Back-to-school cures MDs swear by
The kids are back in the classroom—and dealing with all the ailments that come with it! To the rescue: natural remedies doctors rely on to get their own children back to the books
FOR LICE
A bedtime “hair mask”
When his daughters got lice, father-of-three Peter Acker, M.D., a pediatrician at Westmed Medical Group in Greenwich, Connecticut, had a simple solution: suffocating the lice by saturating the kids’ scalps with Cetaphil cleanser at bedtime, blowing their hair dry and slipping on shower caps. The next day, the girls shampooed their hair, and Dr. Acker removed the lice eggs with a drugstore nit comb.
“It’s effective and nontoxic,” he says. In fact, a study in the journal Pediatrics found that this technique works as well as chemical-based treatments. To make sure all the lice were gone, Dr. Ackler repeated the routine weekly for three weeks.
FOR COLDS
A peppermint sip
Crowded classrooms can be packed with cold-causing germs, so when her kids get sick, Mylaine Riobe, M.D., a mom of two and author of The Tao of Integrative Medicine, turns to peppermint extract, a remedy her own mom relied on. Dr. Riobe mixes 3 drops in 1⁄2 cup of water sweetened with honey and has her kids drink it down. “The menthol in peppermint is an expectorant that breaks up phlegm and eases congestion,” she says. “Plus, the cooling sensation soothes sore throats. Dr. Riobe repeats the dose two to four times daily.
“It takes a few hours and doses to clear a nose, but it helps the throat immediately, and the kids love the taste!”
FOR BEDTIME JITTERS
A homeopathic tablet
“I’ve always emphasized good sleep habits,” says Vincent Pedre, M.D., an internist in private practice in New York City. “But when back-to-school jitters struck my son, I used a homeopathic remedy called Hyland’s Calms Forté [$8, Vitacost.com]. It has ingredients that induce sleep and relaxation, such as chamomile and avena sativa [wild oats].” Both work as natural sedatives that curb anxiety, according to studies in the journals Phytomedicine and Alternative and Complementary Therapies. Dr. Pedre gives his son the tablet, which quickly dissolves in his mouth, before bed. He notes, “I can see him start to calm down and relax within 20 minutes.”