Summer is one of my FAVORITE seasons.
The days aroma filled with blooms and freshly cut grass, honeysuckle to sip, the sun to soak in and extra daylight for home projects.
Our children love to venture out of our yard and into the woods for imaginative play, adventures, and to be, literally, closer to nature.
We love family nature walks, observing the sky and vying for a chance to behold the butterfly's dance.
Sounds so great, right?
Enter the Villains to our "mid-summer night's dream..."
The adventures in Parenting never end. The grooming portion tends to be a winding road, but alas, manageable. We live in the progressive city of Annapolis. Our house is conveniently located to EVERYTHING! We live 5 minutes from many shopping centers, schools, gas stations, etc. We're in the heartbeat of small city life, however we live on a lot that is surrounded by woods, giving us a bit of a country-living feel. The dirt/sand driveway, the red barn-like shed at the end of a rather long-ish driveway, the insects cranking their sounds almost continuously. We have the best of both worlds; human and creature. Omar is a bit more detailed with parenting. Meaning he will ask the boys to wear long pants and sleeves before exploring the deciduous forest next to us. Me, on the other hand, am asking them to "go outside quickly" in a moment to decrease the chaotic energy inside. No time for preparing, just go! (Moms out there with many children understand what I mean!) Either way, a tick-check is MANDATORY where we live. We typically do a quick scan each time they come in (older children can do this themselves!) and an extensive check before bath and bed. The bath time is a great place to discover any unwanted pests on your child; a good parent is aware. Any comb will suffice, but I prefer a closer bristle or knit comb. This summer we found the tiniest ticks we ever saw. I had to get one in a sink of water to be able to get a picture of it.
TICK REMOVAL TRICK
Tea tree oil is distilled from the leaves of the Melaleuca alternifolia plant
and is
antibacterial
anti-inflammatory
antiviral
antifungal
What to do:
Use a Q-Tip, soak up one end with the oil and apply it directly to the skin and tick.
Smother it! Let it sit for 10 seconds if you can. You can apply more if you want to. Really saturate the tick. They will NOT like the tea tree oil. In some cases the tick may remove itself!
We use tweezers to grab the tick and pull it off. This is now very EASY as the tea tree oil has suffocated the tick. Because of varying skin types, you may or may not need to apply more tea tree to the effected area. 3 out of my 4 boys have normal reactions to mosquito bites, tick bites, vines~ but our son Ocean tends to have more allergic reactions. Nothing terrible, but a tick bite mark can last days and will itch. Whereas the others hardly remember they had a tick an hour later. For Ocean I will continue to apply tea tree oil up to 24 hours after the bite.
It just so happens Ocean not only has had a tough time with mosquito bites, ticks, and poison ivy, but he also had quite a spider bite experience too.
Spider Bite
As I mentioned, Ocean has been prone to nature's wrath and it was just before his 5th birthday that he had the spider bite of a lifetime. I cannot recall the exact way it was brought to our attention, but at some point it was. Because of the location of it, Dad was called into the bathroom. Oh yes, friends, this was an attack of all attacks ~the bite was precisely located at the end of his penis. 😥 (I will mention here that we did not circumcise our boys)
The bite and his skin created this weird bubble effect. Swollen was an understatement. And the shape of the swelling was odd. We do have pictures, but I am reserving them for now.
It was scary. We prayed.
Omar, thank GOD, was there and was able to be home for the few days this ailment needed attention. I was still a nursing Momma; this would be terribly difficult to manage alone. Ocean needed not only remedies and ice packs and such, but he needed someone with him. He needed love just as much. (Don't forget that LOVE is a remedy!)
Here is Ocean's Spider Bite Treatment Index:
Tea Tree Oil used topically on the spider bite; administered hourly
Cool Bath -just water, no soap
APIS bee stings, insect bites w/swelling, itching, and redness. Hives. Pains are stinging/burning.
BELLADONNA typically used for fever, but is for RESTLESSness and possible virus
Insect Bite Tincture we added drops directly to the bite
as well as a wash cloth
LEDUM insect bites, stings, punctures, sensitive to touch,
worse from heat, better from cold applications
Rescue Remedy used orally and topically
Star of Bethlehem used orally
CALENDULA ( homeopathic pellet)insect bites
CALENDULA (Ointment) relieves pain & swelling when applied
directly to the sting
Cold Packs
Energy healing ~lazy 8's ~Reiki
Affirmations (Scriptures) (Louise Hay)
Oatmeal water cloths (with Calendula, Sting drops, Rescue Remedy in water)
Baking Soda paste ~to draw out poison/toxins
All terrain anti sting spray ~Colloidal oatmeal based (to relieve itching)
PRAYER!
The tea tree was applied directly with a Q-tip intermittently until the swelling and pain subsided. (2 days) We also bought and used the All Terrain Anti Sting Spray during that time.
He took a few cool baths each day for 3 days. The first couple were just cool water. We began adding drops of Calendula tincture, Insect bite tincture, and Rescue remedy to his bath for faster results. (Bach flower remedies are easy to research! http://www.bachflower.com/) We gave him Star of Bethlehem directly on the tongue during the first 3 hours due to him being anxious and crying. The topical remedies were used during the first 48 hours. We soaked a cloth in oatmeal water and added the tinctures to it. The cloth was then applied directly to the bite. We also applied baking soda water paste a few times. He mostly sat propped up in bed or on our love seat. We read books to him, played card games, i spy, etc. and we allowed him more screen time than normal. We made homemade cold packs, used soft cold packs to rotate; he had ice therapy every hour with the exception of the nighttime, although, we did start the night with an ice pack. During all of these moments we exerted "energy work" ~meaning we used our hands and moved them over the affected area in the pattern of an 8 or an infinity symbol. This pattern is used in Reiki! It is healing through energy movement. And to this we added prayer and affirmations. (Louise Hay teaches this in great detail in her book You Can Heal Your Life) The homeopathic remedies mentioned, (Apis, Belladonna, Ledum, Calendula) were given every 15 minutes for the first 3 hours. After that segment we gave him doses every 30 min. The following day we aimed to give him doses every 30/45 min, then every hour once we were at 24 hours. At 36 hours the swelling had majorly decreased and the bite area looked much more normal; we began administering the remedies every 2 hours. It took until the 4th day for him to be basically back to normal. Whew!
We stayed consistent, which is a major key with homeopathy and using homeopathic remedies.
We encourage you to take your family's health into your own hands. You are more capable than you think!
Life is constantly calling us to overcome challenges, arise to the occasion, be resilient and steadfast in our faith. We continue to make every effort to do just that.
imagine Excellence Blog #15 Diaper Rash Cure Secret
much love ~ Peace & Blessings
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