Ok, so I’m suffering through a very . . . bad . . . cold right now. I’m quite fuzzy in the head, tired, have a very bad soar throat (off and on), am stuffed up, etc., etc. I’m typing this because, I guess, I’m so tired of sitting around doing nothing. This cold was coming on for a while, and the last couple of days were unpleasant, but this is the worst. Still, I feel like doing SOMETHING, and, this tea I’ve been making and drinking is great and I wanted to share it with you.
Let me also say, first off, that I was using one of those sore throat sprays and it was doing nothing for my throat this time. Nothing. I don’t think I have strep throat, either, just a nasty sore throat. But this tea has helped. With a small mug, I used about one teaspoon of fresh ginger (well, grated ginger in a jar that you can get in some stores), one heaping teaspoon of honey, and a bag of Good Earth Lemon Grass Green tea. (I put the ginger in a metal tea holder so that it’s not all loose in the liquid.) By the way, honey has been clinically tested and found to control a cough better than cough syrups can (“10 Home Remedies that Work, AARP Bulletin, November 2011), and ginger seems to be somewhat of an anti-inflammatory.
The second part of this post’s title speaks of hose and plantar warts. For some time I’ve wondered if I should write about my experience with plantars warts. It’s weird and embarrassing, and I don’t actually know if it would help anyone or not (!). I praise God that my plantars warts had finally been cured, and if God is the one who did it, then prayer is what is needed. In any case, I’ll let you know how mine went away and perhaps you might try it if nothing else has worked.
After I got married, many many years ago, I had developed a plantars wart on the bottom of my foot, though I didn’t know what it was. I mention my marriage because my husband had plantars warts – I found out – and so did his family. They can be spread by sharing moist environments. Anyway, so I didn’t do anything about it, since it was small and I thought it would just go away. But it didn’t, and eventually another one formed next to it. I tried the over the counter liquids and patches, but they didn’t do much (tip: the liquid for corns is the same acid, but stronger and more effective). The patches never stayed on my moist feet, though there’s one made with 40% acid that can be prescribed, and they stick better.
I finally had to go to a podiatrist. He did the freezing treatment for about 9 months, I think, and it was hell. He used the dry ice on the warts until they would bleed a little, which he said was what would actually get my body to fight the virus that causes them. I couldn’t walk on that foot for a couple of days, really, after treatment. But that didn’t work either, and the only other option, which he seemed loathe to do, was surgery. I can understand not wanting to do that surgery, since it is by no means 100% effective and there are always risks. After my doctor moved, I just stopped treatments. Eventually I asked again about surgery, but my doctor at the time prescribed me the strong patches instead (mentioned above). These helped a little, but did not make the warts go away. At this point, I had the warts for about 10 years.
What cured me of my plantars warts, however, was getting a temporary part-time job where I wore hose, both the whole leg type and the knee high type. (I live in Southern California and wear hiking/walking sandals most of the time.) I actually was concerned when I took the job because I thought, based on my research into plantars warts, that having my feet in shoes with hose would only make the warts worse (heat + moisture = growth), and they can be pretty painful. However, counter to all that I had read, after the four months of working like that, my warts were gone. Praise God! And they have not come back.
Thanks for reading . . . need some more of that tea now . . .
With Christian Eyes 