How medical advice differs in other countries. (Lighthearted but perplexing)

[KnopkaPixie]

The other day I was behind a woman in the queue at a pharmacy here in France. She had oral thrush. The pharmacist took quite a while talking to her about her treatment and the various medications she'd been given by the doctor then went into the general advice section of the lecture. The most important thing was not to eat, "Trop salé." (Too salty.)

I thought, "Pardon?" Surely it's the other way around, nothing too sugary and yeasty? It bothered me so I googled and sure enough at least in the English results - sugary and yeasty were to be avoided.

This happens all the time. I've heard an awful lot of strange medical advice in France over the years and the folk remedies of my Russian ex boyfriend for various illnesses were quite bizarre too. Putting your head over the boiling potato water to cure a cold because the vitamin c evaporated into the steam was a good one.

Have you ever been given strange medical advice abroad?

This thread is kind of inspired by the post about the Germans opening their windows all the time for "Luften"

On the other hand, if you're not a Brit, what are our bizarre medical beliefs/practices?

Just remembered that my Austrian friend insisted that fennel tea was perfect for my newborn

Yes, the Spanish love their high potency ibuprofen and paracetamol 😂 Accidentally took 800g a few months ago thinking that they were 200mg….

My usual purchase when we go to CVS in the US is a couple of bottles of 500x ibuprofen and / or paracetamol.

Lower fever with vinegar socks.

A poultice of grated potato and medicinal alcohol in a sock /fabric to put on your neck for sore throats.

The Germans like to air the house in a morning but apparently draughts can be fatal.

Someone has to pay the obstetricians' kids college fees - that's why so many appointments in the US......

My doctor friend was quite surprised when on a picnic with various medics including a German doctor that the German doc was very concerned that the slightly damp grass they were sitting on would give everyone UTIs

I've made some brilliant purchases in French pharmacies including:

D-mannose for UTIs (possibly caused by damp seating conditions, who knows?!)

Bloxaphte junior gel for any mouth ulcer/sore gums. It's a rose, aloe Vera and hyaluronic acid gel, tastes lovely and works!

Super strong ibuprofen

One that intrigues me but I have yet to try is the slimming tea!

We have a Czech neurosurgeon in work who literally prescribes Coca-Cola and McDonalds for his post-op patients - all carefully written in their medical notes! 🤣

Friskluft is the kids favourite. Got a cold? You need to walk in the forest for fresh air! Covid? Again walk
in the forest for fresh air. Just had surgery and recuperating? Walk in the forest for fresh air.

The kids are indoctrinated early by the school nurse. Fresh air (friskluft) cures everything even boredom!

I miss my UK GP and her love of paracetamols!

Maybe not quite so lighthearted as people get very passionate about the subject, but weaning.

The UK recommends 6 months, most of Europe start at 4m. Given that health differences between these countries are pretty small, it seems bonkers how much each group criticise the other.

Want to start at 4m - it's probably what you'd do in France or Spain or Italy, so crack on.
Want to wait until 6m - that's the official advice here, crack on.

(I was a 4m weaner to reduce allergy risks but I think the almost religious fervour about this subject is nuts).

DS 1 was born at a small private hospital in London.He was very unsettled the first night so the midwives on duty took him away and gave him camomile tea to settle him, which worked very well, so it happens here too .

Ophy83
My doctor friend was quite surprised when on a picnic with various medics including a German doctor that the German doc was very concerned that the slightly damp grass they were sitting on would give everyone UTIs

I got cystitis as a teenager and was told by the doctor I saw that it was through sitting on damp grass. Actually it was through shagging like a rabbit while my parents were on holiday!

When DD was born, the people I met through baby groups included a US lady, a Polish lady and a Spanish lady. The hugely different advice in their countries around various aspects of parenting was fascinating. It made me realise that there was no one way of doing things

Do you think the doctor knew fine and well what you'd been up to but was being diplomatic to save you having to explain things to your parents?

Instant coffee works for cold sores as well.

Since leaving the UK I've always found the term 'chest infection' oddly unspecific and a bit infantile.

Wait until you encounter Kneipp everything. Still cracks me up that we were made to wander around in calf length freezing water at school as part of some sort of school trip and got told it's ever so good for basically everything. And then there are the people who took a day off work for "Kreislaufkollaps", which appears to mean they were a bit tired, despite the literal translation being "collapsed circulation". Love Germany.

I had a Polish friend when my oldest DS was a baby. She had a toddler (18m ish) who wasn't allowed to eat beans, pulses, any unpeeled fruit or veg (she even peeled cucumbers) or oranges...as all the above were "too strong for the stomach". She insisted this was completely normal weaning advice in Poland and was appalled at me letting DS eat baked beans one day! Her toddler was horrifically constipated and at the GP regularly for laxatives

You can start weaning at 4 months, But from 4-6 months you should only give a very small amount of food, nearly all nutrition should still be milk. Weaning advice in Britain is 6 months, because when it was 4 months, some parents were giving their babies lots of food and hardly any milk. It changed to 6 months because of this.

Crikey. You can get pots of 500 for about $10 in Walgreen’s.

edited for typo

I had 2 kids in the US- no vaginal exams.

My American friends are prescribed antidepressants for the same symptoms of menopause which my British friends are on HRT for. American doctors don't prescribe HRT anything like as often.

• My husband is from the middle east. When he first came to the UK, he genuinely believed that eating cold food (like ice cream) increased your risk of catching a cold. He's a qualified doctor, so I was quite surprised!

• Babies in his home country (Egypt) seem to be wrapped up in multiple layers of padded blankets, even when it is over 40 degrees outside

• On the other hand, during Lockdown both my Egyptian in-laws and our neighbourhood London WhatsApp group were simultaneously advocating raw onions in the corners of the room to ward off COVID. Which was both endearing and a testament to the power of social media I guess!

But chicken pox is a virus?

it’s developed to avoid the demand for unnecessary antibiotics.

in medical language “it’s a virus” translates directly to “no, you don’t need antibiotics”.

Sitting on the cold ground (steps etc) in Germany is supposed to give you Nebennierenentzündungen. Adrenal gland infections. I was and am still about that one.

The bloody herbal tea for everything gets on my nerves.

Genuine question - How? drinking it, making a paste and applying it?

DD is regularly plagued with the buggers and instant coffee is cheaper than zovirax which never seems to do much.

I'm a firm believer that most bat shit home remedies have some core of truth in them even if the delivery is suspect.

There's a touristy village near me and they've turned part of the local stream into a Kneipp bath. With steps and railings.