Good for: You. Your dogs. Buy a hand of ginger (that multi-branched root you see here) locally. Use a spoon to gently carve off the bark, then dice a 1/2 to a full teaspoonful per dog based on the dog's weight.

Backstory: It started when I went to our vet and my Jack Russell, Jack, who is losing his eyesight, had a bad stomach and was uncharacteristically pooping loosely in the house. He gave Jack antibiotics. But the antibiotics were ototoxic and within days Jack was deaf. But mostly for his sake I haven't seen this vet again. In the interim, I discovered ginger. Turns out that for us and for dogs it settles the stomach gently and quickly. Sailors sometimes keep ginger snap cookies around for this reason. Now, whenever any of the three of our rescues has a bad tummy—they get diced ginger mixed into their food. Oh. And for the ototoxicity… Should this ever happen to a dog friend of yours try oil from Omega-3 capsules in their food. Jack is getting his hearing back. It's taken months, but it's happening. His new vet will hear all about it.

Good for: You. One of the worst things for those of us who work on athleticism is sore muscles. The second worst thing is the smell of the remedies. Penetrex actually works quickly with a completely tolerable scent. Need this fast?

Backstory: Over the years, between surfing and running and box jumps at the gym my cartilage has become flat as tin. I'm walking around fine and occasionally use hyaluronic acid. People don't really talk about what hurts and that's the muscles. When I got the diagnosis seven years ago, I started going to spin classes and the muscles around my legs got pretty strong and allow me to keep going including playing tennis without a brace most of the time. But occasionally those muscles really get beat up stretched and sore. I've tried a bunch of remedies. Nothing works as well. Give it a whirl.

Tools & Tactics