Most Unusual Home Remedy or Treatment You have witnessed ..

[WolfmanHarris]

Some of these home remedies seem kinda funny, others interesting, and the gargling bleach just plain scary.

But I was thinking about the prevalence of alternative medicine in a lot of people's lives and got thinking. I try to maintain an open mind on these things (though I'm more than skeptical about those tinctures with essence of anything as chemically they're water) and not to judge to harshly as some of these remedies may actually work.

We also need to take them seriously because of some of the herbs and plants used in natural remedies that might present real complications for us. The example that got me thinking on this was the Atroppa Belladonna plants, famous for atropine but used by some for headache, GERD, menstral cramps and other symptoms. What sort of complications could this potentially create?

What other alternative remedies do you know of that could have significant reactions with medical treatment pre or in hospital?

[firedoc5]

I know certain mosses, mustard greens, turnips, and other plants have been used for centuries for numerous illness's. I just can't remember which one's though. I wish I listened to my great-grandmother more. She was raised in the back hills of Arkansas. When she passed away she was just shy of 103. So she must have done something right.

[okmedic]

There is a woman here that has seizures. She carries an onion in her purse everywhere she goes because she says that if she feels a seizure coming on she can smell the onion and sometimes it keeps her from having one. I hate running on her for obvious reasons....

[toutdoors]

My grandmother's Rx for an ingrown toenail is to soak a small piece of bread in milk, place bread on affected toe nail bed, wrap with bandage, put sock on and go to bed. Wake up in the morning and ingrown is gone. My mother did it to me once as a kid and it worked. I did it twice in the Corps also and it worked. Just don't try to make french toast out of the used bread for breakfast.

[firedoc5]

My grandmother's Rx for an ingrown toenail is to soak a small piece of bread in milk, place bread on affected toe nail bed, wrap with bandage, put sock on and go to bed. Wake up in the morning and ingrown is gone. My mother did it to me once as a kid and it worked. I did it twice in the Corps also and it worked. Just don't try to make french toast out of the used bread for breakfast.

That's a complete new one for me. I'll have to keep that in mind.

[spenac]

That's a complete new one for me. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Just remember to make french toast. :twisted:

[sirduke]

How about using WD-40 on aching joints, know several people who swear by it.

[spenac]

How about using WD-40 on aching joints, know several people who swear by it.

Works great. Probably toxic but pain relief is wonderful.

[WolfmanHarris]

So I mentioned earlier being curious about the effects some alternative/natural remedies would have on treatments/interventions in western medicine. While reading up on dysrhythmias tonight I came across a note on verapamil (Ca+ channel blocker) with regards to grapefruit juice and hawthorn. Apparently grapefruit juice can increase varapamil levels, which didn't surprise me too much, but I had to look up hawthorn.

Hawthorn

Apparently Hawthorn is used to

cure insomnia, prevent miscarriage, heart ailments, strengthening muscles, prevent arteriosclerosis, angina, poor heart action and for treating nervousness. Hawthorn is a cardio (heart) tonic and is used for its stimulating and sedating properties. Hawthorn increases blood flow to the heart by dilating the coronary arteries, lowers blood pressure and eases the heart's workload by dilating arteries in the arms and legs, and increases the force of the heart's contractions. It strengthens the force of each contraction of the heart and slows the heart rate down when necessary. Hawthorn in combination with other herbs may help to reduce anxiety and anxious mood. Hawthorn is effective for curing insomnia. Hawthorn is used to prevent miscarriage and for treating nervousness. Infusions from the flowers or leaves help improve poor circulation and restore blood pressure to normal levels. Hawthorn, combined with ginkgo biloba, is used to enhance poor memory by improving the blood circulation within the head, thereby increasing the amount of oxygen to the brain. Hawthorn has also been used as an active ingredient for revitalization and regeneration, regulation, and stimulation of the immune system and in the early metaphylaxis of treated cancer patients.

So when a Pt. on a Ca+ blocker also has a long list of supplements and is presenting with hypotension, this might be something to look for when considering underlying cause.

[Michael]

NY Times, January 5, 2009

For Privacy's Sake, Taking Risks to End Pregnancy

>One study surveyed 1,200 women, mostly Latinas, in New York, Boston and San Francisco and is expected to be released in the spring; the other, by Planned Parenthood, involved a series of focus groups with 32 Dominican women in New York and Santo Domingo. Together, they found reports of women mixing malted beverages with aspirin, salt or nutmeg; throwing themselves down stairs or having people punch them in the stomach; and drinking teas of avocado leaf, pine wood, oak bark and mamon fruit peel.

Interviews with several community leaders and individual women in Washington Heights echoed the findings, and revealed even more unconventional methods like “juice de jeans,” a noxious brew made by boiling denim hems.<