Witch hazel is an excellent and inexpensive astringent and antiseptic to always keep on hand. Topical uses for witch hazel include cleaning cuts, reducing skin inflammations and abrasions, sunburns, insect bites, bruising, poison oak and ivy, diaper rash, eczema, varicose veins, and hemorrhoids.
Preparations of witch hazel from the pharmacy generally contain isopropyl alcohol, so make sure you only use it externally, as it is poisonous to ingest. Make cold compresses with witch hazel for painful hemorrhoids, varicose veins, or other skin inflammation and bruises. Take a witch hazel tincture, add fifteen drops to a small bowl of warm water, immerse a clean soft washcloth in the solution, and leave it soaking for five minutes. Wring out the washcloth and lay it on the affected area.
As an astringent, witch hazel works well for drying sores, diaper rash, and poison oak and ivy. Use witch hazel tincture (five drops to eight ounces water) if you want to avoid the isopropyl alcohol.
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