Summer time and the living is …

By the time you read this, exams will be over and sales of Rescue Remedy will have returned to normal levels – until August when the results are due! Stress, however, is with us whatever the season, and all year round customers come to us looking for suggestions which will help reduce anxiety and promote a good night’s sleep.

When we put the IAHS Customer Care Protocol into action, asking if there have been triggers, if the symptoms are long-or short-term, what a customer might have tried, whether they are on medication etc, we can often help with just simple suggestions such as reducing the intake of caffeine, improving the diet, or practising controlled breathing. B vitamins can help, as can that lovely relaxing herb passiflora, as well as herbal teas such as lemon balm and chamomile.

Talking teas, a really useful one to take if nettle rash is a problem – especially when people go somewhere warm and sunny where they slosh on sunscreen, take an extra glass of vino and then come on in small itchy spots, is nettle tea, due to its anti-histamine action. A homeopathic nettle cream is also a useful item to pack, on the principle of curing like with like.

If you are using sunscreen, do look at the ingredients. You’ll find that the brands on sale in IAHS stores have a far shorter list of ingredients than you’ll see on more standard varieties. Ours are a lot less likely to cause irritation, won’t leach amounts of synthetic chemicals into the system and they are particularly safe for children.

For the same reasons, if you are bothered by mozzies or midges, consider bringing an effective low chemical insect repellent containing neem seed oil.

Grapefruit Seed Extract in tiny bottles slips into luggage like a compressed medicine chest. Apply it to the skin to ease bites, potential infections or fungal problems, take it internally for tummy problems, or use 18 drops to decontaminate a litre of dodgy water.

When you head away do you bring a bag of spuds, a few tins of beans, a sliced pan and a pack of rashers? Some might, but you’ll surely experiment, buy from local markets, relish different foods. Do pack some probiotic capsules which don’t need refrigeration – just in case!