How about your favorite Old Wives Tales related to health? - Page 17

Register Today!
  1. Apr 7, '09 by
    L&D nurses will understand this one....a patient who lists pitocin on their medication allergies...better not go into labor or breastfeed then!! ;-0

    We get a lot of Spanish families who curl a tiny string on the foreheads of their babies to protect them. Now that I understand why they do it, I have stopped finding them and going "why do I keep finding strings on baby's foreheads??" There are also families that request the umbilical cord stump when it falls off (ick ick ick).
  2. Apr 16, '09 by
    Quote from gemcitygirl
    Thank you for the great link! Interesting about the newborn hair and heartburn. My old Slovak Grandma in law was worried when I went to the zoo while pregnant,took my DH aside and told him to keep me away from the monkey cages or the baby would look like one!

    My mom, first generation German, told me to drink good dark beer after delivery "to make milk for the baby". Maybe relaxation causes letdown reflex?
    Don't know, I was scared to try it. Makes you wonder how many things we think we know today will be "old wives tales" to our grandkids.
    - About the beer its the yeast that increases milk production so you can skip the alchohol and take brewers yeast or ginger beer.
    - some of our old wives tales here are putting a piece of wet tissue paper on the forehead of a hicupping baby and before the paper is dry they will stop hiccuping,
    - binding the umbilical stump with a piece of cloth, to prevent a belly button that bulges out,- causes major problems, it very often goes septic, damp umbilical cord + darkness + heat =
  3. Apr 17, '09 by
    NurseyTonya Hmmmmmmmmmmm does that mean a virus thrives better in the cold or does our immune system react differently in the colder weather or does wet hair lower the body's heat which ummm might lower the immunsystem functions? It would be an interesting study don't you think? Just kidding with you... do not sweat the small stuff... no pun intended.
  4. Apr 18, '09 by
    My Granny, God rest her soul, was a stubborn Pennsylvania Dutch woman who once knocked a would-be purse snatcher unconscious with said purse. Most of her old wives' tales had to do with things other than health, like the weather or animals, and are crazy and detailed. However, one I will never, ever forget...she claimed when a person develops a stye in his or her eye, it's because he or she once peed in the middle of the road. She had a hard life, Granny did. Maybe it made her a little cuckoo. But she said this one way before her strokes and age took their toll on her mind.
  5. May 15, '09 by
    Cold feet will make menstruation cramps worse. Wearing warm socks will ease the pain. Tried and tested. That is probably where this one comes from.



    Quote from moonischasingme1
    Okay, I have a question. My boyfriend's Mother is an RN and they're from Bosnia. If it is cold and I don't have on socks and I step on tile, she will make me go stand on the carpet or put on socks. Now, you might think she just doesn't want my feet cold, right? NO, everytime she puts her hands over her lower abdomen and tells me I will have "problems"--reproductively. I have looked everywhere to see how cold feet could somehow "ruin" your reproductive system, but seriously, I have found nothing. Is this just an old wives tale she picked up from Bosnia? haha
    Last edit by Morning-glory on May 15, '09
  6. May 26, '09 by
    Quote from ChayaN
    I know a lot of people who swear by olive oil. Hey, it beats repeat rounds of antibiotics.
    I never had antibiotics for an earache until well into my adulthood, thanks to the old country doctor my grandmother took me to. (One of the reasons why at 23 I can still take Amoxacillin.) His earache cure: equal parts white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide, dropped into the offending ear.

    It WORKS. I had earaches at least once a month as a child, and this cured it every time. Other kids with the same problem ended up with tubes in their ears.

    Some of my favorite old wive's tales:

    If you say the word laxative, you won't need one anymore. (That's from my mom.)

    Rubbing alcohol cures insect bites.

    A red string on the forehead cures hiccups in babies.
  7. May 26, '09 by
    freind of my Mom swore by the overnight acne: Filled an iron skillet with night crawlers and simmered them until she made a slimy, stinky paste. Rubbed it on face at night time. NO THANK YOU... I'll put up with my zits.......
  8. Mar 21, '11 by
    Probably all OB nurses have heard that the reason the mother has heartburn is because of the large amount of the baby's hair.
  9. Mar 21, '11 by
    Haha love this post, I actually had a patient the other night that wanted his fan on him during the night because he was hot. His wife REFUSED to allow it, repeatedly saying "you know you can't sleep with that fan on, you'll get pneumonia!" ...The patient is trached and on a vent...pretty sure the fan has NOTHING to do with his medical condition!!!
  10. Mar 21, '11 by
    One of my coworkers said that when he had an ear infection, his mother would blow cigarette smoke into his ear to clear it up. o.o