Most Unusual Home Remedy or Treatment You have witnessed ..

[bigj1130]

I've seen quite a few of the ones already mentioned, The rubbing alcohol and the coining I've also seen the root on the chest although I can not remember its name. I have also seen cupping. That's where they took the cups and created a suction on the person's back. Needless to say it generated a call to child services, but I found out it is a common Eastern Practice to "suck out" the toxins. I have also seen people super glue lacs prior to our arrival.

[Arkymedic]

That is what super glue was originally made for. Many mechanics or technical type people will put electrical tape over them after using super glue.

I've seen quite a few of the ones already mentioned, The rubbing alcohol and the coining I've also seen the root on the chest although I can not remember its name. I have also seen cupping. That's where they took the cups and created a suction on the person's back. Needless to say it generated a call to child services, but I found out it is a common Eastern Practice to "suck out" the toxins. I have also seen people super glue lacs prior to our arrival.

[Arkymedic]

We have a considerable Hispanic population here and a trend I have noticed is the use of aloe vera juice. I know aloe vera plants have a lot of healing power, but what I have seen is when a serious or life threatening injury/illness occurs, they drink gallons of aloe vera juice instead of calling us or going to the ER.

[spenac]

Strangest one I saw was on a hispanic gent who lac'ed his L. FA open with a table saw. From the looks of the ground, it was bleeding bad, but when we got there, the family (who no one spoke english...of course :twisted: ) had put sugar on the wound to stop the bleeding. It worked...when we got there, there was VERY little bleeding. So...we were stuck with a situation...irrigate the wound and blow the clot out, or leave the sugar in place (which had totally congealed by then) and let the bacteria munch on it for the trip to the ED. Short story long, we left it in place and let the hospital irrigate it (Pt went to OR for the irrigation...wound was VERY deep).

People also put coffee on cuts as a clotting agent.

[paraloco]

I've seen a large laceration packed with all-purpose flour (didn't work). There was a woman in her 40's who had been drinking straight vinegar for days to try to drop her blood pressure (didn't work. nothing I tried did either(before we had nitro drips, labetalol, or captopril) and she had a big ol' cerebral bleed, screamed really loud just once, then went unconscious as I was telling the charge nurse about her.) I'm probably committing all manner of grammatical errors here. I ran across cough syrup made with Jack Daniels and peppermint candy. I'll be wringing my brain for more.

[firedoc5]

We have a considerable Hispanic population here and a trend I have noticed is the use of aloe vera juice. I know aloe vera plants have a lot of healing power, but what I have seen is when a serious or life threatening injury/illness occurs, they drink gallons of aloe vera juice instead of calling us or going to the ER.

Growing up we gad aloe vera all the time. My mother even had her own plants. But I can say for minor burns, skin rashes, sun burn, it helps a lot. Guess I didn't mention it because it seemed normal to me and didn't consider it anusual treatment.

[Happiness]

Since I live in a native community I have seen a few. One that works for a sore throat is layer sliced onions and brown sugar in a mason jar and put in the fridge. Once the juice starts to form have a table spoon.

The other one is simmering u wood (which is highly toxic) for 3 days and then you drink it (there is more to it than is sounds). This is suppose to be good for blood diseases. My mother in law did this after she found out that she had lukemia (was given 6 weeks) and she lived for an extra 3 years and I have to say I have never seen anyone that was so sick be so active up until the last day of her life.

There are so many different plants here it makes it a haven for the home made remedies.

[Eydawn]

Wintergreen berries for muscle soreness on a hike in the Midwest... Sassafras root peeled and chewed for wisdom tooth pain... mullein leaf (Indian toilet paper) steeped in hot water for loss of voice or sore throat... wild sage chewed for a few minutes to open up clogged sinuses...

I've done all of these and they all worked remarkably well. Wintergreen berries taste wonderful and contain a methylsalicylate similar to ASA. Sassafras has a deliciously spicy taste similar to root beer, and it numbs your mouth really well when you're aching or have canker sores or encapsulated wisdom teeth. Don't swallow it... just chew a small piece about the size of a chiclet until it loses its flavor. My Mennonite friend who's good with plants turned me on to this one.

Mullein tea was a godsend my first summer on camp staff. Plenty of it growing all around us... pick the younger leaves if possible, rinse well. Place into a thermos cup, pour hot water over the leaves, close cup and let steep for 10 minutes. Open drinking port on thermos, drink hot liquid. Don't eat the leaves at the bottom. I went from literally NO voice to being able to teach three first aid classes (to over 80 kids a pop) in a row. I love that stuff. It smells like ass, but it really just tastes like weak green tea.

We also had a lot of wild sage growing in with the mullein... pick a sprig, crush it and smell it first to make sure you know it's sage, then chew the sprig for a few minutes. Pretty bitter but it will open you up pretty quickly... and it doesn't leave you jittery like Sudafed does.

And of course, there's always wild green onions... MMM..... that's not an herbal remedy, unless you count supplanting a Sodexho camp diet with fresh greens as a remedy...

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[EMS49393]

My Mom's family was a hard-working, simple, farming type people from southern PA. They used a lot of the home remedies I've read here. The worst home remedy I've ever encountered was done to me when I was a small child by my maternal grandmother. Somehow I had gotten into some poison ivy playing in their yard, and I came in with a gigantic rash covering my entire leg. I was miserable. I was really miserable when my Gram got out the white vinegar and salt. She rubbed that stuff on my leg, and I swore I was on fire. After a lot of bawling and some home-made, hand-churned vanilla ice cream, I settled down and finally went to sleep smelling like a boardwalk fry. I woke up the next morning, still smelly, but nearly healed of the rash. Sometimes old people are really smart.

The strangest call I've run involving a home remedy was last summer when I was called because the patient had a ringing in their ears. I get on scene to find this somewhat slow older female that stated she had put a metal earring back inside her ear canal and has been unsuccessful getting it out. She said some old man she plays bingo with told her to put a small piece of metal in her ear to stop the ringing. She also told us that she had this ringing sensation for over 20 years. Anyway, after she tried it, she said the ringing was worse, and that her ear was sore. She used keys, scissors, tweezers, and toothpicks to get the earring back out and all she managed to do was bloody up her ear canal. I didn't have the right equipment to even see well down her ear, especially after she had torn up the soft tissue. I ended up transporting her to the ER. By dumb luck the on-call ENT was down in the ER seeing another patient when we arrived. I'm pretty sure the patient was discharged before we were even back in service.

[spenac]

Step on a rusty nail soak your foot in kerosene.