Modern medicine v's more traditional methods

Lady - posted on 03/05/2010 ( 21 moms have responded )

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I try not to run to the doctors every time me or the children have a cough or cold or little rash, I prefer to give their bodies the chance to fight what ever it is first. If they are genuinly ill or what ever it is does not clear up I will then go to the doctor and take whatever he prescribes. I have had all my children fully immunised - my 11 month old is due to get his MMR in a couple of weeks time. But sometimes I think people are too quick to go down the medical route when the traditional methods can be better in the long run.

For example - When my first son was a baby he suffered from eczema I did not want to use steriod creams on him and instead got a cream from the health food shop and it worked so much better and cleared up his eczema so much that now at the age of 11 he very rarely need to use it at all, only sometimes in cold weather and if he has been near dogs. Where as the friends I have that have used steriod creams on their children have to keep using them all the time as steriods thin the skin and make it more susceptible.

Doctors used to dish out antibiotics for everything from coughs to rashes just to appease parents and now it has been found that there are more and more antibiotic resistant illnesses about so they have had to stop. I feel like the same thing may be now happening with steriod based inhalers. When I was young there were only ever one or two children in the whole school with an inhaler - now there is one or two children in every class - are they really all asthmatic or are they like my friends daughter who was given an inhaler when her mum kept taking her to the doctor about a persistant night time cough which was clearly caused by the fact that they were renovating their house at the time.

Thankfully none of my children have asthma so far but it does run in my family and if the youngest is diagnosed later on I'll be researching tradition methods of treating it before resorting to steriods.





Do you think we rush to the medical method to quick sometime? Do you use any traditional treatments on your children? Or do you always trust the doctor to decide what's best?

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21 Comments

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Chatty - posted on 03/08/2010

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Well said AMY! I haven't trusted doctors for years because of my own experiences! We now see a N.P. ( nurse practicioner ) and I really like her but that doesn't mean I assume everything she says to be the only truth......I always do my research! Doctors are humans; they're not dieticians or necessarily even parents but you'll often find them giving you advice like it's the only solution! Please always do ur research people! Even if it's God's word; you don't just blindly believe or follow something someone says because of who they are!

Amy - posted on 03/08/2010

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I basically grew up in a health food store. so i rarely go to a doctor's. if there's not a problem, why are you there to catch what some other sick person has? then again, i think most people today don't know their basic first aid. could you do a running cross stitch if you needed to on your child? people use antibiotics too much and their bodies won't be able to fight it off on their own. I use all traditional medicines. my daughter is 3 and we've only been to a doctor for an illness once - she was itty bitty baby and i just needed to be sure. i know i get in trouble a lot for saying this..but i don't trust doctors. our first pediatrician tried to retract my son's foreskin---no no nono. shouldn't he know that? if intact, don't retract. and we've had doctors tell us i need to give my son formula because he isn't sleeping through the nite. big whoop. so he's not sleeping through the nite. he's a solid, healthy little boy. i think also people start to believe what a dr says is the word of god - like it's law or something that they said so you must do. please don't forget they are YOUR EMPLOYEE! take advice, but do your research.

Terri - posted on 03/08/2010

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I only take my kids to the dr as a last resort. Havent seen the dr in about 6 months now lol. I know a lot of my friends take their kids as soon as they get a sniffle. But unless mine have a fever or are in obvious pain, I tend to let them ride it out with panadol.

I let my kids build up their own immune system by letting them run around in the dirt and open air. My friends kids are sick all the time, because she wont let them get dirty so they have no immune system and she is constantly taking them to the dr over the littlest thing and it always turns out to be a cold!! And then she tells me that the dr is putting them on antibiotics just in case???? Her 3 year old has had more medication in his life than all of my 4 kids in the last 8 years!!

I try to use the natural resources where possible, like eucalyptus oil and tea tree oil, 2 of the worlds most useful oils!!!

Rosa - posted on 03/07/2010

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Tht's an interesting thought about inhalers.

Jennifer - posted on 03/06/2010

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I agree Gillian =] I actually asked the doctor and he said it's best to stick with something natural like olive oil rather than use the steroid creams.

Lady - posted on 03/05/2010

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I think as first time parents quite often we don't know what's serious and what's not so need the reasurance of the doctor - which is absolutely fine in my opinion. If you can get a doctor who understands and doesn't just fob you off with a prescription then your very lucky.

Jennifer - posted on 03/05/2010

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Yes I think we do run to the doctor too soon sometimes, I'm just glad my mam used to be a nurse so I can ask her advice. My son had quite bad dry skin and I used olive oil rather than going to the doctors as I know it's most likely ezcema as my husband and sister both had/have it.

Ashley - posted on 03/05/2010

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I guess I'm lucky with my son's doctor...when my son had a cold, all she recommended was saline drops to help his poor nose. He is up to date on all vaccines, and at almost a year old, has had one cold and nothing else. He is my first, so I have no issue calling his doctor's office if I feel it is something out of my control.

If I knew he had let's say strep throat, he would of course get the antibiotics since I know first hand how awful it is. I am wary of too many medicines, but again, have been pretty lucky with him so far. He does have eczema and has the steroid cream, but I've used it twice. I know it thins the skin so I use other things before resorting to it.

For babies, sometimes it's hard to tell what hurts them, so I feel seeing the doctor to make sure nothing is too severe would be best. I imagine once kids are able to tell you what is wrong it would be easier to distinguish what is emergent or not.

Good Day! - posted on 03/05/2010

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WOW! Sara: ur a lucky lady! Male nurses can be extremely sexy


INCREDIBLY SEXY!!! ;)

Alison - posted on 03/05/2010

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I think over medicating for an illness can be as bad as undertreating. Where possible allowing the natural immune system to fight illness is best, but it's important use good judgement when a child needs a doctor or medicine. Being well informed is essential.

Jocelyn - posted on 03/05/2010

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I agree; we (society) are way too quick to run to doctors. This is why everyone is building up a resistance to antibiotics and such. I always go to the homeopathic remedies first. If that fails to work then I try something else, say acupuncture for migraines. Chemicals/drugs are a last resort. But I'm not against them completely. Both my kids are up to date on their vaccinations (but no chickenpox, flu or h1n1) and if someone gets, lets say Strep throat, then I am going to take them to get some penicillin. But I would resort to penicillin after I had tried everything else natural and ruled out just a general cold/infection etc. I also use natural remedies for skin irritations like burns and allergic reactions. My head has to be practically exploding before I even take tylenol!

Jenny - posted on 03/05/2010

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I had Rhuematic Fever when I was around 14. After that episode I would get sick frequently. 104 degree fever, stuck in bed for a week kind of sick. Every time I would be prescribed a different antibiotic. Eventually we convinced my doctor to take my tonsils out even though my tonsillitis results were coming back negative. I have had nothing but regular colds and flus ever since.



I love my current doctor. She is totally willing to recommend natural remedies over drugs in certain situations.

Teresa - posted on 03/05/2010

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I was going to say that a lot of ear infections actually can heal up on their own, but then I noticed that your daughter is under 2 and I've always heard that under 2 needs to see the doc for ear infections. Sorry.

Teresa - posted on 03/05/2010

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Haven't read responses yet... I'll get to that. ;)

I do trust my kids doc entirely. Don't think my stepmom would be his nurse if he sucked. ;) He knows how I feel about unneeded medicines though.

My views? Well, put it this way... A few months ago my son had green snot for 3 weeks straight before I took him to the doctor. NOTHING else was wrong w/ him, so I was trying to wait it out. I did take him in and he was put on antibiotics. :)

I've been a mom for 8 years and have been in the emergency room twice. Once when the girls were 11 months old one of them needed stitches on her forehead and the doc office was overbooked. And once just Monday when my other daughter got a concussion......

Chatty - posted on 03/05/2010

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May I offer a helpful tip if she does get another one........she might be too young but my mom used to soak a cotton ball in warm oil and put it in my ear........it helped soothe the pain! Give it a try if you haven't already, as long as she'll leave it alone I promise them warm sensation will definitely help! As an adult if my ears hurt I often sleep with a hot water bottle under my ear......it's amazing what a lil' heat can do! This obviously doesn't replace tylenol or antibiotics; it just felt good!

Jackie - posted on 03/05/2010

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Thanks. I am completely for it. My husband and I believe in treating the problem rather than the symptom. My daughter is only 14 mos old now, so she got her first ear infection the beginning of this winter...and she's had 3. But if we start the habit again next winter I will be pushing for it....waiting till then in case they are just related to the teething at the same time.

Chatty - posted on 03/05/2010

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I had tubes in my ears when I was 6! Best thing my parents ever did for me! I don't remember much from my childhood but I do remember the ear pain.......,it's excruciating and I don't wish it on anyone! Good luck with ur daughter Jackie!



P.S. I haven't had a problem or looked back since the tubes were out when I was close to 10 years old!

Jackie - posted on 03/05/2010

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The only time my daughter goes to her pedi (outside of regular visits) is if she's really sick, or i think she has another ear infec. b/c unfortunately that does need antibiotics. But...if it continues on next winter too and we see it becoming a habit we will try to get tubes put in to avoid the constant antibiotics. My daughter is fully vaccinated and always will be, I find that important. But I do TOTALLY agree that too many drs will prescribe meds just to shut up parents. No antibiotic you ever give will cure a cold (or any virus for that matter) and I think they need to put their foot downa dn tell the parents to suck it up...because it is true what Gillian said about the # of antibiotic resistant infections being on the rise....that can get dangerous. All what, in the name of not hurting some parents feelings by telilng them they don't know what they are talking about. And the inhaler thing Gillian, I have also noticed the same, it seems like every other kid is on one now...and I truly question whether most of them need them or are out of breath b/c they are just lazy. I'm not so much into the herbal remedies myself, but I do try to avoid unnecessary medical interventions. I'll give my daughter 24-48 hrs of tylenol before i'll run her to the doctors just to see if her body can work it out on its own.

Chatty - posted on 03/05/2010

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WOW! Sara: ur a lucky lady! Male nurses can be extremely sexy! LOL! I recently had my daughter in the emergency room and unfortunately had to put her on antibiotics because she had a urinary infection. I totally didn't mind the 5 hours waiting for the results of the tests because OMG! our male nurse was absolutely gorgeous and super good with my daughter! LOL! Just a funny story! I love my husband dearly! ;)

Good Day! - posted on 03/05/2010

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Agreed. I'm just glad my husband is a nurse. He understands what works and what doesn't, and we rarely bring our daughter to the dr. And when we do, we have a wonderful pediatrician that is willing to work with us to keep our daughter off antibiotics and other drugs (unless absolutely necessary).

Chatty - posted on 03/05/2010

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GOOD MORNIN Gillian! I'm with you on this.......I think, as a society, we are far too quick to call on a doc! I hate doctors, waiting rooms.....emergency etc so you won't catch me there unless I feel it's absolutely necessary! I had the same situation with my 18 month old daughter and eczema, as well as some pretty nasty diaper rashes......my doctor gave me a perscription which I never filled! I've since moved and we have a new wonderful N.P. ( nurse practioner ) who's on the same page as me......I explained my beliefs and desires to her and she totally gets it! She actually recommended a natural cream from the health food store for my daughters rash.......cleared it right up! Whenever I do have to see her we always talk about every option and she listens to my concerns! It's refreshing!