If you’ve ever gargled with salt water, sipped flat ginger ale to soothe an upset stomach or warmed milk for insomnia, you’ve practiced the most common kind of medical care.
It’s estimated that more than 80 percent of all health care is home self care using over-the-counter medications or even common kitchen items such as tea, lemon, Crisco, fruit juices and oatmeal.
“We’re well aware in the medical community that most medical care is provided in the home or in the community,” said Dr. Timothy Caudill, who practices general internal medicine at the University of Kentucky.
“Sometimes, doctors are like: `You’ve got a cold. Why did you come to us? Call your mom or grandmother.’ “
Caudill said doctors often recommend traditional home remedies to relieve the symptoms of simple ailments. Pediatricians particularly dispense plenty of such guidance.
“Home remedies have probably kept the cost of medical care lower in the United States than it otherwise would be,” Caudill said. The Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Association said recent research shows that Americans saved $20.6 billion in 1996 by using over-the-counter medicines–everything from Vicks VapoRub to aspirin–to treat common ailments.
Caudill said most home remedies haven’t been studied in scientific trials. “We do know that some of the remedies people have used for years seem to help and they don’t seem to hurt.”
“Folk medicine is something that is coming back into its own,” said Doraine Bailey, 34, of Lexington, Ky. She uses prepackaged echinacea tea and a few drops of echinacea tincture in juice. Echinacea is an herb that stimulates the immune system. Bailey believes it helps her ward off colds and other winter illnesses.
Just a few years ago, mainstream America might have known to pop vitamin C for colds, but now echinacea, zinc lozenges and goldenseal also are among the top winter requests at Lexington’s Good Foods Co-op, said Shannon Thompson-Emslie, supplement purchasing manager.
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“I find that a lot of people are very frustrated with doctors, so they want to take things into their own hands,” Thompson-Emslie said. “It’s a positive thing for them to take the time to sit down and learn. It empowers them.”
Caudill said that as long as people carefully read labels on herbal supplements and over-the-counter medications, they can be beneficial. It’s best to ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice, particularly if you’ve got chronic health problems or take prescription medications.
Also seek medical attention if the problem you’re treating at home doesn’t improve in a week or so or if symptoms worsen. Home treatment is most appropriate for minor symptoms or problems, Caudill said.
Bess Bunn, 74, of Russell Springs, Ky., has gotten the reputation among family and friends as “Dr. Bunn” because of her Crisco cure. A doctor in Middletown, Ohio, recommended using the cooking shortening to help heal surgical incisions.
“I live by it,” Bunn said. She has used it after her husband’s four hip-replacement surgeries and recommended it to numerous people. In her husband’s case, healing was fast and the scar was smooth. Bunn keeps a small can of Crisco just for medical purposes.
Ron Cobb, 58, of Lexington uses lemons and witch hazel for home cures. His visiting uncle rubbed a fresh lemon half on poison ivy and made him a believer.
“A day later, he showed me his arm and the poison ivy was all dried up,” Cobb said. “It really works.”
He also has used witch hazel to ease sunburn pain, and he would soak his feet in a witch hazel-and-water bath after a hard day at work.
Witch hazel, a bark and leaf extract, can be used on insect bites, cuts and scrapes and to remove excess oil from facial skin.
Witch hazel also is a popular home remedy for hemorrhoids. Apply the witch hazel to cotton and use after bowel movements. For additional relief, use witch hazel on a cotton cloth as a compress for 15 to 20 minutes twice daily.
Epsom salt is another item just about every grandmother kept in her cupboards for good reason.
Two cups of the salt in a warm bath can provide relief for muscular pain, including arthritis.
Also soak a cloth in the Epsom salt water and use as a compress for bruises and sprains or use the salt water to take the sting out of bug bites or to remove splinters. The salt water can be used occasionally as a laxative. The box gives mixing directions.