By BARBARA HOFFMAN - May 08, 2001 -- IF you've ever chased a screaming child with a pin, trying to extract her splinter, you'll go bananas over this: Take a piece of banana peel, tape it to the kid's skin - and watch the splinter surface the next morning.
Bananas, onions, cayenne and more are the remedies of choice in the new book, "Gentle Healing for Baby and Child." Written by herbalist Andrea Candee with David Andrusia, it offers natural solutions for everything from asthma to wart removal.
The book couldn't have come at a better time. Several months ago the Food and Drug Administration yanked about 30 medications, many aimed at children, which contained phenylpropanolamine, linked to bleeding in the brain.
Meanwhile, concern over the frequent use of antibiotics continues to rise. Studies here and abroad have shown that kids recovered from sinus and middle-ear infections as quickly or even more quickly without medication than with it - and are less likely to suffer later infections or side effects.
"Medications, in essence, are helpful poisons," says Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona. "The biggest advantage of herbs is that they're less toxic."
As clinical program director for Beth Israel Hospital's Center for Health and Healing, Mehl-Madrona uses herbs like white willow bark, valerian and skullcap in his work with autistic children, who tend to be sensitive to "mainstream" medications that can make them hyper.
"I'm not opposed to mainstream medicine - in the emergency room, it's magnificent," says author Candee. "But I am opposed to the overuse of pharmaceuticals."
Candee, who lives and practices in Westchester County, traces her interest in herbs back to the late '60s, when her father had a major coronary and was put on several medications to lower cholesterol. So severe were their side effects that she pursued alternatives that wouldn't make him sick.
"Back then all we had was Prevention magazine and [nutritionist and author] Adelle Davis," she says. "My father wasn't impressed." But Candee kept on, studying at places like Utah's School of Natural Healing and apprenticing with master herbalists until she became one, too.
Her sons, now 23 and 30, are her "lifelong experiments," she laughs.
She found that yellow onions healed their bruises, while powdered ginger -sprinkled generously into their bathwater - relieved aching muscles. Echinacea and garlic were her favorite cold remedies, and went down well with juice.
"My kids were used to getting shot glasses of herbs - in fact, they went off to college with their shot glasses," she says. "I hoped they were only putting herbs in them!"
One downside of herbal remedies, Candee concedes, is that they need to be taken more frequently than mainstream medications; another is that herbs, unlike prescription and over-the-counter drugs, aren't regulated. So saying, Candee sticks to the companies she trusts, including Gaia, Quantum, Rainbow Light and Herb Pharm.
And there's no substitute for medical help in an emergency - when a child can't breathe or breaks a bone. "Vigilance is absolutely key," she says. "If your child's condition isn't improving with natural methods, seek medical help."
As for that trick with the banana - also good for dislodging bee stingers and glass - make sure you're neat about it: "If it's drippy and messy, [your kids] will never let you at them again."
