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?

In Germany I had awful laryngitis and was advised to drink 3 litres of water a day to flush it out. I mean, fair enough, it definitely worked.

I still think it's very odd when people recommend putting Vick's on your feet at night to treat a cold (I think). I did it once and unsurprisingly it didn't help.

Mix it up with a tiny drop of water to create a paste and apply it. Looks awful with a brown splodge on you, but is effective. I think you can use real coffee as well, but I used to do this before zovirax was invented, and instant coffee was what everyone drank back then.

I've had two babies in the US and they never did a pelvic exam while pregnant. Near the end they may check the cervix to see if it's begun to dilate, but breaking the mucus plug isn't done for sanitary reasons.

French aunt was adamant that for minor burns or scald, you should hold a piece of orange tissue paper over it and shine a torch on it for a while. We all laughed. Then someone burnt themself and so for a giggle we tried it and .. it worked. 😶 Maybe placebo effect, but person trying it didn't believe it would work, so who knows!

The original 7 up used to contain lithium and was marketed for hangovers and as a mood booster

What is the point of testing to see what particular virus you have? GPs say a virus because it will be. Antibiotics do not work on viruses and most viruses are self limiting for otherwise healthy people i.e. rest and you will get better by yourself. There is zero point spending money to test and tell you what kind of virus you have, as it does not change the treatment.

it makes sense when you think of all the LED masks and devices for various skin complaints/anti-aging.

And the final side effect is..... DEATH

always has me in stitches 🤣🤣🤣

Growing up in scandinavia, my DM used to use onion as a first aid for any ear ache. Both dropping 1-2 drops of onion “juice” into the ear and also holding it against the ear (onion wrapped in muslin). I’ve used it for my DC and it’s very effective but my local friends (here in the UK) don’t believe me.

I agree. By law they have to list all possible side effects, regardless of how unlikely they are. Years ago pharmaceutical adverts weren't allowed on TV. They need to outlaw them again.

Not really medical advice but I've never understood why paracetamol or ibuprofen etc is sold in such small, restricted amounts in the UK. It's pretty annoying. Surely if I was trying to overdose I could just go around to a few different pharmacies?

@HPandthelastwish have you tried lysine balm or ointment? Got ours in Holland & Barret and it worked really well. Don’t get cold sores now either tho I guess that’s coincidental…

There's definitely a difference in how mild, viral illnesses are treated in UK vs US. My niece in the US (6 at the time) had a sore throat, threw up once during the night but was otherwise fine and reportedly jumping on the couch by morning. Immediately was seen at an actual hospital, swabbed, prescribed antivirals AND antibiotics "just in case", plus given anti sickness medication. I thought this was overkill - I mean here we wouldn't even be offered an appointment for that!

Well yes. Because US medicine is a business and the more intervention they sell the more money they make.

they will have been paid more by the insurance for all of that than if they told the child to stay at home with acetaminophen..

@goody2shooz no I always just stick with zovirax.

I used to get them awfully, sunburnt? Cold sore. Under the weather? Cold sore. Hormonal? Cold sore. Stressed? Cold sore. There were some months I seem to just get them continuously. Around 30 I seemed to grow out of them and rarely get them now.

I've never had chicken pox though and they are similar viruses so I've always wondered if my excessive cold soreness has meant I don't get that.

When we lived in Copenhagen it was nigh on impossible to buy anything medicinal and branded' off the shelf-
As an example for pain relief it was unbranded paracetamol, ibruprofen or codamol -( which gave me a funny turn) that was it - in a chemists they did have other stuff but it was behind the desk and you had to know the Danish equivalent

I used to stock up in uk -

Evidence based medicine. It’s not hard to understand.

deaths from overdose dramatically dropped when the pack size restrictions were brought in. It’s well studied and the data is freely available. It also saves the nhs ££££££ in intensive care beds treating post overdose liver failure.

yes you can go round multiple pharmacies, but you need to be pretty intent on you plan to kill yourself and obtain enough to do it. That is relatively rare.

I'm sure he did. If he had told me the real reason I wouldn't have told my mum I'd had it. As it was, I did. Ouch.

I was back in the UK at a school reunion a couple of years ago and every woman there was on HRT (we are late 40s). They were shocked I wasn’t. I began to wonder if I was missing out on something obvious, so when I got back to my home country I asked my friends here, who are the same age, if they were on it. No-one is or is considering it. I find it strange because surely women’s bodies are the same everywhere…

I live in Malaysia and had the flu and a really bad cough - pharmacist told me to avoid cold drinks and ice for two weeks and it worked.
When I was a toddler my great grandma Rome my mum to put half of an onion on a plate in the corner of the room to help my cough and apparently that worked too.
Some Arab ladies I know refused to take paracetamol for horrendous cramps when on their periods as it would make the flow worse.

@sonjadog most women in the UK are not on HRT. I know some women really push the idea of HRT on all their friends though.

Same here, mine were all born in the US, my examination visits consisted of measuring the bump and listening to the heartbeat. One Ultrasound at 12 weeks and a second later only if there was any concerns.

where else would rabbits shag, but on damp grass?

Some in Switzerland, I was so confused when my baby was born and they kept putting a pillow-like duvet on her. I just kept taking it off as it was roasting hot and I was sure it wasn’t safe anyway!

really? I struggle to find any female friend not on hrt, none are pushy about it though