What to Include in Your Basic All-Natural First-Aid Kit

When it comes to first-aid, let nature come to the rescue. Before you head out on your next outdoor adventure, assemble an all-natural first-aid kit that promotes health and wellness.

What you rub on your face is more than a surface relationship. You want to make sure that the products you use for minor injuries do not contain toxic ingredients. One way to guarantee your products are safe is to use products derived from nature.

The twentieth-century English educator, Charlotte Mason, suggests to “Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.”

Hiking a wooded path and wading in brooks quenches our desire for sunshine and fresh air, but they leave us vulnerable to minor scrapes, cuts, and insect bites.

Whether you call them ouchies or boo-boos, they need a tender touch and safe, non-toxic remedies.

Michael Pollan’s motto is “if you can’t say it, don’t eat it.” The same can be said about the personal care products that you use. If you find yourself reading an ingredient list that looks and sounds like it ‘s derived from a chemistry lab, return the personal care product to the shelf. Walk away.

My Ah-ha Moment with Nature

The “go with nature” ah-ha moment for me arrived after I recovered from Lyme Disease. Regaining my health was a long and painful journey. I needed to make a concerted effort to protect and strengthen my immune system.

Being vigilant about what goes on my plate was just the first phase of establishing health and wellness. Since the skin is the body’s largest organ, then the type of body care products I use is important.

All-Natural First-Aid Kit

You can find several of the suggested first-aid remedies in your pantry.

The all-natural first-aid kit here provides the necessary treatments for minor injuries. For acute first-aid needs, seek the help of a medical doctor.

It’s easy enough to prepare a first aid kit to store in your car. Fill an essential backpack with the necessary first-aid items.

Aloe Vera Gel

It seems that no matter how much sunscreen we apply, the sun manages to kiss our skin with its powerful rays. If that happens, then apply aloe vera on the affected skin.

Arnica

Arnica is one of the most valuable homeopathic remedies to have in a first-aid kit. You can find the treatment in a cream or pill form. It reduces swelling and heals bruised tissues.

Avoid applying the cream to broken skin.

Baking Soda

Great for making a paste for insect stings.

Burt’s Bee’s Miracle Salve

This ointment has been part of my first-aid inventory for years. The emollient salve contains pumpkin seed oil, olive oil, wheat germ extract, bee-pollen extract, Sha Shen root extract (from the bellflower family), and soybean oil.

I listed the ingredients of this product because in 2007 the Clorox company (yes, the multi-national bleach company) bought Burt’s Bees. Whenever a Fortune 500 company gobbles up a smaller company, particularly a company that manufactures natural products, I become suspicious.

Much to my relief, so far, Burt’s Bees remains a product line that contains naturally derived ingredients. Aside from the soybean oil, I couldn’t get a cleaner product unless I made it myself.

Calendula Cream

Calendula is a bright and cheerful herb. The popular cottage herb serves as a soothing antiseptic and skin healer, especially for chapped skin.

Curoxen

Curoxen is an organic first-aid ointment used to treat minor scrapes, cuts, and burns. The active ingredients are olive oil (anti-microbial and healing agent) and calendula (healing agent).

Essential Oils (roll-ons for convenience)

Where do I begin to describe all of the benefits and amenities of using essential oils?

Ginger Tea Bags

This tender creeping perennial serves as a tool to calm travel nausea. Brew a ginger tea bag in hot water and sip in a cup before or while traveling.

Insect Repellant

Many insect repellants contain the harmful ingredient DEET. Prolonged use of this ingredient can be dangerous.

Here is a list of bug repellants rated as “safe” by the Environmental Working Group:

Homemade Insect Repellent

Jan Berry, The Nerdy Farm Wife, offers a no-fuss Lemon Balm Bug Spray. This recipe is not only practical but fun to make.

Sunscreen

It’s not enough to slather your body with sunscreen. Peering beyond the brand name long enough to examine the ingredients is necessary. Many popular sunscreen brands contain harmful ingredients like

Before you cover yourself with sunscreen, remember that since 2007, “the FDA has not ensured that the ingredients meant to provide such protection have been adequately tested for safety and efficacy.”

Recently though, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) reported that “the FDA is for the first time proposing that active ingredients in sunscreen be sufficiently tested to determine the rate of absorption through the skin and the health impacts that may result from exposure to those ingredients.”

Safe sunscreen products are readily available in most stores. Here is a short list of safe sunscreens rated by the EWG:

Make your sunscreen

Super Natural Home author, Beth Greer, offers a simple recipe for Sun Skin Spray:

4 ounces distilled water (or 4 ounces Aloe Juice or 4 ounces of Rose Water)

1 level teaspoon ascorbic acid powder

(Optional: add a few drops of lavender essential oil)

Beth recommends adding all ingredients in a spray bottle. Before you use, shake and use one to two times a day before sunning. Respray after swimming.

Witch Hazel

Basic Supplies

There are certain items that every first-aid should include. Here is a short list of those items.

Tweezers

Tweezers are a necessary tool to remove splinters or ticks.

Ice Pack

Instant ice packs help with pain relief, swelling, strained muscles, and sprains. Instant cold therapy packs provide you with pain relief, speed up the healing process, and restore your mobility very fast.

Absorbent Cotton

Bandages of various sizes

Valuable Resources for DIY All-Natural First-Aid Products

Get outside and enjoy the outdoors knowing that you are ready