Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

Are You Seeking Medical Knowledge?

The Wildcard Round! Today's winner, selected by Virtual Dice, will receive a Medical MB! (I know...I still have to get to last week's winner...*Wink*.)

What is the best (or worst) non-medical advice you've ever received for an injury or an illness?

You know I get hung up over the definition of a word or some words within theses challenges. I'm going with non-medical: not having professional medical experience.

I have white skin. Biogeography tells us that the white skinned people come from the polar regions. Skin tone is related to the amount of melanin in your system. The closer you are to the equator the more you have. It helps protect you from the sun's rays. Skin tone is inherited. But, it does not help protect you from skin problems. Your skin is the cover that protects the muscles. (kind of off subject)

For years I blamed my trouble with skin breakouts and rashes on my fair skin. More than one self proclaimed medic told me I did not wash often enough. I figure they did not notice cleanliness. Truly, I could have scrubbed the top layers of skin off until I was raw, these comments would still come slinging my way. This is really bad advice because acne and other rashes are caused by stress, hormonal fluctuations, clogged pours, which are not necessarily opened by soap and water applications and allergic reactions.

Also, in my 30's and 40's my family did not have health insurance. If you could not pay you did not go to a Doctor. My dad had remedies for us when we were children. People depend on helpful hints from old family recipes and some of them actually work. I have several books that tell about home remedies.

Now, we all have insurance. My insurance company wants two checkups a year. One is called a wellness checkup where they ask you questions and then try to figure out if you are answering truthfully. The other one is a physical which is more hands on body checkup. If you are elderly and healthy they try to figure out why?

In 1998 I met an elderly woman who told me her doctor was constantly upset with her for not confiding the smallest health fluctuations she was experiencing. She said the problems were less trouble than the medicine she would be prescribed if she went to the physician.

On my father's side of the family my great Aunt was a physician. Now some of my cousins are also physicians. They wanted me to be a physician. I wanted to be a Veterinarian. There was some outrage about this topic from some of the family members. It was really a cultural problem that is no longer relevant since Veterinarians are well accepted by the public. To answer the other side of the question, I have had a lot of good advice over the years that aided in keeping the health of my children and myself fairly stable.(while the children were still under my care).

One piece of advice is to never take any medicine unless it is bordering the last resort. This advice does not set well with people who really depend on medical doctors for all their health advice.

I am reading about helping pain with mindfulness. This is a very interesting subject in lesson 5b at https://www.palousemindfulness.com

I don't understand unhealthy. I always think I should help someone else who is ill. Usually my advice would be tossed out the window so I try not to get involved with anything more than comfort.

This whole blog is meandering around subjects I rarely touch. Good luck with reading it. Questions from the audience are acceptable.