Strollerderby

Have you read "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down"? You really should. It's a fascinating book about a little Hmong immigrant girl with epilepsy and how her culture views her disease and the conflict that their views have with Western medicine. But the discussions in it about traditional medicine versus modern medicine are wonderful and nuanced - no opinions ballied about for the sake of it. It's also a great discussion about how Americans view disease versus how other cultures view disease.  

The kind of remedies you use (saline mist, sitz bath, etc.) are safe and effective. The danger comes in these herbal remedies that claim a benefit without having to comply to any kind of testing. (As much as the FDA is made fun of, the testing they require of drug companies is far more stringent than anything these herbal remedies will ever see.)

I think of it this way; Slicing some fresh ginger in tea is good. Using a highly-concentrated ginger capsule is risky.

I also was in the health field, and I am highly supportive of Western medicine. The problem is that people want a pill to cure everything, even if some patience and TLC would work just as well. (Maybe because our current society does not allow us time to slow down?) In the case of this girl, she absolutely should have gone to a doctor. The results would have been drastically different.

This is like the unfunny, real life version of that episode of South Park where Kyle's mother decides to use holistic medicine (like Cherokee hair tampons instead of getting him a kidney transplant. There's a vast difference between using simple, traditional remedies like honey and ginger, and believing the claims of every 'herbal supplement' you can buy from the local gas station or online.

It's so upsetting to read that it was it was "stuck between her teeth and clogging her mouth." What was this dad thinking? What an awful, awful thing to do to a child. That girl's life is really changed by those supplements. I can't imagine giving my children large quantities of ANY medicine that wasn't prescribed by their doctor.

I just can't get the imagery of "her mouth was black and peeling" out of my head.

I know a trained practitioner of Eastern medicine and she really has some wonderful remedies and things just really make sense.  But she also knows when it is time to use Western medicine and sees the two as complimentary.  They do not need to be mutually exclusive.  

If this dad didn't trust Western medicine, he still could have sought out a trained herbalist for suggestions (who would have most likely referred them to the hospital).

My traditional pediatrician recommends sitz baths and saline spray.  I dont see how that is "alternative" medicine.  The best thing about traditionla medicine is it is trial tested on animals and humans BEFORE you give it to your kid.  Many alternative medicines, especially herbs, are not.  Just anecdotal evidence to support their usage.  No thank, I dont want my kids to be a guinea pig.  The main risk with alternatives is contamination or overdosage that damamges developign kidneys and livers.  We will stick with ampicillin for now.

I hate that "alternative medicines" is such a broad category, as it paints some proven and long accepted methods (neti pot, saline mist, honey to soothe a sore throat, etc.) with the same brush as other methods that are between "so much hooey", "outright scams" and "untested and dangerous".  There needs to be a balance.  I will not make my son a guinea pig with supplements and herbal pills.  But I also will not ask his pediatrician for antibiotics for a cold (viral).  

The marketing of some of these "healthy" supplements is ruthless. It relies on people's mistrust of conventional medicine and feeds the notion that doctors don't want their patients to know that a "simple herbal remedy" is going to cure them. It's a multi-million dollar industry that doesn't want regulation because its marketers know that there are people who are desperate for a loved one's cure and will try almost any elixir, no matter what the cost.

I had used homeopathic rhus tox to cure a case of poison ivy and it worked like a charm. Homeopathic arnica helps speed healing sprained ankles etc. You can buy homeopathics at Whole Foods and the worst that can happen is that the remedy does not work. However taking huge amounts of any supplement or herbal is insane. A serious infection needs immediate medical care and an effective antibiotic.

It is unfortunate that the stupidity and lunacy of one person will make some people think that all alternative remedies are harmful. Some work, some don't, and some could be harmful if used by an idiot who does not have a clue what he is doing.