How about your favorite Old Wives Tales related to health?

[NurseyTonyaLPN]

Another post (about stupid things patients say) made me think about this, I don't know if it's been posted before. But I have an elderly family member who says these things (and will not hear otherwise):

1) Having a baby at 7 months is better than having it at 8 months. My doctor told me something happens in the 8th month and if the process is disturbed it's bad for the baby. (I told her I've learned that every day in the womb is better for the baby, but she insists that's not the case).

2) Her breastmilk turned "to water" when her daughter was 3 months old and it was no longer good for her to breastfeed (I mentioned that babies go through a growth spurt at that time, but she insists, her Dr told her the breastmilk turned to water).

Makes you wonder about these docs back then huh? I know they probably did the best with their knowlege, but some people won't accept any new advice, if their doctor said it in 1940 it must be true huh? Any other favorite wives tales?

Tonya

[ToughLover]

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!!!

[Sergeant'sDaughter]

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

[*Scarlet_Starlet*]

A few I have heard:

-Tobacco on a bee sting draws out the stinger

-children who are around the age of three who suddenly become more clumsy than usually it is because their 3yr molars are coming in.

-if you tell a pregnant woman to show you their hand and the present them palms up they are having a boy. Palms down a girl

-if you allow an infant to "stand" on your lap they will be bowlegged

-if you get hit with somethin while you are pregnant your baby will have a birthmark in the exact place you were hit.

I'll post more when I think of them

[Angie O'Plasty]

It's called 'sato-gaeri' /'return to ones hometown'. A relatively modern 'tradition', mothers return to their family home for a month to: a) recover from the labour of childbirth; b) learn how to become mothers from their own mother; and c) give the baby time to grow a little before exposing them to the world. Actually, it's a very nice concept and helps relieve a lot of the stress first-time mothers may experience, as well as provide them with a helper on hand (the materal grandmother) to give them time to rest.

My wife did it both times (the last time being just a few months ago). I was left alone which didn't help the bonding process with the father, but that rather emphasises the paternal role in the Japanese family.

Malia, 'sato-gaeri' is still very, very common in Japan, certainly up in Tohoku.

My peeve with the old wives' tales about childrearing is the snippet requiring parents to wash the baby's hair first during bathing.

P.S. First post here! Yoroshiku ne.

I'm not sure how "nice" that tradition is for a whole month...the part about having the help and learning from one's mother sounds good, but not being allowed away from the house for a whole MONTH? That part sounds cruel and unusual!

[Angie O'Plasty]

My day insisted that eating seafood and dairy would make a poisonous gas inside your stomache. We had to wait an hour between eating/drinking the two.

So I suppose you never ate clam chowder...

[Angie O'Plasty]

I'm surprised nobody posted this one yet...some people swear that Chihuahuas cure asthma.

[NurseMaybeBaby]

Not really an Old Wives tale, but my husband SWEARS you can "sweat it out". Anything and everything.

Have a cold, sweat it out. Have an ear infection, who needs antibiotics, just sweat it out! Got cancer, better bundle up and sweat it out!

I love him, but....:confused::confused:

[NurseMaybeBaby]

.

My sister-in-law puts vicks on my nephews feet at bed time to calm his cough, swears it helps.

I've done this with my little ones, and I really do find that it helps! I always put socks on as well. Maybe it's the placebo effect, but I'll take it:yeah:

[jammin246RN]

I had a patient once with a horrible case of the hiccups... He was in for another ailment and developed the hiccups... had them for days. I looked up in the journal of GI medicine for hiccup cures.... Well basically they said some things work and some things don't but before you start treating it with medicine (which works about as well as the other suggestions) try these: 1. Drink a glass of water while holding your breath. 2. One tsp of sugar under the tounge. 3. Drinking a glass of water through a straw.... or your own favourite remedy. I have heard that since the body isn't exposed to as much sunlight in winter you produce less vitamin D and this can have a impact on being able to fight off viruses. Never discount the placebo effect I tend to like "Old Country Docs" many times they are very observant and have had to do more with less. For example when a friend of mine developed acute renal failure as a child (prior to WW2) the country doc packed him in hot salt for days and used his skin and sweat in place of his kidneys until they started working again. The doc I have had since childhood says he has noticed that over the years chicken pox outbreaks precede shingles outbreaks. He believes that people with shingles have been "reinfected" with someone with chickenpox which caused their own dormant virus to activate. Corn Syrup is high in an indigestable sugar sorbitol.... also found in apple juice and prune juice which is why it relieves constipation. Nicotine reverses Ulcerative Colitis... I am sure that it may help with other inflamations such as bee stings. We use super glue in the ER "dermabond" to close cuts... although now its less like superglue and more like sticky skin lol. Using bleach to help cure skin ailments and disinfect areas isn't unheard of.... it's called dakins solution. Not all old wives tales are too far off the base;)

[tainted1972, ASN, RN]

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. :)

When the body is cold it is stressed.. think about it. Our immune systems slow down when our bodies are stressed. But you still have to be exposed to the virus, being cold just makes your more susceptible to "catching" it.

[tainted1972, ASN, RN]

-Orgasms cure fevers.... :) ( it works )

-Orgasms take away menstrual cramps

-my grandmother used to blow smoke in our ears to cure ear infections.. never worked

-warm olive oil does ease the pain of ear infections but does not cure them.

-place the legs of your beds in jars of turpentine to get rid of bed bugs (sounds like that could cause a fire.. that WOULD get rid of bed bugs LOL)

-My husband said that his mother got rid of his pin worms (yikes) by feeding him nothing but vanilla wafers for 3 days and then stopped. He claims that the worms like the sugar and die because you deprive them of it.

- If you want to conceive a boy, have sex standing up

-rub whiskey on a babys gums to relieve teething pain

-if a woman gets hit on her breast she will get breast cancer

- hickeys cause skin cancer

- both the female and the male have to have a simultaneous orgasm to get pregnant.

-my teenager daughter told me that she heard this... If a woman suffers from an injury that causes her to bleed, while she is on her period.. she will die because she is losing too much blood.

-douching after intercourse prevents pregnancy

- douching with coke will end a pregnancy

[FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I]

If you suck your fingers, you will get buck teeth.