Grandma's remedies

[M6NEN 2]

I want to explain a few things about home medicine, things our grandmothers used to use, and things that work.

I certainly do not want to go back to the medicine of centuries ago, where the doctors used cow dung and spider webs to cure wounds and infections,  the dust of grinded pearls to cure pneumonia, leeches or a scalpel to let "some bad blood that caused an illness in a patient" out of the body or amputated a limb or drilled holes in the skull without any kind of anaesthetic or any awareness of hygiene and antiseptic or steriliesed instruments etc. but just naturlar remedies that are a quick help against little ailments and that can help you feel better almost immediately.

 

Of course, what I am going to outline is by no means a substitute for real medicine, and if you are suffering from something with severe symptoms and/or severe pain, you obviously have to see your GP, or if something looks or feels really bad, go to your nearest A&E Department.

Same thing, if the symptoms persist, seek help from a medical professional.

.

• Diarrhoea
  Put a good spoonful of starch in a glass of water, stir well so the starch gets dissolved well and drink, and almost immediately, the symptoms will be gone. It does not taste all that pleasant, but it will definitely cure the symptoms.
• Heartburn
  Dissolve a spoonful of bicarbonate of soda in about half to a glass of water, stir and drink it. You will do a deep burp, but your heatburn will be forgotten about. Some people like it, some don't, but it can even be bought in bottles known as "Vichy water", although what you make at home is just that little bit stronger and more effective.
• Insomnia
  If you have trouble sleeping, just eat a few leaves of lettuce before you go to bed. Lettuce contains a substance called lactur carium which can help to promote sleep by sedating the nervous system. They don't come more naturally than that, do they?
• Stopping small wounds from bleeding
  And I am talking SMALL WOUNDS here: just take a piece of cotton wool with a few drops of alcohol (methylated spirit) on it and it will close the wound in a few seconds. On top of that, the spirit is also good for sterilising, so the wound should be safe against becoming septic too.
• Feeling under the weather
  If you are not feeling too well with cold and flu symptoms, the best thing is obviously rest and lots of fluids, as the docotors can not give you anything to cure those, since they are viral infections, and antibiotics only help against bacteria. However, a great help is, to take before bed, a big mug of boiling water, to whih you have added a few slices of lemon, a teaspoon of honey and about 1 dl. of whisky. Drink this as hot as possible before bed and feel the difference in the morning.
  A non-alcoholic version of this, and one you can drink throughout the day, and which fulfills the requirement for lots of fluids is this: Slice lemons and oranges (depending on how strong you want the remedy to be) and put them into a teapot, then pour boiling water on them, let them set for a while, add sugar according to taste, and drin k this as much and as often as you like. The vitamin C citrus fruits contain will do you the world of good.

There you go, lots of helpful things, because they DO work, but, like I said, obviously no substitution for regular, professional medicine.

Good luck with it and there is plenty more where that came from.

Edited January 27, 2019 by M6NEN (see edit history)

[yordan 10]

11 minutes ago, M6NEN said:

spoonful of starch in a glass of water

How many people still have starch at home ?

[M6NEN 2]

You would be surprised, yordan.

Starch does not only mean the powder you use to make the collars and cuffs of shirts hard and stiff.

It is also used in the sense (since "starch" is a very general name) of what you find in the shops as "Cornflour" or sometimes "Maizena".

Sorry about the confusion, I should indeed have been a bit clearer about that instead of using what is to some people seen as "archaic" language.

Hope this reply cleared that up and showed you that probably every family still has it at home.

[yordan 10]

Argh! You are righ! I have Maizena in my kitchen!

[M6NEN 2]

Yes, yordan, I assumed that.

But like I said, I should have been a bit clearer, and, believe it or not, I could, for the life of me, not remember the usual "kitchen word" for "starch".

Apparently, it happens from a certain age.

I have read there are three main symptoms of getting old:

1. Loss of memory
2. eeeeeeeerrrrm...... I forgot

But thanks to your reply (see, second time  ) I noticed that I had forgotten to fill in the ingredient in the remedy for heartburn.

Thanks again.

Regards.

 

Edited January 27, 2019 by M6NEN (see edit history)

[yordan 10]

3 hours ago, M6NEN said:

I have read there are three main symptoms of getting old:

1. Loss of memory 
2. eeeeeeeerrrrm...... I forgot

And Grandma's remedies for lost of memories is ....

[M6NEN 2]

To be quite honest,

I doubt very much grandma had a remedy for that.

However, she must have had a very secret remedy for keeping certain spirits away from her or something.

You see, the thing is, how my grandma managed to reach the age she did is really beyond me.

She always used to say "And I may drop dead here on the spot if what I am saying is not true".

And when grandma said that, we knew she was lying through her teeth, and the times we heard her say that, weeeeelllllll........

So, what her remedy for protecting her against that was, we've never found out.