Island Senior: Simple Home Remedies For Smokey Days

Smokey Sky on the Island – Nancy DeVaux photo

Its wildfire season in the west and air quality is bad. Everyone, but especially those of us with compromising health issues are recommended to stay indoors with windows closed and avoid breathing the particulates in the smokey air as much as possible. You can check current air quality on the website Purple Air.

In my house even with doors and windows closed I can smell the wildfire smoke. It irritates my eyes. Luckily, I found some relief heeding the advice of my friend, Dr. Orna Izakson. Dr. Orna is a naturopathic doctor, registered herbalist, and online educator living in what is now ground zero for wildfire smoke, Portland, Oregon.

Simmering Fir and Bay Leaf – Peggy Sue McRae photo

One of the best things about Orna’s advice is that I could apply it using just what I have around the house, herbal steams and hot showers. A pot of water simmering on the stove with cedar and rosemary not only helped to clear my indoor air but also made my home smell fantastic.  In her YouTube video, Wildfire Smoke + No Air Filter? Do This, Orna explains that using steam to clear particulate from the air applies the same principal we are now so familiar with in social distancing.

When you exhale, you breathe out tiny droplets. We stand six feet apart so that these droplets, should they contain the Covid-19 virus, will be weighed down by the liquid they are encased in and be pulled by gravity to the ground before they reach us.

Dr. Orna explains…“But in wildfire season with all of this smoke we can use some of those same ideas of basic physics to our advantage” You may notice that after taking a hot shower you breathe a little easier. “The mist from the shower basically pulls whatever particles are in the air, grabs them and drops them to the ground.  So this is what we want to do”.

A pot of steaming herbs and conifers uses the same principal. The herbs may have detoxifying qualities, but as Dr. Orna says, “bottom line is, it will work even without herbs”. It is the steam that brings the particulate to the ground. That said, today I’ve got some fir and bay leaf simmering. It does smell good. Be well.

Link to: Purple Air to check air quality.
Link to: Dr. Orna Izakson’s You Tube Channel

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