by Mire
Getting a bruise is not much fun, it does not look attractive and if you are like me, you often get one is the most visible places.
While it can be annoying, painful and unsightly bruises are without consequences and will not affect health in any way. They are frequent appearances on children and we should react calmly.
The best thing to do when it happens is to apply a cold pack right away. If you don’t have a cold pack a frozen bags of peas will do just fine. The cold will attenuate the bruise and reduce the pain.
What can you do to make bruises go away quickly?
One solution would be to apply some tiger balm (available here). It is yellowish or white and has a strong odor, but it will warm the skin very quickly. Avoid applying around eyes as it will make you cry. This balm can also be use to relieve headaches, sore muscles and colds. Caution do not use on children under 2.
When I was young my grand-mother would use Verbena (which she grew), she marinated it in rubbing alcohol for 3 or 4 days and used this on a cotton cloth that she would apply to the bruise. The next day the bruise was completely gone.
Another alternative to get rid of bruises is to use Arnica. You can use arnica gel and apply it to the bruises, but for a large bruise a better way is to take Arnica tablets. Arnica tablets can be very helpful against sore muscles and can be taken prior to strenuous activities.
I have heard that a cold compress with a few drops (5) of rosemary essential oil also works wonders.
What’s a bruise?
Following a blow or a bump into an object, small blood vessels break under the skin. In the area where the blow occurred you might have a well defined bluish swelling that is painful to the touch.
This little under the skin hemorrhage will then turn green and eventually yellow before skin can return to its normal color.
How to get rid of skunks
Why would a skunk choose your yard or even under your house to live?
First you need to know that skunks rarely dig their own “home”. They much prefer to take a ready made hole from a fox, a groundhog or any other mammal of similar size or larger. They can also get under a crawl space, or a terrace and decide to stay there.
What to do if that happens to you? How do you get rid of a skunk in your yard or under your house?
You can encourage it to move away! No I am not joking.
First find out the access route to the nest by spreading flour at dusk around the area where you suspect the animal lives. The next morning you will be able to see the tracks and find out the exact location of the hole. Insert a rag soaked in ammonia into the hole at a depth of about 3 feet, using a stick if needed.
Cover the hole with a trash bag held in place with dirt, or rocks. To get out of the hole the skunk will have to work. Repeat this every day until it decides that living here is just too much work and the odor of ammonia too unpleasant. It will go away and find a more suitable habitat.
When you are sure it is gone, fill the hole and block the access. You will deter animals from digging the hole again by burying some chicken wire at about 12 inches into the ground.
Some might ask why not kill the skunk rather than forcing it to find another home. For one thing skunks are some of the most useful animals to humans as 70% of their diet consists of organisms harmful to humans.
How to keep skunks out of yard
Prevention: You can prevent skunks from taking a liking to your property by adding motion activated lights or motion activated sprinklers. Nocturnal animals will appreciate neither the light nor the shower.
Did you know that skunks
- produce an odor that is so strong that the wind can disperse it over a half a mile
- fill their nests with leaves that they carry by placing them under their body, between their legs and bring to the nest by crawling
- when it is annoyed it growls and hisses and stamps its front legs
- while it is not very afraid of humans it is not aggressive and would rather leave you alone but it can protect itself when needed
If you or your pets are sprayed you can get rid of skunk smell using vinegar or another treatment that I wrote about in the previous article (tomato juice does not work)
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