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?

Not foreign advice but I was told by Tawny Owl at Brownies not to sit with my back to the radiator in the church hall because it would cause untold harm. My back would be warmer than my front causing an inbalance in the system and possible instantaneous human combustion. (Or something.)

When I was in East Germany I had a bad cold and lost my voice. My host made a concoction of sugar and raw onions...it worked! I've used it since.

Perhaps your humours would become unbalanced!

That's actually heartening to read, thank you.
I must admit to being quite sneery about the restrictions, so great to hear its had an effect!

Or running it under the cold tap! 🤣

That radiator was the only thing keeping me going in that freezing cold hall. I think she suspected me of not being a team player in the coconut ice making ritual, er activity.

My mum (Scottish not German) swears by this!

That's interesting! I'd never come across it before.

Ahhh, that sounds like the real reason!

I was prescribed Guiness by my surgeon when I was dreadfully constipated after surgery.
Took a good few pints, and I was very 'happy' when it took effect.
This was UK, not sure how widely prescribed Guiness is🤣

When DD was a toddler she walked straight into a table in John Lewis and whacked her head really hard, but didnt cry. The staff straight away called a first aider who came running in with a bag but all he used on her head was a wet paper towel and the swelling went down, after about 10 min. I was quite astonished by the power of the humble paper towel !!

A few years later DS banged his head (he was 20 months) and got a huge lump like an egg. He screamed the place down , I tried to put a wet flannel or kitchen roll and he was literally fighting me off, and wasn't having any of it. Although by the next day the lump had subsided somewhat.

A common remedy for horses with colic used to be Guinness. It would stop the eyes rolling around in the head whilst you walked the poor animal up and down the yard, (Eyes in the horse, I mean) and then shortly afterwards you would be rewarded with a steaming pile of grassy plop.

You could always have a nip yourself.

But chicken pox is caused by a virus! What more information do you want? It's the varicella-zoster virus.
Flu is also a virus. As are most upper resp infections and yes, pneumonia. What possible other diagnosis do you want? If you have a bacterial infection do you ask for the species name of the bacterium?

How do you use teabags ..I am 8n 7k and have never heard of this. Use them dry..soaked in cold water…?..

In Nova Scotia grandmothers advise that if your toddler's got a cold you should rub Vicks into their feet and put socks on them before putting them to bed.

In uk

In the UK advice is to only keep rice for 24 hours in the fridge, whereas in some other countries its longer.

Good God, if it works for horses, it must be good stuff!
I bloody hate hate Guiness, but I necked it down on her advice, and God bless her🤣

Article in the Times (or possibly the Sunday Times) this weekend on this very subject, saying that allergy specialists believe six months is too late.

I mean, pushing weaning back two months hasn't exactly been a roaring success in reducing allergies and intolerances, has it!

Any tea like green or peppermint ? Or your more general Yorkshire, tetley's?

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

This was my mother's "go to" treatment for everything from nausea to flu to all childhood illnesses😂

If nothing else it helps to get fluids in when plain water is just unappetizing.

Garlic honey is also a thing, and doesn’t taste as bad as you think. Thyme honey is downright nice.

At this rate I need to change my username to GarlicCuresAll😁

Re: fizzy drinks and recovery , when I was young everyone had a bottle of Lucozade to ‘ aid recovery’.

Fennel is aniseed related ( both umbellifers); in the Mediterranean countries aniseed based drinks are used to aid digestion as both aperitif (Pernod, Ricard) and after meal digestif ( ouzo, brizard etc) . Even in Marrakech in a highly Islamic phase, raki was permitted. And even recommended.

I think gripe water contains fennel, and also ginger which has a carminative effect ( prescribed for painful menstruation in the Middle Ages, but only for the rich).

And there was/is a proprietry hoof salve called cornuscresine that really made their hooves grow fast and their manes and tails if they'd rubbed them off.

It would probably work on humans as a hair restorer/nail grower as well but it has the consistency of black tar so not the most aesthethically pleasing look whilst in the process.

This isn’t true. I’ve had two in the US and I’ve only been naked waist down for the 6 week scan when a trans abdominal ultrasound wouldn’t work, and for the pre birth strep test.