Natural health: verruca and cat allergies

My nephew is allergic to cats, and whenever he comes to visit he seems to flare up in a rash. 

I try to clean all traces of cat hair before he gets here, but it doesn’t seem to make much difference. What else can I do to minimise his reaction, when he is here?

Hopefully, this is an allergy that he will either grow out of, or to which he will become gradually desensitised. His body is releasing too much histamine, due to a perceived danger or stressor.

Vitamin C is a great help in this situation — it helps when the body is having an allergic reaction by modulating immune function, and is also an important nutrient, since the release of histamine increases the body’s need for vitamin C.

In one study, by US scientists gave allergy sufferers increasing doses of vitamin C, starting with 500mg daily and increasing to 2g per day over a period of six weeks.

By the time the higher levels of vitamin C were reached, volunteers’ histamine levels had dropped by 40%.

The dosage would need to be adjusted according to your nephew’s age.

Obviously, using any supplementation with your nephew will need to be discussed with his parents’ first. I’m sure they will have topical remedies that you can use to soothe his skin when he has a flare-up. Rosewater spray is a handy remedy to have in the medicine cabinet, as this is very soothing, and safe for use on even the most delicate skins.

One of the other key remedies for allergies is the much-maligned stinging nettle plant (Urtica dioica). Nettle contains vitamins C and K, along with an anti-inflammatory agent called scopoletin.

This combination helps to counterbalance the increased production of histamine.

A last note regarding the cleaning of your house to prepare for your nephew’s visits — do this at least a full day before he arrives, so that dust and dander aren’t recently stirred-up.

Use natural cleaning products; a microfibre-cloth-based range, such as Enjo (where pure water is the only solution you need to apply), will benefit you and your nephew.

My teenage daughter has a verruca on the sole of her foot. Is there was anything natural that would get rid of it?

The first remedy to try is the old banana-peel trick. While it sounds unusual, it works.

You tape the inside of a blackened banana skin over the verruca each night, using a sticking plaster, and, after doing this for three nights, the verruca should just fall out.

Despite being somewhat of an old wives’ tale, I have used this trick successfully on my daughter (some ten years ago), and the verruca dutifully fell out and never returned.

Apparently, it can also be used with warts. Of course, I can’t guarantee that it will work for everybody, but this remedy is worth a try — you have nothing to lose. Other topical remedies for verrucae include tea tree, manuka, and oregano essential oils. All of these oils are valuable for their antiseptic properties and can be used neat on the verruca with a cotton bud, applied two to three times daily.

If your daughter feels squeamish about wearing a piece of banana skin taped to her foot, then you can skip this and use one of the essential oil treatments.

They take much longer to work, but will eventually heal the area.

Verrucae are contagious, and one of the most common places for them to spread is the public changing area at swimming pools, gyms, camping grounds, and so on.

A simple pair of flip-flops will protect against verrucae and fungal infections — these can even be worn when using public showers.