An Age-Old Remedy: Here Are The Health Benefits Of Putting Garlic In Your Ear

Nov 15, 2018

It’s a potent aromatic delight that’s a staple ingredient in culinary dishes around the world from Italy and America to Asia and the Middle East. Behind salt and pepper, it’s the third most commonly used spice in the entire world. It's consumed by the ton by millions around the globe.

If you guessed we are talking about garlic, you’d be right. It’s an amazing spice in the culinary world, but what about the medicinal world? Did you know that garlic is just as legendary when it comes to your health as it is your taste buds and that you can eat it, smear it on your body, and even stick it in your ear for medicinal relief?

Just as garlic is a culinary staple across the world, it also has a rich and long-standing history in medicinal purposes. Let’s take a moment to look at how our ancestors viewed medicinal garlic.

Text from the 1500 BC Codex Ebers prescribed garlic for 22 different ailments. It was also documented as a payment to pyramid workers because it was thought to improve their endurance and strength, and cloves of garlic were even found in King Tut’s tomb.

Ancient Greeks were reported to have routinely chewed garlic before Olympic games to improve their strength. As far back as 370-460 BC, Hippocrates himself recommended garlic as a purgative and cleansing agent.

In Rome early AD, Dioscorides, who was the chief physician for Nero’s army, recommended garlic to expel worms, thin and release respiratory mucus, alleviate toothaches, heal ulcers, and clean the arteries. Early Chinese people used garlic to combat plagues, disease, and poisons.

Vikings and Phoenicians stocked their ships with it for medicinal purposes. French grave diggers crushed it and drank it as plague protection. In 1858 America, microbiologist Louis Pasteur compared the effectiveness of 60 mg of penicillin in killing bacteria to the capabilities of 1 mm raw garlic juice.

History from lands far and wide is full of such examples where garlic was commonly used as a medicinal agent for a variety of health reasons. Garlic’s healing powers come from its natural antioxidant, anti-fungal, antiviral, and antibacterial properties.

• Colds, Flu, and Allergies

As an antiseptic, garlic recipes can help boost your immune system to fight off colds and flu. As an anti-inflammatory, garlic can also quickly quell the body aches and pains associated with colds and flu. A routine daily supplement of garlic can improve seasonal allergies, too.

• Respiratory Conditions And Coughs

Garlic has a long history with treating respiratory ailments. Chronic and acute coughs can be helped by drinking a mixture of honey and garlic, saving you from having to use commercial cough syrups. Garlic also thins mucus that causes breathing difficulties, asthmatic-symptoms, and sinus congestion. Its anti-inflammatory properties help to soothe the throat, bronchi, and sinus swelling associated with upper respiratory infections.

•  Cardiovascular System

The cardiovascular system and garlic also have a long history. Routinely consuming garlic is thought to improve cardiovascular health. It regulates the flow of blood by acting as a vasodilator to widen the blood vessels. It also cleanses the arteries.

These functions improve good cholesterol levels, reduces bad cholesterol levels, and can help regulate hypertensive episodes. For cardiovascular health, crush one to two cloves of garlic each morning 30 minutes or more before breakfast.

• Arthritis

Arthritis was once thought to be an ailment of age and health decline. Now, we know that arthritis can affect people of all ages and healths. Symptoms of arthritis, including pain, inflammation, tenderness, and stiffness, can limit your extracurricular activity levels and even be crippling to your routine activities of daily living.

To combat arthritis with garlic’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, crush one to two cloves 30 minutes before your breakfast each morning. Try to routinely incorporate moderate amounts of garlic into your lunch and evening meals at least twice a week, too.

• Fungal Infections

Garlic’s anti-fungal properties are attributed to a phytochemical called allicin, which is released when garlic is crushed or chopped. Most substances have difficulty penetrating the skin and nails to reach the source of the fungal infection.

Garlic, however, can easily penetrate to the source of the ringworm, athletes foot, and toenail fungal infection. Apply crushed garlic, garlic oil, or garlic gel to the affected area several times a day until all signs of the fungal infection have cleared.

• Bites, Rashes, And Wounds

Apply a clove of garlic to combat the poison and soothe the inflammation of insect bites and skin rashes. In short supply of medical materials, did you know that garlic was widely used during WWII as an antiseptic agent for battlefield wounds?

Subsequent research has confirmed garlic to be a potent antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-fungal, and that it’s effective against several other types of microbes and even stomach worms.

• Teeth

Ancient people packed rotten and infected teeth with garlic as a way to relieve pain and inflammation and treat an infection. Rub garlic oil around the gum area of an achy tooth.

• Generalized Pain

Body aches and pains can be alleviated by putting a slice of raw garlic in your ear. You can apply a few drops of garlic oil on a cotton ball and place it in your ear if you’d rather. Yes, this may sound more like an episode of ‘crazy things toddlers stick in their orifices,’ but it’s legit. And, yes, you will smell like garlic, but at least you’ll be minus the body aches and pains.

You’ll feel the heat from the garlic radiate into your body to bring you relief. Leave the garlic in your ear for a few hours or overnight.

Are you eating, smearing, or sticking garlic in your ear? Which medicinal use do you need garlic for today? Tell us about your experience, thoughts, and questions in the comment section, and always feel free to pass this information along to others you think would find it useful!

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!