The last frost date may still be a few weeks away but, for all intents and purposes, spring is here. And is it ever — the redbuds are in full bloom, the naturalized dogwoods in the hollow are showing their stuff, the tree frogs and night birds are singing louder and louder every night.
Thus: it’s time to grab the gardening gloves and get to work. Which means it’s time to replenish the necessary supplies for the inevitable catastrophes and annoyances every gardener faces.
1. The first item on my list is simply omg! SinoFresh is amazing stuff, especially if, like me, you have absurd allergies and temperamental sinuses.
I’ve tried saline rinses, Neti pots, you name it, and nothing has helped. Worse, for several years now, I’ve lived under the constant threat of sinus infections which crept into my ears and even my teeth — really quite awful. Then, a few months ago, a friend with similar problems raved about SinoFresh, and she was right. Its effects are immediate. Even better, it genuinely keeps the allergens at bay, meaning that I am now one of the only people here who isn’t sneezing, sniffling, swelling from all the pollen and mold in the air.
If you garden and have allergies, it’s the ticket.
2. And speaking of allergies, if your allergies are serious, make sure you keep Benadryl or its generic equivalent diphenhydramine around. Even better, keep the liquid form of it because it *will* knock down anaphylactic shock. I can testify to that from first hand experience. Yea, yea, you could call 911 or make your SO drive you to the ER while your throat is swelling closed and you’re turning bright red and gasping for breath – but the first thing they’re going to do is give you Benadryl anyway, so why not beat them to the punch?
Besides, nothing whops the hives right out like a dose of Benadryl. Everyone in insanely high pollen levels areas should keep this stuff around.
3. And don’t forget about baking soda. A paste of it does indeed take the sting out of bee stings. First hand experience again. Anecdotal perhaps, but it works for me.
4. And, of course, hydrogen peroxide. These days, the minute I cut myself outside, I run back in and dowse the cut with hydrogen peroxide. Then, depending, I put a bandaid on it, use a bit of antibiotic cream or pour myself a tall glass of wine and call it a day.
5. If you’re fortunate to live in an area free of the evil weed, you can skip this one.
If you live here, however, you better be prepared for the inevitable encounter with poison ivy.
I think Tecnu is the best commercial product available for poison ivy. For relieving the rash, however, I prefer my own concoction, which consists of a thick mixture of Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste, Queen Helene’s Mint Julep Masque and lemon juice. Omg, slathering that brew all over the poison ivy is an almost orgasmic experience. It instantly launches into hand to hand battle with the nasty itchy pustules (eeew) and slamdunks them right to the moon.
Bear in mind that the minute you encounter poison ivy, you need to run inside immediately and rinse it off, unless you’ve slathered yourself with Tecnu beforehand. If you haven’t, do like me and carry a little bottle of rubbing alcohol with you. It cuts right through the oil and zaps it into oblivion.
6. Then there’s sunscreen. If, like me, you live at the same latitude as – oh, I don’t know – Egypt – you better have good sunscreen. The best I’ve found is Jason Sunbrellas. It’s a little pricey, but it’s the only sunscreen I’ve found that actually works.
More in a day or so. For now, it’s time to get outside.
16 Comments
I got poisoned once in L.A. with poison ivy. I didn’t know we had some in our backyard. Went to a doctor who kindly asked for my credit card, got a shot of something I don’t remember in my backside (which, btw, remained numb at that very spot for years), gave me a prescription to take home and charged me a whopping 1,500 for his troubles (a second visit was included in the price) Whooppy doo!
He probably gave you a steroid shot. That’s the usual treatment for poison ivy. I never had a single problem with it — I was lucky enough as a kid that I was one of the minority of people who didn’t have problems with it. That all changed several years ago, and I got an insanely bad case of it. Horrid! I resisted the doctors and spent a lot of time taking boiling baths and slathering myself with my concoction. Then I found out about Tecnu. I always keep it around now. The evil weed is a true menace here — I’ve cut down ancient poison ivy vines 5″+ inches in diameter that were sucking the very life out of tons of trees here, so I’ve had to learn how to deal with it. Evil stuff!!
Can Tecnu be bought in Europe?
Probably. Do you all have poison ivy there? I’m just stunned – I thought it was a New World menace.
Good point! I don’t know if we have it here. I’ll ask ms AAF who knows all these things.
I’m severely allergic to poison ivy. I’ve found sealing the rash as soon it starts to appear with aloe can fend off light cases.
In addition to scrubbing with hot water and then swabbing with alcohol right away, don’t forget to wash whatever you’re wearing in the hottest water possible. Those nasty oils hang around forever and can cause an outbreak many months later.
Bee stings: Have a bottle of Accent meat tenderizer in your cupboard. Make a paste and put on it. It actually neutralizes the bee sting proteins.
Works for jellyfish stings, too, if you are at the beach at an unfortunate time.
Don’t start me on jellyfish! Every freaking summer I used to get stung at least a dozen times, and ended up carrying a little bottle of vinegar around my neck hence my nickname then: the vinegar kid! Vinegar really worked.
And, leave the paste on until it dries and falls off by itself.
Lots of people scoff at this, but my doctor told me to keep the Adolf’s handy 25+ years ago. It’s never failed me.
For chiggers: It’s become almost impossible to find Chigarid any more, but New Skin liquid works just as well and is readily available. It also smells a little better, but takes longer to dry.
Oh, thanks for that. You can still find Chigarid around here, if you look hard enough – but who has the time these days? I seem to recall, though, that New Skin is in most stores these days.
The fleas are out already. ::sigh::
We have ticks here, I found one on my Labrador yesterday, so I’ll have to go to the vet and get some tick stuff.
We have ticks year round. It never used to be this bad, but it is now. Yet another wonderful effect of global warming. Of course, migrating critters don’t help matters much. It sux.
What is SinoFresh, and where can I get some? Since starting chemotherapy, allergic rhinitis has set in and nothing so far – Rhinocort, Flonase, loratidine, diphenhydramine (benadryl), neti pots – none of it seems to help! I’m one step away from asking for a prescription for Atrovent (ipatroprium) nasal spray..help!
You know it has to be bad when a doctor is asking YOU for help with a medical problem!
Thanks…
Drchelo, SinoFresh is supposed to be available at CVS and Walgreen’s. Go to the link that biscuit provided – there’s a place to put in your zip code and see who in your area carries it.
Hi, drchelo! Kate’s right – follow the link to http://www.sinofresh.com and you should find it. I order it from drugstore.com because we don’t have CVS here.
Besides, the active ingredients in SinoFresg are essential oils, and everything else is just carrier. I still have some residual problems, but fears of yet another sinus infection are no longer hanging over my head like an anvil.
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