Of course! Tannin is a wonderful natural remedy! My grandmother used to treat our bad sunburns with cool dark tea brewed for the occasion.

If your son is off to college soon, he is old enough to realize himself that he needs to have a solution for this little problem. Maybe he can do some research on line. This is a life-long issue for me, and I solve it with at least 3 different kinds of fruit every day, sometimes hidden in trail mix, morning oats (I admit to eating steel-cut oats every single day, which takes care of much of the problem, and isn't likely to be the choice of a 17-yr old boy). Dried figs are nature's miracle food, because they're full of potassium as well as being good for what ails ya (and him). Lots of really good stuff can be hidden in granola/power bars, oatmeal-raisin cookies (I cut the sugar way down, and add a dash of blackstrap molasses. MMmm, Mmm, good!).

My current ailment is a recurrance of a problem that seems to pop up on and off through out the year. My sinuses swell up, even though there's not much goop in them, my head gets heavy and achy, my throat dries out, and I'm just exhausted most of the time. I've had everything checked out medically and nothing turns up. I'm trying to increase my water intake, I'm already humidifying every room in the house, and next I'm determined to increase my daily dose of fresh air. Wish me luck!