Healing hand foot and mouth

While my sister was here during Easter, her kids contracted hand, foot and mouth disease. Apparently it had been going around at our other sister's kids' daycare and her kids were lucky enough to miss it but were definitely carriers. 

If you don't know what hand, foot and mouth disease is, let me just say, it's no fun and it's HIGHLY contagious; once her baby got it, it was almost inevitable her 4 year old was next. It involves fevers and little blisters on, well, their hands, feet and mouth. LUCKILY, It's like chicken pox and you can only get it once. And, adults generally can't contract it. It's not something that can really even be dangerous. It's just annoying while the kids have it and the misery generally lasts 2 whole weeks.

Here's a stock photo I found online...It looks like a LOAD of fun, huh? 

Once we spotted the first little blister on my niece's hand, I did the only thing I knew how to do and started to research. Combining what I already know about certain household products, combined with some other suggestions, I was filling my sister's ears with all of my natural healing non-sense. BUT, dear readers, my non sense seemed to be not so non-sensable and actually helped. Her kids only had this vicious disease in a matter of days. If you find your little one suffering, try these tactics.

1. Dragon's Breath by Natures Fusions diluted with some high quality (organic) coconut oil.

This suggestion was all my own. I have killed off so many sore throats with this oil alone. Because I keep it constantly on hand (with extras) I was able to send some home with her. She mixed it with coconut oil because it's quite spicy and swabbed the kids' mouths with it. From what she told me, their mouths seemed to stay pretty free from the disease. 

Dragons Breath is my all time favorite because it is a protective oil and you can feel it just scorching those germs while going down your throat. I have rubbed it on toothaches, taken "shots" of it when i'm congested and held my husband down to get it down his throat when he had a cold. NONE of our ailments listed above gave us problems much longer than 24 hours after using dragons breath.

2. Gargling Lemon oil and water

This was my sister's own brilliance. With the four year old being older and knowing how to gargle, she had him gargle this miraculous mix!

Lemon is a VERY cleansing oil. I have used it on acne, cuts and even shining up my stainless steel and removing those pesky sticker marks you so brilliantly get when buying new stainless steel products. (I have a bone to pick with the genius behind thinking that's okay.)

3. Lavender Bath (or apply topically with a carrier oil)

Remember how I mentioned that these little blisters were miserable for the poor babies? I'm not a parent of anything other than my kicking little parasite who is currently kicking at my bladder, but I can only imagine how horrible it is to not be able to take your kids' pain away. Lavender is the solution here. 

Lavender is probably one of the most popular oils among the masses. It's known for it's relaxing qualities. I, myself, like to put it in my own baths when I need to unwind (I call it my relax bath). In this case, the lavender soothed the wounds of the little blisters and began to heal the skin. 

I personally use lavender on everything from sunburns to mosquito bites; along with diffusing it for relaxing and unwinding. It's a very versatile oil that shan't be ignored! 

4. Coconut oil

If you've ever read my blog, you aren't surprised that I am promoting the oil of The Gods. Nothing about coconut oil has ever disappointed me. Internally or externally, this oil is the key to health. 

During the same time as my sister's kids getting sick, I had a few weird sores in my mouth and was pretty sure I was one of those odd adults who contracted this weird disease. I don't know if I really was... I never experienced any other symptoms. However, I also was doing all of the tactics I mentioned above. But every few hours I would swish coconut oil around in my mouth. Along with dousing my sores in Dragons Breath and Lemon, they went away overnight. I also added coconut oil to the tub to help with any stretch marks baby parasite could create. 

Coconut oil is also super great for the digestive tract, used as a face wash (post coming soon) eye makeup remover, diaper rash ointment and as a nice hot oil mask for damaged hair. I may or may not carry a jar of it around in my purse. I use it as chap stick as well! I LOVE COCONUT OIL! 

5. Oatmeal bath

Last but not least is the oatmeal bath. These kids didn't even realize they were getting spa treatment. If you've ever had an oatmeal bath you know how good it makes your skin feel. For those of you who are worried about your tub being infested with the mess of oatmeal, no worries! All you do is put about a cup of oatmeal in an old nylon, tie it off and put it in the water. :) No mess necessary! 

The oatmeal also soothes the skin and helps heal it. If you're really into the whole bath idea for your babe, i'd add coconut oil, lavender and oatmeal all to one bath and soak your child in it once a day! 

I honestly hope none of your kids have to ever go through this, but if they do, I hope these remedies help immensely! 

Happy, Healthy, Healing!!

<3 KBS!