drferox:

rab1cano:

usarmytrooper:

Cool tips, these…

Don’t say you never learned anything from my blog.

@drferox i know not all of these are medical/veterinary or whatever, but a whole lot of this seems fishy to me. i know you talked about Dawn for fleas not too long ago, and as someone who suffered from chronic UTIs for an entire childhood, the alka seltzer one seems like an all around bad idea. do you find any of these (the ones for animals at least) useful?

A lot does seem fishy. If it seems too good and simple to be true, it probably is. So I’ll stick to the relevant ones but in order:

• Corn oil for ear mites: Might actually work. However ear mites are pretty rare, I’ve found them twice in 8 years, and it will not do anything at all for a yeast or bacterial infection.Protip: It’s extremely unlikely for a dog to have ear mites.
• Dawn Dishsoap for fleas: Recently explained here, you can use it to kill fleas but it’s not ‘instant’ and it’s not ‘a few drops’. Can you imagine what it would be like if we were regularly washing our food implements with something this potent? It works, like literally any other soap, by suffocating the fleas which means you need plenty of it. It’s not a magic potion guys, homeopathic dishsoap wont do a thing.
• Gatorade for headaches: Well, drinking an isotonic electrolyte solution is not the worst thing to do with a headache, but it only corrects one potential cause. And gee, was it necessary to vilify over the counter pain relief?
• Colgate for burns: Please do not put toothpaste on your burns. See honey below.
• Peppermint for ??: Who thought it was a good idea to compare an inhaler to mints.
• Horseraddish and oil for sore joints: Knock yourself out I guess.
• Vinegar and honey: The cult of vinegar strikes again. I mean, you could gargle with betadine and that will be more effective, or just skip the vinegar.
• Alka-Seltzer for UTI: Oh gosh that’s funny. It’s not registered for use against UTIs because it doesn’t do anything. You know what will do something? Taking an NSAID will reduce the symptoms of a UTI but not treat it. You know, an NSAID like Aspirin, which is one of the components of Alka-Seltzer. Honestly, most of the time you will be better off taking ordinary Aspirin and loading up on vitamin C rich foods like cranberries until you can get to a doctor.
• Honey for skin: Ah, honey. The golden child of the natural therapies, because it does actually work for some things. It works by contact, coating a contaminated lesion and letting its antimicrobials and extreme osmotic pull kill the microorganisms beneath. It does not work if it’s diluted in water. It can be used for some skin wounds, is a better alternative than toothpaste (wtf why) for burns and may be both beneficial and soothing for sore throats. Just make sure it’s reasonably fresh, not all honeys are created equal.
• Listerine for toenail fungus: I’m wiling to bet the person that wrote these has never actually tried them.
• Listerine for burst blisters: Oh Dog no. It’s going to hurt and a few drop isn’t going to do much. you’re better off using salt water and a bandage.
• Vinegar for bruises: The cult of vinegar strikes again. A NSAID might help bruises heal, as will cold at the start and warmth afterwards, but vinegar? Wishful thinking.
• Oats for hand pain relief: Yeah, any warm compress is going to make arthritic joints feel better. I’d use a heat pack, but I guess you can make oats if you like.