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Post by auntieannie on Apr 19, 2009 15:51:06 GMT
What is your take on naturopathy and traditional medicine?
To me, it is fully part of the picture and should be used alongside "mainstream" medicine; particularly for prevention and as treatment in most cases.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2009 16:08:59 GMT
Urbanite that I am, I don't really have access to natural medicines. There are plenty of homeopathic shops, but I don't consider those packaged products to really be natural anymore.
I do well recall my childhood, when my grandmother would treat cuts or sores with fresh plantain leaves that we would go and find in the meadow.
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Post by auntieannie on Apr 19, 2009 16:19:41 GMT
I would like to get a "proper" training in healing with herbs.
When I was at nursing school, the doctors would prescribe cherry tails infusion to the men whose prostate had been newly operated on.
I was told by a reasearch doctor for one of the huge pharmaceuticals industries that thyme infusion was good for the lungs.
and so on, and so on. However, many seem to forget that these are potent medicine and shouldn't be messed with.
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Post by spindrift on Apr 19, 2009 17:44:18 GMT
Annie, if you're interested, why not go to Upper Mustang, Nepal and study with a Tibetan Amchi (doctor) that I know there. There is no western medicine in the country and all healing is done with the herbs that grow locally in the surrounding countryside and the knowledge of the amchis (this knowledge has been handed down in 'Amchi' families for generations, maybe as many as 13 generations, but maybe more.
The Amchi asked me to stay there and study with him so that I could spread Tibetan healing in the west but I considered myself too old for this. Young people are needed who can devote their lives to this medicine.
In fact I am considering going to Dharamsala to find Tibetan doctors for myself.
Regarding your OP - I am a total believer in Naturopathic methods and have books on the subject. I don't know any practitioners however, but believe they are to be found in Germany.
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Post by happytraveller on Apr 19, 2009 20:06:08 GMT
I've had experience when school medicine just could not help me but a good homeopath fixed things up. The two should go hand in hand.
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Post by auntieannie on Apr 19, 2009 21:31:13 GMT
Thanks for your suggestion, Spindrift... although I am 38 myself.. hardly spring chicken material! ;D
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Post by gringalais on Apr 20, 2009 20:56:00 GMT
I have used accupuncture various times and felt that it really helped certain problems. I am actually giving some thought to studying it.
In SF I used to go to a doctor who incorporated mainstream medicine and natural methods. He was good and was the only doctor who really got to the root of an issue I was having. The drawback was that he wasn't cheap and I had to pay everything out of pocket and request a reiumbusement from my insurer at a lower rate than their preferred doctors.
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2009 12:09:36 GMT
I just saw this thread for the first time this a.m.,maybe need to eat more carrots. I avoid western medicine as much as I can because of the all to quick whipping out of the prescription pad and the overall avoidance of the questions I pose to the eager prescriber of. This is after sitting in the waiting area which is at least half full of pharmaceutical representatives easy to spot with their large briefcases full of samples of the newest pill that will ease if not cure the poor unknowing patients all too real woe. I have been a patient of a woman (who does hold a medical degree and burned out on western medicine at Charity Hospital) who went to China to study Chinese Herbal medicine with an elder Chinese woman for many years along with acupuncture. I have the utmost confidence and trust in her ability and have received great relief for a number of maladies both great and small. It was she who after my knee injury recommended that I have the arthroscopic surgery that I did have. She took the time to talk to my orthopedic surgeon. It was East meets West medicine at it's finest. Probably a rare occurrence. Thanks for posting this. I look forward to ongoing dialogue about this topic.
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Post by auntieannie on May 10, 2009 12:37:22 GMT
btw, spindrift... you can find tibetan medicine practitioners in Switzerland.
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Post by hwinpp on May 18, 2009 7:06:18 GMT
I would give natural healers a shot. Though not for everything.
Homeopathy, OTOH, I don't trust at all.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2009 3:48:13 GMT
Why hw? I'm curious. I'm a bit of a skeptic myself but have had positive results with some remedies and being a horticulturist have always found it particularly fascinating. Is it not fairly popular if that's the write term in Germany?
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Post by spindrift on May 20, 2009 9:51:14 GMT
Annie - I'll be in Teufen end of June/July so I'll try and find a practitioner.
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Post by hwinpp on May 22, 2009 8:33:35 GMT
It's very popular in Germany. I believe it was invented there. I've only tried that anti flu stuff (have forgotten the name), my sister is a big believer, it did nothing at all for me. Also read a couple of articles on 'Johanniskraut' (St John's Wort) and the industry surrounding it, wasn't very savoury.
Natural healers/healing is something altogether different. It's based on traditional medicines that are found in herbs and plants and natural, sometimes painless methods of surgery and healing (and I don't mean those charlatans from the Philippines that have become popular in the West and, after having been found out, have quickly disappeared again).
I've had ringworm healed here and I've watched a guy having his leg fixed by a natural healer after he got it smashed by a car. He claims he didn't feel any pain when the woman put it in a splint (I didn't notice any change in his demeanor either) and it's healed 100% and he uses it like before.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 22, 2009 15:17:49 GMT
There is a huge industry surrounding "natural" products which unfairly gives the whole concept of non-pharmaceutical healing a bad rap. There used to be all kinds of free magazines available when you visited a health food store in the US. They seemed like regular mags devoted to health, but were solidly packed with advertising designed to have you impoverishing yourself with remedies for self-diagnosed problems.
But as you point out with the case of the guy with the smashed leg, a trained ethical healer is better than a "regular" doctor.
As far as St. John's wort goes -- it DOES work. There may be dishonest suppliers of capsules for all I know, but it is an easy, gentle path out of depression.
I believe Germany was to the first country to institute studies, standards, and controls for herbal medicines. This was years ago, as well. Why every country in the world has not followed suit, I can't imagine.
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Post by auntieannie on May 22, 2009 18:51:30 GMT
well, I am currently looking at becoming a naturopath or naturopathic nutritionist. I know the law in the UK will change soon and so am very careful to choose the right school as I don't want to pay loads of money for nothing.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2009 4:56:34 GMT
Annie,what's the best natural insect repellent(moxies,mainly) you recommend? I've tried so many.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 24, 2009 5:01:28 GMT
Have you tried vinegar? Helps repel them plus takes away the itches if you've already been bitten.
Another thing to use if you're standing outside & getting chewed by gnats & mosquitoes is incense. This is good if you're stuck in one place, for instance if you're potting. Simply light a stick or cone, put it near your legs, and the flying pests will leave you alone.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2009 5:05:03 GMT
Do you mean dab vinegar all over? That's how bad the mozzies can get,they'll go for any area of "virgin" skin.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 24, 2009 5:08:24 GMT
I use a spray bottle that emits a fine mist. Keep one with you. The one I have was originally for a sample of hair spray. It's little enough to go in your pocket.
When you put vinegar on an itchy bug bite, you have to endure @ 30 seconds of insanely intense itching, but then all the itching will go away. I guess it pulls some irritant out of the skin.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2009 5:11:40 GMT
Will I smell like a pickle? Not that I would care if it keeps the f'ers off me.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 24, 2009 6:20:42 GMT
The smell dissipates pretty quickly. The alternative smells would be Skin So Soft or Off. Remember that vinegar can be used as a room deodorizer, and the smell doesn't stay in the air. Use white vinegar because it's colorless, although cider vinegar works as well.
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Post by auntieannie on May 24, 2009 15:39:00 GMT
my "simple healing with herbs" book suggest: tea tree, lemon balm and citronella oils diluted in oil and used as a rub on exposed skin can all help to keep insects at bay. Burn citronella candles at barbecues or spray sof of these oil, well diluted (the book says with water, but I udnerstand that it would turn into a germ bath quite quickly, so would suggest to dilute the essential oils in vodka), over clothing.
If it is for home, I know for a fact that geranium works. yes to incense sticks etc.
I was told that one of the things that attract the mozzies is the sugar in our blood. so check what you eat as well!
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2009 16:04:20 GMT
I have never found the scented geranium effective. I really think what I need to do(again) is scope out my neighbors properties(9 of them) and look for standing water because I can't figure out why so many . I patrol all the time but some of these people are so hermetically sealed up in their houses they wouldn't know if they had a breeding spot. The houses here are raised off the ground so one tiny leak can produce hundreds. I will try the herbal concoction you posted,thanks.
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Post by spindrift on May 24, 2009 22:28:34 GMT
We used to put citronella on our horses to repel the flies..but mostly it didn't work.
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2009 1:26:31 GMT
The vinegar worked this evening !
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Post by auntieannie on May 25, 2009 17:30:01 GMT
My aromatherapy book suggests the following mix: 4 drops of patchouli essential oil 6 drops of lavender essential oil OR 3 drops of citronella e.o. 7 drops of cedar wood e.o.
in 20 ml (4 teaspoons) of massage oil.
They mention teatree e.o. as good against the insect's venom.
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2009 17:42:44 GMT
Thanks Annie,I am a big fan of tea tree oil,use it on bites and other skin irritations.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 4, 2012 4:24:39 GMT
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 4, 2012 11:36:40 GMT
unfortunately not the first... neither the last attack on alternative medicine.
I am glad that what i am studying now (Western Herbal Medicine) is considered allopatic and complementary to modern medicine. But the big pharmaceutical companies are still trying their best to shoot us down/ shut us up.
As for poor Kevin Sorbo's case, I think it emphasizes the importance of a good clinical diagnostic. Unfortunately, we're all humans and an error is possible. We need to keep the opportunity for errors as minimal.
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