Alternative meds? You'll never believe this one!!

elizabells, BSN, RN · Jun 12, 2006

My baby girl was up crying with the hiccups one night. Called my parents in desperation. Dad said to rub a little sugar on her tongue. It worked! No hiccups. We've passeded this family remedy for hiccups for years and everyone who tried it had good results. Go figure!

For an older kid, a teaspoon of sugar in the mouth (have to let it dissolve, NO swallowing) works well too. I convinced my mom to do this when I was a kid (hippie parents, didn't let us have much sugar) and it totally worked! I still use this.

grace90, LPN, LVN · Jun 12, 2006

i've use breastmilk (my own) to cure my children's conjunctivitis. works beautifully.

I did that, too, when my oldest and youngest were babies, and it cleared it right up.

grace90, LPN, LVN · Jun 12, 2006

I make rosemary vinegar by soaking dried or fresh rosemary in white distilled vinegar for several days and keep it in my kitchen. When I feel a UTI coming on, which I'm pretty prone to, I take several teaspoons over the coorifice of a few hours and it knocks it right out. It has also knocked out my 6 year old daughters UTI's as well.

I eat garlic cloves and hot peppers when I get a cold or sinus infection.

My sister-in-law came from China in 1997 and she brought a big container of extremely hot peppers with her and when she was pregnant with her first child she would eat a little whenever she was nauseated.

worknurse · Jul 1, 2006

At our internal medicine clinic we've been recommending bufferred hypertonic sinus irrigations for sinus infection/congestion of less than 10d without fever. 3tsp sea salt +1tsp of sodium bicarb in one quart of water in a clean mason jar (with lid). Pour about 1/4 c in a separate bowl so as not to contaminate the main solution. Draw up the solution with a bulb syringe and direct the flow towards the back of head thru each nares into the sinus cavity. The hypertonic solution will shrink the mucous membrane and break up the debris. (osmosis) Blow out excess. Do it bid to tid. This along with the normal uri advice of incr. fluids, humidify. Discard the main solution after 3-4d. The need for abx is much less. I am always amazed how our patients demand abx for the common cold and are so ready to propogate bacteria resistant organisms for symptoms that can be cured with just a bit of salt water!

lisalau · Jul 2, 2006

chopstix, you have touched on my pet peeve....the prescribing of antibiotics because the patient demands it whether the condition responds to them or not. Here in Australia, the culture of meeting patients demands has increased remarkably over the past 20 years with the introduction of turnstyle medicine and the demise of the family doctor. Just walk in, tell them what you want and you get it, swipe your medicare card on the way out please.

Of my 4 sons, only 2 have ever required antibiotics. They get occassional colds and coughs which are treated with rest, fresh fruit juices and chicken soup. Their symptoms are relieved with inhalations, irrigation, panadol if cold compresses dont reduce a high fever (i dont treat low fevers, i believe unless there is risk of convulsion, the higher temp is needed to stimulate healing) honey and lemon drinks and lots of cuddles. They are usually ready to return to school in 2 or 3 days and they heal no more slowly than the children given useless antibiotic treatment. I have been accused of being negligent for not taking my children to doctors...i often think i am putting them at risk even entering into the rooms filled with sick people. My children are fed with large amounts of fresh organic foods and are made to sleep properly, they exercise every day and they are sick much less often than most we know and they recover much more quickly. I do not attribute this to anything i do, i know i am lucky but i do believe that when children are pumped full of medicine from babies, their bodies get lazy about healing them selves. For a body to resist virus and bacteria it must be in good condition. There is too little trust given to their inate abilities for healing and too much trust attributed to pharmaceuticals.

sorry i will get off my soapbox now....this really touches a nerve. It still hurts that i am considered negligent by some because i think differently from them but i understand their judging me As ashamed as i am to admit it, i judge them also and find their thinking ignorant. I would never deny my children medical care if they asked for or neded it. I guess the difference lies in when i consider it needed.

JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 3, 2006

i do believe that when children are pumped full of medicine from babies, their bodies get lazy about healing them selves. For a body to resist virus and bacteria it must be in good condition. There is too little trust given to their inate abilities for healing and too much trust attributed to pharmaceuticals.
sorry i will get off my soapbox now....this really touches a nerve. It still hurts that i am considered negligent by some because i think differently from them but i understand their judging me As ashamed as i am to admit it, i judge them also and find their thinking ignorant. I would never deny my children medical care if they asked for or neded it. I guess the difference lies in when i consider it needed.

Yay! We agree! I also get accused of being negligent because I don't run to the doctor. Guess what - you become more vigilant and more attentive to your kids when they're sick, because you're not relying on the doctor to take responsibility and make it all better!

lisalau · Jul 3, 2006

thanks ChayaN

hugs

worknurse · Jul 4, 2006

lisalau- I like your soapbox, very similar to mine!

worknurse · Jul 4, 2006

lisalau- I like your soapbox, very similar to mine! We forget that antibiotics are poisons, just as they do good they do harm (MRSA) and like pesticides we are creating more virulent strains of bacteria and hardy insects as reducing the strength of our own immune systems.

worknurse · Jul 4, 2006

Mayonaise is the best headlice treatment I ever found. My poor daughter with three times the hair on her head than mine had an outbreak in elementary school a few years back. She kept getting it over and over and I was at wits end. I finally figured out that the school nurse was letting kids stay in school with active lice and not instituting a no nit policy!! You can bet I lobbied to change that!!
Anyhow- lice are chemical resistant these days and slathering mayonaise on the head GOOD then wrapping with plastic wrap and a towel suffocates the buggers! Of course I always did this after the chemical treatments and once I did this and changed the policy at school we never had a problem again!

GREAT that you do this but I suggest eliminating the chemical tx's altogethe OTC and permethrins /pyrethrins are neurotoxic

agents which the buggers just laugh at anyway having developed resistance to them. They are pesticides afterall! I wonder how many brain cells we kill when we apply the stuff on our children? Check out http://www.headlice.org

santhony44, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 4, 2006

I once overheard a hospital patient advise her roommate to douche with Tide. I forget what for. I've heard of people "foaming at the mouth" but foaming at the other end???

I've heard the duct tape for warts does really work. My son had lots of warts on his hands; the doc tried freezing them. Painful, and didn't help at all. We used prescription topical acne medicine (retin-A) rubbed in twice a day and it really worked.

I also keep hearing about the Vick's Vapo-Rub for nail fungus. I've advised several people to use it but haven't had anyone yet do it long enough to see. It's certainly cheaper and less potentially toxic than the prescription meds.

banditrn · Jul 13, 2006

I know of people with severe sinus problems who swear that nasal/sinus irrigation with a weak salt H2O solution has prevented recurrent sinus infections, DH has started this every other day and hasn't had a sinus infection since.

This isn't an old wives tale - that's what my ENT doc has me do, altho I've started using the saline nose spray instead, because it isn't as messy.