By: Terry Graedon April 1, 2024 45 Comments
    What Can You Do for a Kitchen Burn?

    A kitchen burn or other minor household burn is painful. They usually cause redness and sometimes blistering. Cold water is the standard first aid recommendation. In fact, cold tap water is just the r…

    By: Joe Graedon March 11, 2024 24 Comments
    Soy Sauce Experiment Beats Burn

    Readers sometimes perform their own n of 1 clinical trials. That is what happened to this reader of our newspaper column. He participated in an unplanned soy sauce experiment to determine how well thi…

    By: Joe Graedon June 19, 2023 17 Comments
    Why Home Remedies Deserve Respect

    Before there were pharmaceutical companies, drug commercials on television, pharmacists or physicians, there were herbs and home remedies. There is archeological evidence that our stone age ancestors …

    By: Terry Graedon June 4, 2023 6 Comments
    Soy Sauce Helps Ease the Pain of a Burn

    Sometimes we learn about a surprising home remedy and then we hear from scores or even hundreds of people that they have used it successfully. More than a decade ago, a listener to our radio show call…

    By: Terry Graedon September 5, 2022 98 Comments
    Cold Yellow Mustard Relieves Burn

    We learn so much from our listeners, readers and visitors. They like to share the results of the home remedies that others have recommended. One of the most popular remedies is yellow mustard to ease …

    By: Terry Graedon July 18, 2022 3 Comments
    Be Prepared for Summer with The People’s P…

    When was the last time you updated your first aid kit? Now that summer is in full swing, it is high time to make sure you are well equipped for any contingency. Besides all the normal equipment, we ar…

    By: Terry Graedon February 7, 2022 13 Comments
    Will Soy Sauce Ease Your Burn Pain?

    If you have ever had hot liquid splash on your hand accidentally, you've looked for a burn remedy. Holding the singed fingers under cold tap water is the recommended first aid, but it may ease your bu…

    By: Terry Graedon June 3, 2019 8 Comments
    Do You Know About Soy Sauce for a Blister?

    If you have ever gone for a long hike in a new pair of shoes, you might know a lot about the pain of a blister. Excess friction over time raises a fluid-filled bump on the skin that may be tender for …

    By: Terry Graedon November 1, 2018 0 Comments
    How Aysa, an AI App, Helped a Mother with her Ch…

    Nicole Pharr is used to keeping a close eye on her daughter Madison’s skin. Madison is prone to eczema and has had highly sensitive skin since she was a baby. Still, Nicole was concerned after her d…

    By: Terry Graedon October 1, 2018 16 Comments
    Why Cold Water Is Great First Aid for a Burn

    If you burn yourself in the kitchen, what's the first thing you do? It is helpful to know first aid for a burn consists, first, of cold water. Here's one reader's experience with this essential remedy…

    By: Terry Graedon August 27, 2018 7 Comments
    Will Soy Sauce Cool Your Burn?

    Lifting a lid or grabbing a pan are opportunities to get burned. On the other hand, cooking is a pleasure as well as a means to eat well and control your own diet. So rather than avoid the kitchen, ma…

    By: Terry Graedon July 2, 2018 8 Comments
    Soy Sauce to the Rescue to Cool a Burn

    What do you do for a burn? First aid experts recommend dousing the burned skin in cold water, and so do we. That stops the heat and prevents further damage. However, to cool a burn and ease the pain a…

    By: Terry Graedon October 16, 2017 0 Comments
    Licorice Oil Calms the Heat of Fire Ant Stings

    What do you do for fire ant stings? As fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) push further north, many more people will have occasion to treat the pain of their stings. Some readers are enthusiastic about vin…

    By: Terry Graedon July 11, 2016 2 Comments
    What Is in Your First Aid Kit?

    This summer we have been urging people to assemble a first aid kit that is ready to go at the drop of a hat. Some of the things we put in our first aid kit are a little unorthodox, but they're not too…

    By: Joe Graedon April 11, 2016 19 Comments
    Soy Sauce Burn Remedy Saved Dinner Party from Di…

    Have you ever burned yourself while working in the kitchen? Who hasn't? What did you do for relief? Many people still try the butter trick, which we do not think works very well. The soy sauce burn re…

    By: Terry Graedon December 21, 2015 10 Comments
    Yellow Mustard for Frightening Glue-Gun Burn

    Certain home remedies show up time and again in reports from our readers. One of those is the application of yellow mustard to a burn. When we first heard this remedy, the caller specified that the mu…

    By: Terry Graedon November 9, 2015 8 Comments
    Using Vanilla as a Burn Remedy

    What do you use as a home remedy for a simple burn? First aid is getting the burned area into or under cold water. But then what? Readers of The People's Pharmacy have shown a great deal of ingenuity …

    By: Joe Graedon October 26, 2015 7 Comments
    White School Glue for Kitchen Burns

    A cast-iron skillet can get very hot over an open flame. Have you ever forgotten the pot-holder and grabbed the handle with your bare hand? It can lead to a nasty burn. Home cooks have come up with a…

    By: Joe Graedon August 10, 2015 2 Comments
    AmLactin Cream Soothed Hands Jalapenos Hurt

    Anyone who handles hot peppers is well-advised to use a pair of disposable kitchen gloves (latex or vinyl) for the chore. That would prevent the predicament in which this reader found herself: Q. I de…

    By: Joe Graedon April 13, 2015 8 Comments
    Sodium Solution Said to Help Heal Burns

    Home remedies can be very handy, but they need to be employed with common sense. Many readers have been curious about soy sauce to help heal burns. While self-treatment is fine for a minor burn, for e…

    By: Joe Graedon March 9, 2015 9 Comments
    Soy Sauce Can Ease the Pain of a Kitchen Burn

    Household accidents like kitchen burns don't always need full-fledged medical attention. But some quick first aid can make a difference. For common burns, we are partial to a home remedy that uses col…

    By: Joe Graedon February 2, 2015 0 Comments
    Home Remedies Gathered into a Book

    Q. You two provide so much wonderful information. I'll read something you've written and I really intend to cut the paper out, but before I do it gets lost or I get my mind on something else and I los…

    By: Terry Graedon September 3, 2012 24 Comments
    Mustard (without Bun) for Burn

    First Aid for a Minor Burn: What do you do as first aid for a minor burn? The standard advice is to start by holding the burned area under cold running water for up to 15 minutes. Sometimes that is a…

    By: Terry Graedon March 19, 2012 10 Comments
    Soy Sauce Eased Pain from Burn

    Q. It sounds crazy, but your website really helped in an emergency. I heated spaghetti rings in the microwave for two minutes. I spilled the stuff on my hand getting it out of the microwave. It felt l…

    By: Joe Graedon November 21, 2011 0 Comments
    Home Remedies for Holiday Hazards

    Coughs & Colds: As much as we look forward to Christmas and New Years, this time of year can be fraught with unexpected hazards. For one thing, there is the traveling to gather with family and fri…

    By: Joe Graedon May 12, 2009 3 Comments
    Soy Sauce Eases Pain of Burn

    Q. I burned the heel of my hand with hot bacon grease. I immediately put it under cold running water and then remembered the soy sauce cure. I taped a paper towel soaked in soy sauce to my hand and wi…

    By: Joe Graedon July 28, 2008 7 Comments
    Fresh Onion Juice for Kitchen Burns

    Q. While I was working at a restaurant, one of our chefs was burned badly by a fryer. I happened to be in the kitchen when it happened, and the manager screamed, "get me a fresh onion out of the walk-…

    By: Terry Graedon December 26, 2006 2 Comments
    Soy Sauce Is Home Remedy for Burn

    Q. I listened to your public radio show and heard a man call in recommending soy sauce for burns. "How weird is that?" I thought. But then, as I took a loaf of bread out of the oven, the inner edge of…