You can make a very useful, flexible ice pack with a towel. Dunk a hand towel in cold water, wring it out until it is damp, not dripping. Place the wet towel on aluminum foil in the freezer.

Before it freezes stiff (about a half-hour), take it out and shape it around the bruised or injured body part that needs a cold compress. This beats a frozen bag of peas for a sprained joint that aches in multiple areas.

Find more do-it-yourself help for daily aches and pains:

• Hands-On Help for Tension Headaches
• The Heat Compress That Cures Cramps
• Ginger Bath for Aches and Pains

Fatigue, anxiety and stress can trigger headaches. For fast relief, brew one cup of green tea and add sprigs of fresh mint. You can use either spearmint or peppermint. If you don’t have fresh mint available, use a peppermint or spearmint tea bag. Combine a bag each of green tea and mint tea to make a powerful brew that will diminish your headache in about 15 minutes.

If you wash your clothes at a laundromat or use any other kind of public washing machine, add ½ cup of mouthwash to the wash cycle to disinfect the machine (and your clothing).

We carry peppermints or cough drops when we go out, just in case one of us gets that slight feeling of nausea. We find that the strong candies help make the nausea disappear as they settle the stomach. Here’s another good idea: When you’re feeling nauseous, sniff a piece of lemon or orange peel. To intensify the scent, squeeze it as you sniff.