes would apparently lift bacteria, chemicals, and dirt to the skin’s surface so that when the ashes were washed away, so were the toxins.
It’s similar to how people now use charcoal face masks for issues like excess oil.
— Amelia, Chicago
For mosquito bites, my mom would hold half a lime over the flame of the stove. Once the lime was charred, she would let it cool only slightly, as it needs to be fairly hot to work. Then, she would rub the charred part on the bite — the more juice, the better.
This sped up the recovery process and eliminated the itch. I definitely still do this today because it’s so effective and cheap. My mom learned this from her mom and her mom-in-law. They all utilized this little trick.
— Julyssa, Chicago

 On relieving cramps and stomach aches

 

My mom would swear on a tea made from onion skins that her mother and grandmother used to make her that would relieve period pains. As a picky (and naive) teenager, I always refused her offer and popped one too many Midol pills.
But one day, my pain was too unbearable, so I gave in. To my shock, it worked.
Sure, it didn’t taste amazing and I sweetened it a bit with honey, but the onion tea soothed my menstrual cramps faster than any pill. Since then though, I’ve found other better tasting teas that do the trick, but this one experience will always stay in my book as one of the many definitions of “mother knows best.”
— Bianca, New York City
Passed down from my great grandmother, I was given spoonfuls of castor oil for various reasons, but mostly as a way to help stomach aches. It tastes awful, but it definitely works for me. Personally, it usually takes two to three spoonfuls for it to reach its fullest potential.
— Shardae, Detroit