Hey, I'm Sick. Let's Do Something Weird.

There are a lot of home remedies that I use or run into as a physician. We hear about many of them every day and never think twice. To be honest with you, many patients find that they work fairly well. When you really think about it though, some of them are just downright weird. Here's a little sampling:

1. Salt water gargles-Whose mom made them gargle salt water when you had a sore throat? Mine surely did. The logic is rock solid. Hey, my throat really hurts. Lets put some salt water back there. Not like that's really caustic, right?

2. Cabbage leaves for mastitis-I have absolutely no idea how this one originated. You have to wonder about the breast milk after using this remedy. Does it change the taste of it for the infant? Does the child forever associate cabbage with infections and therefore never like vegetables? Questions, my friends, questions...

3. The Neti Pot-The time honored tradition of nasal irrigation (never thought you'd hear time honored and nasal irrigation together, did you?). This one is less weird to me. Squirting water up your nose loosen up the mucus has been happening for centuries and makes sense. Someone just decided to get cute and turn the instrument of mucous maceration into an antique. Here's a rather creative clip for further appreciation (note that I do not recommend all that he does):

4.  Chicken Soup-The most classic of all. I know that everyone has partaken of the poultry laden porridge when feeling a little stuffy. The question remains just as with the others. Why would someone think that putting chicken in hot water would make you feel better? Now, most chicken has steroids in it. So maybe if you get enough chicken, and thereby enough steroids, you feel better. Tell PETA to put that in their pipe and smoke it.

I may be making fun of these remedies, but I must be honest and tell that I have seen all of them work for people. Just because it sounds strange doesn't mean it's wrong. Just remember to do your research well when someone gives you an idea about a home remedy to try. You don't want to end up pouring coffee through your nasal passages like the Neti Pot guy...