Tag: doctor visits

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4 HOME REMEDIES MAKE A COMEBACK

The covid-19 pandemic has changed our lives in many ways.  People are avoiding doctor visits when possible.   Hospitals don’t want to schedule elective surgeries.  It makes you wonder how everyone is surviving.  But if you’re my age, you can remember when people only saw doctors for emergencies.  Probably because ordinary people didn’t have health insurance, and there was no Medicare or Medicaid. Antibiotics weren’t available to the public until the late 1940’s. Most everyone had their own ways of dealing with sickness and maintaining good health. Now,  these 4 home remedies make a comeback.   

1,  Vicks VapoRub. ,  This was the mainstay of any medicine cabinet in the early 20th century.  If a child had a  cough or the flu, out would come the Vicks.  I loved the smell of menthol, and the way it seemed to clear up congestion.  The directions for use  haven’t changed in 100 years:

Home remedies make a comeback during the pandemic.
Home remedies make a comeback. Vicks has been used for over 100 years, and it still helps when you have congestion.

“Rub a layer of Vicks VapoRub on your chest and neck only. Drape a warm, dry cloth over your head while you’re sitting upright or standing. Loosen any clothing around your chest and throat so vapors can rise to your nose area. Repeat, if needed, up to three times in a 24-hour period.”

Vicks also relieves arthritis pain and muscle soreness. For me,  It works better than some of the newer , menthol based products.  It just smells a little bit stronger.

2. Chicken Noodle Soup.  My mother didn’t open a can.   The soup came in a package of dry mix.   To me, it was the best tasting chicken noodle soup in the world.  And it really helped. According to WebMd

“Chicken soup appears to help fight colds, according to several studies. It helps clear nasal congestion as well as thin mucus so you can better cough it up. In addition, research shows it may have a mild anti-inflammatory effect than can help ease symptoms”

3. Baking soda.  If you read Heloise in the daily newspaper, you know she recommends it  for many household tasks.  But we used it to relieve heartburn or soothe a canker sore.  We also  brushed our teeth with soda. .  While I keep toothpaste around, I still brush my teeth with baking soda  at least once per day.  And, I still have my own teeth, with only two fillings.  I recommended it to a friend, who said it cured her gingivitis.

4. Neti pots.  Were used in ancient yoga practice thousands of years ago.  They came back into popular use around 1972.    Scientists say that the nasal wash is an effective way to relieve sinus discomfort.   When using the neti pot, patients become less reliant on medication.  I don’t use a neti pot all year long, but it’s a godsend when my spring and fall allergies kick up.  And during the winter, when the air is so dry, I’m apt to use it every day to prevent colds and sinus infections.

When the pandemic is over, the doctor’s offices will once again fill up with coughing, sneezing patients.  In the meantime, you may want to fall back on these four old fashioned home remedies.

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A SURREAL VISIT TO THE DOCTOR

Like most everyone else, we postponed  our routine exams .   We were supposed to have our eyes checked  in March, when it’s nice and cool.  Then came the covid-19 pandemic, and we kept moving our appointments , and finally put them  off until July.  At first, it was kind of fun driving to Indy.  We hadn’t been on a trip since Thanksgiving, and it was good to get a change of scenery.  But when we finally landed in the clinic’s hot  parking lot and entered the building, we were in the Twilight Zone*.  It was a surreal visit to the doctor.

Only in a science fiction movie, would you be greeted in the lobby  by a masked woman.  If I had imagined such a scene where we must have our temperatures taken. I would have thought I was in a fantasy world.  We, too, were masked.  And cautiously allowed to enter the inner sanctum and proceed to the admissions desk.

Inside, all was quiet.  Only half the front desks were staffed so that everyone sat far apart.  The masked clerks swiped our insurance cards with gloved hands. Instead of signing the usual privacy forms, they presented  a plastic coated one to read. We signed it electronically.

There were few patients but all were masked.  There was nothing to read while we waited.  No books, newspapers or magazines.  Unfortunately, I had left my cell phone in the car, but the other patients  had remembered theirs , and studied them with apparent fascination. After the long  drive, I needed coffee, but there wasn’t any.  Nor was there  water to drink.  Or cookies to nibble.  Thankfully,  the restroom wasn’t locked.

I observed the masked personnel  gliding quietly back and forth in the waiting area.  Some of them looked at me with smiling eyes.  Remember that song, “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling?”  It had a new meaning for me yesterday.  A masked person with eyes that turn up and form little crinkles at the corners is actually smiling at you.  And it feels pretty good when you’re sitting all by yourself in a nearly empty waiting room.

A doctor visit is surreal when you enter the twilight zone.
A surreal visit to the doctor. When you go for a checkup, you will enter the twilight zone.

While being examined by technicians and the doctor, all equipment was immediately sanitized before use.  You had to wait while it dried.  There could not have been a single germ floating in the air. As we checked out and made new appointments , we had to wonder.  Will we have survived the pandemic by this time next year?  And , once again, will we enter the twilight zone while on  another surreal trip to the doctor?

* Twilight zone is the mental state between reality and fantasy.