Sunday, January 29, 2006
I Always Knew.
Doug's comment here gave me an idea for this post.
Home remedies. (sorry Doug I have no clue what one would use chinese elm sap for, or even what a chinese elm is).
I grew up on home remedies. In the days pre-dating universal healthcare, a lower income family didn't dash to the out patients clinic for every little sniffle, scrape, and inflammation. If blood wasn't spurting out of a major artery, or a limb wasn't dangling at an odd angle, Nurse (mum) Ratchet dealt with it, (or worse, Dr. (dad) Moreau).
Earaches (this will probably give Doug fits), were usually dealt with by my Mum. She'd put some olive oil on a teaspoon and wave a match under it a few times to warm it up. Then she'd pour it in our ears. wad in a piece of cotton wool and that was the end of it. Well no, there was the incessant lecture 'I told you not to go out in the cold' etc. Oddly enough it always worked. It was simply a wee ache, no infection involved, (but then I can't ever remember any of us kids being on antibiotics, we were extremely healthy). The home remedy involved? Keep your ears dry. Never go out into the cold with water in your ears.
You may scoff, but my son, a freak compared to his peers, didn't have a single ear infection until he was four. That's it, one ear infection at 4 when all his friends it seems got them as regularly as colds. I always dried his ears and hair before we went out (or we wouldn't go until all was dry), and I always ensured he wore his hat. Thankfully I had a very passive child, nothing much phased him and he wasn't constantly pulling at his hats. (Didn't hurt that -40º temps tend to encourage kids to leave the damn things on).
Salt water. I can't remember a single cut or scrape that wasn't cleansed with salt water before a bandaid was placed on it. If the area around the cut looked red and angry the scab was soaked off, the wound cleaned, and salve placed on it. I can't even remember what these salves were but they were over the counter. Wounds were treated morning and night until a nice 'healthy' scab grew over. For larger bodily injuries, oh let's say you went head first over the handle bars of your bike and scraped your entire right side on the asphalt. Well, weather permitting you were marched down to the beach to soak, if it was winter, salt was poured into the tub and Mum worried at getting the dirt out (trust me the beach was by far the better option).
Every Sunday us kids were lined up and dosed with three things: a tblsp of cod liver oil (but we didn't have those lovely measuring spoons available today, this was a frickin ladle, a large serving spoon that looked more like a shovel load as it approached your mouth). Something called milk of magnesia. I have no idea what it is or what it does, or what it was meant to prevent. And last but not least, a powder that tasted somehwat like licorice (although Mum called it sulphur powder or somesuch). Weird i know, but did I mention how healthy we were as kids?
Chest congestions were treated with vicks salve (shudder) a slathering of it over your chest, and if that didn't ease your breathing, you got a (double shudder) mustard plaster put on your chest.
We were a rambunctious lot, and the folks couldn't be dashing down and getting stitches for every little thing that required it. The cure? after stopping the majority of the blood and cleansing thoroughly, the skin was pinched together and taped closed. As horrified as you may be, again this worked 99% of the time. The key, as my Mum reiterated time and again, was to ensure that the wound remained CLEAN.
I am not by any means suggesting anyone should substitute seeking a doctor, just that in my parent's day home remedies were the first line of defense. If things got worse, of course they sought medical help. They were poor not stupid. But My mum's medicine cabinet was chocker block full of stuff and I'm ashamed to say that my own small supply of medicines pale in comparison. She even had an eye bath, and a small enamel kidney basin. There were cheesecloth as well as tensor bandages. She always had a box of cotton balls, as well as a roll of cotton wool (do any of you even remember what those looked like?). There were treated plasters that came in tins, some for burns some for other stuff that thankfully was never used on me. Tweezers, several kinds, a thermometer that no one could read (if indeed anyone even knew what normal body temperature was), just that 100º+ was bad. It was never used btw, Mum (and now I) just used her lips to determine if we were abnormally hot. Fevers were treated with tepid baths to bring our temperatures down, as often as was required. (and two years ago this came in very handy with my son who had a raging temp, and we had to give him baths before he could take his meds, otherwise he'd just throw everything up again)
I guess none of these are home remedies so much as first aid. Yet it's held up well as I've dealt with my own child's ailments and oopsies over the years. Thankfully, the spawn is apparently as healthy as I was as a child. There are more, and I wish I could remember them all. I know on more than one occassion the spawn has been ailing and I thought back to what my mother did--9 times out of 10 her 'remedy' worked.
So share some of your own home rememdies, or home first aid with me.
X
Home remedies. (sorry Doug I have no clue what one would use chinese elm sap for, or even what a chinese elm is).
I grew up on home remedies. In the days pre-dating universal healthcare, a lower income family didn't dash to the out patients clinic for every little sniffle, scrape, and inflammation. If blood wasn't spurting out of a major artery, or a limb wasn't dangling at an odd angle, Nurse (mum) Ratchet dealt with it, (or worse, Dr. (dad) Moreau).
Earaches (this will probably give Doug fits), were usually dealt with by my Mum. She'd put some olive oil on a teaspoon and wave a match under it a few times to warm it up. Then she'd pour it in our ears. wad in a piece of cotton wool and that was the end of it. Well no, there was the incessant lecture 'I told you not to go out in the cold' etc. Oddly enough it always worked. It was simply a wee ache, no infection involved, (but then I can't ever remember any of us kids being on antibiotics, we were extremely healthy). The home remedy involved? Keep your ears dry. Never go out into the cold with water in your ears.
You may scoff, but my son, a freak compared to his peers, didn't have a single ear infection until he was four. That's it, one ear infection at 4 when all his friends it seems got them as regularly as colds. I always dried his ears and hair before we went out (or we wouldn't go until all was dry), and I always ensured he wore his hat. Thankfully I had a very passive child, nothing much phased him and he wasn't constantly pulling at his hats. (Didn't hurt that -40º temps tend to encourage kids to leave the damn things on).
Salt water. I can't remember a single cut or scrape that wasn't cleansed with salt water before a bandaid was placed on it. If the area around the cut looked red and angry the scab was soaked off, the wound cleaned, and salve placed on it. I can't even remember what these salves were but they were over the counter. Wounds were treated morning and night until a nice 'healthy' scab grew over. For larger bodily injuries, oh let's say you went head first over the handle bars of your bike and scraped your entire right side on the asphalt. Well, weather permitting you were marched down to the beach to soak, if it was winter, salt was poured into the tub and Mum worried at getting the dirt out (trust me the beach was by far the better option).
Every Sunday us kids were lined up and dosed with three things: a tblsp of cod liver oil (but we didn't have those lovely measuring spoons available today, this was a frickin ladle, a large serving spoon that looked more like a shovel load as it approached your mouth). Something called milk of magnesia. I have no idea what it is or what it does, or what it was meant to prevent. And last but not least, a powder that tasted somehwat like licorice (although Mum called it sulphur powder or somesuch). Weird i know, but did I mention how healthy we were as kids?
Chest congestions were treated with vicks salve (shudder) a slathering of it over your chest, and if that didn't ease your breathing, you got a (double shudder) mustard plaster put on your chest.
We were a rambunctious lot, and the folks couldn't be dashing down and getting stitches for every little thing that required it. The cure? after stopping the majority of the blood and cleansing thoroughly, the skin was pinched together and taped closed. As horrified as you may be, again this worked 99% of the time. The key, as my Mum reiterated time and again, was to ensure that the wound remained CLEAN.
I am not by any means suggesting anyone should substitute seeking a doctor, just that in my parent's day home remedies were the first line of defense. If things got worse, of course they sought medical help. They were poor not stupid. But My mum's medicine cabinet was chocker block full of stuff and I'm ashamed to say that my own small supply of medicines pale in comparison. She even had an eye bath, and a small enamel kidney basin. There were cheesecloth as well as tensor bandages. She always had a box of cotton balls, as well as a roll of cotton wool (do any of you even remember what those looked like?). There were treated plasters that came in tins, some for burns some for other stuff that thankfully was never used on me. Tweezers, several kinds, a thermometer that no one could read (if indeed anyone even knew what normal body temperature was), just that 100º+ was bad. It was never used btw, Mum (and now I) just used her lips to determine if we were abnormally hot. Fevers were treated with tepid baths to bring our temperatures down, as often as was required. (and two years ago this came in very handy with my son who had a raging temp, and we had to give him baths before he could take his meds, otherwise he'd just throw everything up again)
I guess none of these are home remedies so much as first aid. Yet it's held up well as I've dealt with my own child's ailments and oopsies over the years. Thankfully, the spawn is apparently as healthy as I was as a child. There are more, and I wish I could remember them all. I know on more than one occassion the spawn has been ailing and I thought back to what my mother did--9 times out of 10 her 'remedy' worked.
So share some of your own home rememdies, or home first aid with me.
X
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None of we kids ever went to ER, although we did see doctors occasionally. But yes, the standard home treatments were the usual for us - and I still use them.
Sore throats - gargle salty water.
Colds - vicks vaporub, and plenty of fluids
Headaches - cold cloths on the forehead and back of the neck
The only one I never managed to work out the logic of was my grandmother's response of putting butter on banged foreheads. And the butter always messed up my hair.
We developed a 'new' family remedy when I was a teenager - for sore throats (after gargling with salty water), a square of Cadbury's dairy milk chocolate, sucked slowly so that it melted and slid down the throat. My mother liked this one, so now a block of choc is a standard purchase when one has a cold ;-)
Sore throats - gargle salty water.
Colds - vicks vaporub, and plenty of fluids
Headaches - cold cloths on the forehead and back of the neck
The only one I never managed to work out the logic of was my grandmother's response of putting butter on banged foreheads. And the butter always messed up my hair.
We developed a 'new' family remedy when I was a teenager - for sore throats (after gargling with salty water), a square of Cadbury's dairy milk chocolate, sucked slowly so that it melted and slid down the throat. My mother liked this one, so now a block of choc is a standard purchase when one has a cold ;-)
I have a book about home remedies! I use one part water, one part vinegar for mild earaches and swimmer's ear--the vinegar provides an unfriendly environment for bacteria. And I use one part water, one part alcohol to dry a wet ear canal out.
You can snuffle salt water up your nose for sinusitis. NOT pleasant, but it helps get the gook out.
Chicken soup definitely shortens a cold.
A dab of table salt shortens the duration of canker sores in the mouth.
But my biggest home remedy is rest. It's amazing what some extra sleep can do.
More! more! I love home remedies.
You can snuffle salt water up your nose for sinusitis. NOT pleasant, but it helps get the gook out.
Chicken soup definitely shortens a cold.
A dab of table salt shortens the duration of canker sores in the mouth.
But my biggest home remedy is rest. It's amazing what some extra sleep can do.
More! more! I love home remedies.
Oh yes, the salt water cures were used for everything. Some years my Mum suffered horribly from hay fever and she did the salt water thing through her nose, horrible, but it did provide some relief.
When I got my ears pierced they put in hoops not studs. I was sent home with the instructions to bathe the ears morning and night with salt water, to place vaseline around the holes, and to turn the hoops as much as possible during the day. I still have pierced ears and I rarely wear earrings.
One time I got a nasty sty (stye?) and the docs advice was to take a Q-tip, (we called them cotton buds), and hot salty water, as hot as I could stand it. and dab at the sty for 10-15 minutes a day.
When I got my ears pierced they put in hoops not studs. I was sent home with the instructions to bathe the ears morning and night with salt water, to place vaseline around the holes, and to turn the hoops as much as possible during the day. I still have pierced ears and I rarely wear earrings.
One time I got a nasty sty (stye?) and the docs advice was to take a Q-tip, (we called them cotton buds), and hot salty water, as hot as I could stand it. and dab at the sty for 10-15 minutes a day.
Is it no wonder then, that salt was reserved for kings in days of yore, and that our word "salary" comes from the days when Roman soldiers were paid with salt!
Salt preserves meat and cures infections--the leading cause of death in the olden days. It's the wonder drug. Like Aspirin.
Another interesting thing: Cinnamon kills Ecoli on contact. I suppose that's why it's used in so many Middle Eastern, Indian, and Mexican dishes. The warmth of those countries would make it hard to preserve meat.
My mother-in-law swears by Bailey's Irish Cream as a profilactic against food poisoning, and I'd have to agree. Got a roiling stomach? Take a dram and see me in the morning! LOL.
Salt preserves meat and cures infections--the leading cause of death in the olden days. It's the wonder drug. Like Aspirin.
Another interesting thing: Cinnamon kills Ecoli on contact. I suppose that's why it's used in so many Middle Eastern, Indian, and Mexican dishes. The warmth of those countries would make it hard to preserve meat.
My mother-in-law swears by Bailey's Irish Cream as a profilactic against food poisoning, and I'd have to agree. Got a roiling stomach? Take a dram and see me in the morning! LOL.
I know this is bizarre, but for a cold or chest congestion, my grandmother used to give us a teaspoon of sugar with a few drops of kerosene. Yes, kerosene. I thought for sure I had remembered this wrong and asked her a few years ago (before her death) if she did that and she said, "Of course. Your grandfather always made sure we had a jar do 'clean kerosene' for that purpose." I have no idea how they decided it was 'clean'. But I gotta say, it worked.
Yep X I had the olive oil for ear aches.
We always had to put "red paint" (mecurachrome???0 on our cuts and grazes. My dad still uses it.
Yep gargling salt water for sore throats.
We always had to put "red paint" (mecurachrome???0 on our cuts and grazes. My dad still uses it.
Yep gargling salt water for sore throats.
...and for sunburns? a mixture of 1 part water to 1 part vinegar, placed in a bottle, shaken to mix well, then sprayed on. took the sunburn out every time. of course, i smelled like a dill pickle, but it worked.
an aspirin placed on a sore tooth followed by a small tea bag as a compress once the aspirin disolved...
someone blowing smoke into your ear for an earache...
an aspirin placed on a sore tooth followed by a small tea bag as a compress once the aspirin disolved...
someone blowing smoke into your ear for an earache...
Some of these things have a solid basis in reality. Olive oil, for example: the warmth is soothing, and the oil is good for the skin. If olive oil has any antibacterial or antifungal properties, I'm not aware of it, but I would not be surprised, either.
Salt water: there are a couple of possibilities. Cleansing a wound is always a good idea, since you are reducing the bacterial load, and you are potentially getting rid of contaminants which could act as a source of infection. If it's salty enough, it will also 'shock' the bacteria (and your tissue, too, of course).
Vinegar: yes, acidifying the ear canal is a good thing. Vinegar definitely has antifungal and antibacterial properties. I advise my patients to make a 1:3 dilution (white vinegar:water).
If there's a hole in the ear drum, olive oil and vinegar are BAD ideas.
Neat fact: in the oooooold days, one home remedy for ear infection was urine in the ear. Again, the idea was to acidify the canal. Most folks prefer vinegar ;o)
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Salt water: there are a couple of possibilities. Cleansing a wound is always a good idea, since you are reducing the bacterial load, and you are potentially getting rid of contaminants which could act as a source of infection. If it's salty enough, it will also 'shock' the bacteria (and your tissue, too, of course).
Vinegar: yes, acidifying the ear canal is a good thing. Vinegar definitely has antifungal and antibacterial properties. I advise my patients to make a 1:3 dilution (white vinegar:water).
If there's a hole in the ear drum, olive oil and vinegar are BAD ideas.
Neat fact: in the oooooold days, one home remedy for ear infection was urine in the ear. Again, the idea was to acidify the canal. Most folks prefer vinegar ;o)
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