Earaches can be treated with home remedies. Onion is one of the most effective remedies for earaches. We’ll show you how to make onion bags and how to best use other home remedies.
The onion has a long tradition as a household remedy. The reason for this is, among other things, the sulfur compounds it contains, which have an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effect: if the onion is crushed, the sulphurous leek oils are released. Not only do these essential oils bring tears to your eyes, but they also inhibit the growth of bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
In addition, the leek oils of the onion help to loosen the mucus in cold symptoms such as a cold or cough and to relieve inflammation. These are all properties that make onions an indispensable home remedy for earaches.
Well-tried household remedy for earache: onion bags
(Photo: Utopia/ Chantal Gilbrich)
You can treat earache with onions as a tried and tested home remedy. To do this, you make warm onion bags. The combination of the active ingredients of the onion and the heat can have an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and decongestant effect on earache.
You need:
- an old sock (without a hole) or a cotton cloth
- 1 large onion (or 2 small ones)
- a headband, scarf or hat
- a saucepan with a lid
- a heat-resistant bowl for a water bath
How to make onion pouches:
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Cut the onion into small cubes.
- Stuff them into the cloth or sock.
- Now put the filled sock in the fireproof bowl and place it in the saucepan filled with a little water.
- With the lid closed, heat the water so that the onion bag can slowly warm up in the water bath. Make sure that as little water as possible gets into the bowl with the onion sack.
- When the onion sac has reached slightly more than body temperature, gently squeeze it out. This is how the valuable onion juice escapes. Tip: Hold it against your forearm to check the temperature. If it is comfortable there, you can use it.
- Then put it on the painful ear.
- So that it doesn’t slip, fix it with the headband, the scarf or the hat.
- You can leave the onion sac on your ear for an hour or two, or for as long as is comfortable. The smell, of course, takes some getting used to, but the warmth and anti-inflammatory properties of the onion kick in right away.
- You can repeat this application several times a day.
If the onion bag is too much effort for you, you can simply squeeze an onion and soak a pad with the juice (reusable pads are available, for example, in the **Avocadostore). You put this on the aching ear and let it work for about 20 minutes.
More home remedies for earache
(Photo: CC0/pixabay/grafik_design)
If you have an earache but find the smell of onions very unpleasant, there are alternatives. There are many other home remedies that can help with earaches:
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Heat: Heat has a pain-relieving effect on mild earaches. A cherry pit pillow is ideal, which you can simply warm to a comfortable temperature and place on the inflamed ear for 20 minutes. (You can find cherry stone pillows, for example, in the avocado store**, alternatively you can also sew a cherry stone pillow yourself)
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Potato wraps: Boiled potatoes store heat and have a pain-relieving effect. Just boil two to three peeled potatoes, mash them, wrap them in a cotton cloth and put the wrap on the sore ear.
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Parsley sachets: Parsley has a disinfecting effect and is a good home remedy for earaches. For a parsley sachet, simply chop a bunch of parsley finely and grate the herb a little so that the plant juice and its active ingredients can escape. Wrap the chopped parsley in a warm, damp cotton cloth and place it on the diseased ear for half an hour.
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Mustard flour: Mustard flour is an old household remedy and helps with colds – thanks to its strong germicidal effect, it also helps with earaches. Mix fresh mustard flour with a little lukewarm water. Spread the paste on a cotton cloth. Fold it up and place it on the affected ear for 15 minutes. If the skin starts to burn, remove it immediately!
Beware of home remedies for ear pain
Earaches are no joke! The home remedies are intended to alleviate the symptoms at the first sign of illness. However, if the pain does not go away, you should seek medical advice to be on the safe side. This is especially true for babies and toddlers, who suffer from earaches much more often because of the shortened Eustachian tube. Delayed middle ear infections can permanently reduce hearing.
Read more on Techzle.com:
- Ear candles: You should definitely keep this in mind when cleaning your ears
- 6 herbal home remedies for colds
- Onion Skin: 5 Amazing Uses
Deutsche Version Available: Earache Home Remedy: Natural Earache Relief