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?

Post GA once, about 36 hours later I was feeling absolutely awful still. Hadn't eaten any thing as felt so unwell etc. Eventually rang doctor's office who rang me back and said, "have you eaten anything" and I told him I couldn't becuase I felt too ill. So he told me to go have a full fat coke - that I needed the calories and I'd feel better and then could eat normally.... sure enough, it worked!

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!

I'm in the US and what you describe is very unusual. Presumably her parents took her to the hospital...why is that? Who goes to A & E for a sore throat that was better in the morning?

If I called my pediatrician regarding a sore throat and one episode of vomiting they'd recommend fluids and rest.

Contrary to popular Mumsnet belief doctors - particularly pediatricians! - don't prescribe antibiotics for viral infections in the US.

Ever tried eating salty food when you've got oral Thrush?

There's a very good and practical reason to tell people not to do it - might as well have set my mouth on fire. Rinsing with mild saline, fine, but actual salty food that requires chewing with red raw gums and mucous membranes, no way.

I'm definitely a fan of fresh air rather than the damp, cloying, mouldery atmosphere of many people's overheated and unventilated homes.

I always thought it interesting that in Germany their toilets have a poo shelf. It is probably sensible to examine their poos.

In Slovakia, half of the pharmacy is taken up by shelves of teas to support every part of the body. There's tea for your eyesight, your hair and nails, you name it.
Also, on one visit I packed a SPF protection sunhat for my 2 year old and a Slovak friend was horrified that I was clothing my child in synthetic material and explained the benefits of cotton to me like I was an idiot. Everything else DD wore was cotton.
Oh, and I had to put socks on my youngest in 35 degree weather and then take them back off when we were out of sight of my Slovak MIL.

I don’t think a lot of people realise how rough you can feel if your electrolytes are out of whack. I’d recommend anyone take some either from the effervescent tablet or full fat coke or Irn bru if you suffer from migraines, haven’t been eating properly or have had sickness and diarrhoea (flat coke if tummy is upset), or just hungover. Also, if you’re having hot flushes and sweating a lot.

Ex mid-day supervisor here... NEVER underestimate the power of a wet paper towel. 😄

You can only buy 400mg ibuprofen otc now.

Poo shelf loos have gone out of fashion. I saw one recently and was really surprised, as I hadn't seen one for years, and knew it must be rather old.

Yes. And flat coke is usually recommended at home post stomach upsets. I'm not sure if that's also true in England - it's never come up.

fennel tea used to be a remedy for colic

yup, also flat ginger ale. It used to be a standard post noro thing, plain crisps and a flat fizzy drink.

That's not the case. I've only been advised I've had a virus when that's the case. My GPs have successfully diagnosed a range of illnesses over the years, with a reassuring level of accuracy and appropriate treatment.

for cold sores I get a used cooled of course tea bag and put on the sore area works a treat. I try to do it when i get the first tingle and it works well

Think it makes it more difficult
I usually go to Aldi, then next door to b&m and then the pharmacy (take max dose paracetamol daily and it's not prescribed)

I believe that there was a proposal to reduce paracetamol pack size in the US as well, but it foundered amid protests. I get that if you've got much further to go to get to a shop, losing access to larger amounts of basics would be much harder. Also if you've got a gun then a paracetamol overdose isn't needed anyway

They had those in the former Soviet Union as well, I took a while to get used to them!

Yes, it's great for indigestion, I've found.

Yes these are hilarious - the list of side effects takes up more time than the actual advert

It was common practice in the UK 50 years ago.

do they use a ventouse cap instead?

Way back in the 70 some Heinz baby food tins were from 3 months.

When I lived in the US I was amazed that when I made an appointment for the GP or the dentist that I could do it for the next day!
In the UK I’m just amazed I can make an appointment….

Here in Spain we were told by a paediatrician not to give DS too many apples as they can cause constipation 🙄 and that's a fairly common belief.

Second the selling power of Spanish pharmacies. DH tried to buy ibuprofen OTC recently and it was more than €10. Probiotics close to €20 when I had early stage mastitis and the midwife told me to take some. I buy any vitamins etc online as the pharmacy prices are shocking.

And also agree with the pp who mentioned the strength of the paracetamol and ibuprofen here although the advice is usually to just take one tablet, never two.

We have a liquid called Pyralvex for mouth ulcers/bleeding gums here which I believe is derived from rhubarb (which you can't buy to eat here) which is amazing.

We can't buy havfeber tablets without a prescription but sleeping pills are no problem - genuinely baffled by this.