At-home summer remedies

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Fast fixes for summertime ailments

Learn how simple ingredients found in your home could help soothe common summer ailments like sunburn and swimmer’s ear

Whether you are at the beach, the park or even in your own backyard – unexpected twists can put a bump in your summer fun.

Behar Taktechchian, editor-at-large for Shape Magazine, talked to FoxNews.com about some fast fixes for common summer ailments.

1. Been in the sun all day long, and look like a lobster?
“Pop an ibuprofen – that is going to help with inflammation, and it’s going to help ease any throbbing you’re experiencing,” Taktechchian said. “And a great at-home remedy is very easy. You add corn starch to water: 1 tablespoon of each and put this right on the burn for 10 minutes and you're going to notice that there is immediately some soothing.”

2. Feeling itchy after your nature hike? Don’t let poison ivy ruin the rest of your summer days. 
Get the residue off your skin first, Taktechchian said.
“You can use rubbing alcohol or you can use a nice medicated scrub,” she added. “Next you want to make sure you jump in the shower. This is the only way you can really prevent yourself from spreading the oily residue to the rest of your skin or to someone else.”

3. Did a swim in the water leave you with a jellyfish sting?
“Put that affected area back in the sea water, or you can dip it in some white vinegar,” Taktechchian said. “What that's going to do is its going to de-activate the stingers. Another at-home remedy  is to take some shaving cream, put it on your skin, and that's going to prevent the sacs of venom from spreading and releasing more toxins.... and you take it off with a business card or a credit card.”

4. Swimmer’s ear is a common summer ailment, but there is a remedy right in your kitchen.
“All you need is a little bit of white vinegar and a dropper,” she said. “You put this in your ear twice a day for two days, and you should see that the infection will go away.”

For more at-home remedies, visit Shape.com.