Home remedies & family cure-alls

The reason people tell you to use lavender to cure insomnia is because they think the insomnia is stress related. Lavender has long been used in aromatherapy to treat stress. Of course science has proven that lavender has no actual effect on stress, so...

Also, Temari, cool water, not cold. If you use cold water you can do some pretty hefty damage to a burn.

And lastly, Sass, taking a ton of vitamin C is fine, but anything over a set limit and you just piss it out. I am a huge proponent of taking vitamin c in general, though. Can only do you good. But on the hookworm thing, sure, it may slow down your immune system to help with allergies, but it also, you know, shuts down your immune system, can lead to anemia, retardation and can cause chronic blood loss by damaging the stomach lining.

My stance on hating most homeopathic medicine is pretty obvious over the years, I'm sure. To put it mildly Sass and I do not see eye to eye on the subject. I don't like doctors either, but it will be a cold day in hell when I grow moss under my bed to stem lower back pain and help heal open sores.

I'll settle for taking a belt of whisky for a sore throat and some nice, hot tea for a cough. I'll use the spices that make me feel better in food and drink, and not bother thinking aromatherapy can do anything but act as a placebo and a distraction, and I'll stick to growing my moss outside, thank you very much.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

Honestly, not to excuse our differences, but maybe it's an American medical treatment thing. (That's not to say this is the ONLY reason I dislike visiting doctors.)

There's a lot of frivolous, expensive procedures done needlessly. Pills are quickly prescribed when the actual resolution can be easily tackled without. I've experienced it in my own right, and I've seen many, many people go through the same thing. (Adderall to TWO YEAR-OLDS? REALLY?)

I expect our system has a lot to do with this. I pay co-pay after co-pay just for literally a 2 minute visit with my PCP.

Maybe I'm being naive and ridiculous when I imagine Canada being different in terms of medical care and "good" advice.

It certainly puts me more at ease to think that a doctor is actually giving me good advice out of concern instead of personal profit. I feel that's not the case in this country a lot of times.

Either way, I respect your opinion, whether or not we agree.

In actuality, in a lot of ways we agree. I don't even remotely understand people who run into the doctor every time they develop a cough, or a slight sore throat. That whole concept sort of baffles me. It's when I hear people tell me they had blood in their eye, or chest pains, and they go the homeopathic remedy first that makes me wince. I also just shake my head at anyone who thinks aromatherapy is anything more than a nice smell and chiropractors can fix anything but bones being out of alignment.

But generic expression of a deity knows I won't sit here and try and defend the US medical system. I'd sooner try and defend the Titanic as unsinkable.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I've found the best cure for any canker sore is a lot of citrus or a lot of sale. Rinsing your mouth out with a baking soda slurry hurts like a bitch and works overnight.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.