Curing Insomnia with Bath Salts

Moms and kids sometimes have trouble getting to sleep. Combine these aromatherapy baths with a glass of hot milk and you have a sure shot at curing insomnia.

Here are some recipes for making relaxing baths that are known for curing insomnia.

Lavender Salt Bath
This is a very classic recipe for curing insomnia.
• 1 cup Epsom salts
• A Jar with a lid
• A handful of dried lavender petals
• A handful of dried chamomile buds (do not add these if you are allergic to ragweed)
• Six drops essential lavender oil.
First put the salts in a jar and then add the lavender petals and (optional) chamomile buds. Add the six drops of essential lavender oil. Shake the contents and let sit. In a few hours the lavender will infuse the relaxing Epsom salts with the oils.

Marjoram Bath
• 1 ounce dried marjoram leaves
• Ten drops of oil of eucalyptus
• Three drops of oil of lavender
• Three drops of oil of cinnamon
• 1 small drawstring bag (made of cotton or linen)
Mix up the marjoram and essential oils in a bowl and then (while wearing gloves to protect your skin) put them in the drawstring bag. Close the bag tight and when it is time to take a bath, run the bag under very hot water.

Sedative Bath Bag
This is a bath bag recipe that requires a cheesecloth or cotton drawstring bed. The marjoram acts as a sedative and hypnotic. You will need
• ½ cup lime flowers
• ½ cup hop flowers
• 2 tablespoons marjoram
• 1 cup oatmeal
Mix up these ingredients in a bowl and add them to the cotton bag. If you tie a ribbon around the bag you can hang it from the faucet as the tub runs water. Immerse yourself in the tub when the water is lukewarm.

Sea Salt Physical Relaxing Bath
This particular bath has an actual physical effect on most people and serves though remove chemicals from your body. It is also a very simple bath to which you can add any type of aromatherapy oil.
To a running hot bath add –
• 1 pound baking soda
• 1 cup sea salt
Climb in bath but if you start to feel a bit dizzy, get out, dry off and go to bed as this means that you are detoxifying and becoming relaxed enough to go immediately to bed!
You can also buy all kinds of commercial preparations that induce sleep. Most of them are herbal in nature and consist of such ingredients as hops, Melissa, passion flower, orange, rose, eucalyptus, juniper, pine, camphor, skullcap, lavender, chamomile and other oils that can put you to sleep.

Like Epsom salts, Dead Sea salts are also very relaxing and well known for their healing and relaxing properties. They also relieve aches and pains and relax the muscles which further facilitate great sleep.

Keep in mind that before you do any type of insomnia bath you should run the recipe by your doctor, especially if you have any type of skin condition.

Parenting Tips
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Dealing With Shingles

Shingles can be quite common in the winter and your kids can get them easily. You are also at risk. Shingles (otherwise known as Herpes Zoster) is a painful, blistering rash caused by the chickenpox (varicella) virus and it is common during the colder seasons.
It usually only affects a very limited area of skin but as most sufferers know the pain of the blisters can feell as painful as a cut or burn. Sufferers may also suffer from a low fever. The shingles virus can also make you feel fatigued, burned out and a bit depressed.
Here are twenty tips to make yourself or a loved one feel more comfortable should you contract shinglesl
First of all avoid stress! – The Herpes Zoster Virus infects a nerve, causing a blister to break out, so the best thing you can do for yourself is unplug the phone, avoid irritating people or situations until you feel beteer.
Don't scratch! Scratching rashes or blisters is a big mistake. Not only can this cause a secondary bacterial infection in the area, but also the virus can live under the nails and be transmitted to another part of the body
If the virus enters the eye it can cause blindness. Avoid touching your ears. If the shingles virus, which can be carried by your fingers, gets into the ear it can cause dizziness, vertigo and possibly even hearing loss.
One of the most common misconceptions is that commercially prepared liquid hand purifiers and sterilizers help remove the virus from your hands after you touch a blister. This is not true as these products only kill bacteria – not viruses.
Take baths in Epsom salts or unscented sea salts to deal with itching. Epsom salts draw toxins out of the body and can help to speed the recovery. Taking a bath in Epsom or Dead Sea salts is also very relaxing and can minimize the severity of stinging skin pain. .
Baking soda can help. Mixing half of a cup of baking soda into a bath filled with lukewarm water is an old home remedy that can help ease the pain of open blisters. You can also try making a poultice out of baking soda to relieve discomfort.
Apply cold compresses not warm ones! Warm compresses can cause the blisters to break, which can result in a bacterial infection. Cold compresses help reduce the pain of swelling and itching.
Stay away from caffeine! The shingles virus usually irritates a nerve and causes a blister. The last thing you want to do is irritate any nerves even more by stimulating them with caffeine. Stay away from coffee, tea, chocolate and caffeinated soft drinks, especially while the skin is inflamed.\
Hopefully following these tips can make getting through a bad outbreak of blisters a little better for everyone in your family.

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