My mum was a great one for old fashioned remedies. These were always tried before anything from the Chemists was bought. Invariably, we rarely needed anything else as she was careful to catch ailments in the earliest of stages.

As a small child, I balked when I saw what she was doing, thinking it had more to do with hocus pocus than having curative properties. I was proved wrong and had to convince my own teen that there was indeed method is such apparent madness.

Here are two such remedies my mum passed onto me.

Cold tea
When eyes are developing an infection and/or stye, cold tea can help to shrink the infection while calming any soreness or itchiness. Where the eye is infected, cotton wool dipped in cold tea can be used to clean the eye – making sure to sweep the eye very gently, away from the nose to the end of the eye. This can be repeated until the eye is completely clear.

Where a stye is developing, the eye can be cleaned as above. Cotton wool soaked in tea can also be used as a compress on the eye as this can help to relax the eye and shrink the stye.

Bicarbonate of Soda
When I was about 10 years old, I must have been very naughty as Santa brought me Chicken Pox for Christmas. While everyone was playing with their toys, I was more interested in tearing at my skin to relieve the pain.

Itching like a mad thing, my mother ran a bath, poured about a cup full of Bicarbonate of Soda into the streaming water and then plonked me into the bath, telling me to relax while the water worked its magic. And indeed it was magic as it so calmed the itch. Later on, when I emerged from the bath like a wrinkled prune, my mother basted me like a turkey in Calamine lotion to make sure the effect lasted longer.