Home Remedies: Do They Work?

Experts say vodka works the same as an antiseptic to kill fungus and bacteria on your feet, so what other home remedies really work?

Channel 11 News got almost 100 home remedy suggestions on Facebook and Jennifer Abney took them to a local doctor to have them checked out.

Dr. Marc Itskowitz is a physician at Allegheny General Hospital.

“Often a patient will try a home remedy first before they come see us,” said Dr. Itskowitz, “I will ask them what they have tried and sometimes it is something I have never heard of before. It’s interesting to find out what people are doing at home and why they are doing it.”

Our first home remedy was sent in by Bev. She claims that chewing Juicy Fruit gum will help with heart burn.

The doctor agrees with this one, “It seems like that does temporarily relieve heartburn,” said Dr. Itskowitz, “I have actually used that with pregnant women who are reluctant to take prescription medicine.”

Dr. Itskowitz added that medical studies have shown that chewing gum stimulates saliva which has alkaline properties that neutralize the acid that causes heartburn.

Anthony Santucci suggested a spoonful of sugar to help the hiccups go away. He's not the only one who believes in this one. It was actually tested by the New England Journal of Medicine.

“The most interesting study I saw was the hiccups study. They gave patients sugar and they swallowed it,” said Dr. Itskowitz, “They tried to figure out what caused the hiccups to go away and couldn’t – no one knows for sure. One possibility, the stimulation of the vagle nerve in the brain," Itskowitz said.

Kylie Stewart suggested baking soda and vinegar to relieve the pain of a bee sting and to help remove the stinger.

“I think baking soda and vinegar help with the pain. They neutralize some of the pain fibers on the skin,” said Itskowitz. “I think it helps neutralize acid. There are alkaline properties in baking soda that I think probably relax the skin.”

We got several home remedies that involve cold tea bags for swelling or pain.

“I think it’s probably the coldness more than anything," said the doctor. “I am not sure of anything in the tea that would do that.”

Itskowitz says that ice will usually help. And, the key is to apply it for 10-15 minutes.

Next up, corn starch for diaper rashes.

“That seems like it would work not just for diaper rashes but other types of rashes. With itchy skin, corn starch seems to absorb excess moisture and help repair skin,” said Itskowitz.

Rose Nixon says that super glue can help kill warts. Dr. Iskowitz hasn’t heard of that one, but he has heard of using duct tape.

“They leave it covered for awhile and when they take the tape off it seems to have helped,” he said. “It probably kills the cells around the warts, leaving them to die off and then the wart goes away.”

Itskowitz said in essence, you are smothering it and that area of skin is deprived of oxygen.

Doctors say the cells that are supplying the wart with nutrients are dying off. Keep in mind Itskowitz says this usually only works on small warts. The larger ones you probably need to have a physician remove.

Tee Banks suggests using Crisco for eczema.

“I haven't heard of that one,” said Itskowitz. “But a lot of people suffer from dry skin and are always trying to find good moisturizers. Really anything with fluid or moister in it will temporarily help.”

Itskowitz said he has also heard of some patients getting relief from eczema by putting Vaseline on your hands then covering with thin gloves. By sleeping with this one it helps look in moister.

Ashley Eckenrode recommended rubbing gold jewelry across a stye to cure it.

The doctor’s response, “Well, I have never heard of that .. hahahaha.”

One person posted to try toothpaste to cure cold sores.

“I don't know why that one would work,” he said. “I will tell you that people are always looking for remedies for cold sores. There are a lot out there and most don't work well.”

To fight colds, We had several viewers suggest concoctions including one with Pine Needle tea for its vitamin C.

“Alot of things are out there for colds with zinc or vitamin c,” said Itskowitz. “b=But when they study them they don't work. It's really time, rest and fluids that work the best with colds.”

Caffeine can actually help relieve headaches.

“Caffeine does actually help headaches and is a treatment for headaches. There is even a protocol for this in the hospital,” said the doctor. “The only problem with that is then you can increase the chance of having a caffeine withdrawal headache.

And, chocolate does have a little medicinal value.

”There are a lot of reports that chocolate is helpful with certain conditions whether it is muscle aches or fatigue or depression,” he said. “There are not really large scale studies showing that it is helpful, but a lot of people feel better when they have it.”

Because it elevates the mood, Dr. Itskowitz says a reasonable amount of chocolate can be a good thing.

Lori English Hillard said that lighting a match, blowing it out and putting it near a tick on your skin works to remove it.

“I never heard of that one and it sounds too good to be true,” Itskowitz said. “Most ticks require manual extraction from the skin, so it doesn't make any sense to me that it would work.”

Debora Wojtociwz says Coca-Cola over ice is helpful with morning sickness.

“With morning sickness we tell patients to try to find something that they can eat that will make them feel better,” said the doctor. “So I guess that’s a reasonable thing to try. But I am not aware of anythihg in Coke that would make it work better.”