Living by the shore always has its beach day benefits and one painful downfall- sunburn. After we would be out in the sun all day, my sister and I would come back to the house with our noses and Irish cheeks glowing a raw red color.
Our mother would walk over to the terracotta pot with hard, pointy tentacles bursting out of it as if an octopus’ head was buried in the dirt and tear off an old stem of the aloe plant, exposing the translucent green goo. We would then rub the guts of the plant into the burnt parts of our faces; the cooling sensation would instantly ease the burning affects the sun had left on our cheekbones.
Throughout my childhood I can remember the many remedies that my mother and grandmother swore by. Any time any physical ailment was realized; cut, splinter, burn, infection, or sore joint my mother brought out the zinnkraut. Zinnkraut is German for field horsetail. I have soaked my entire body in the plant and was soon in better health.
Once, driving through the woods, we saw it growing on the side of the road and had to stop and grab some; there was always a supply of the grass strands in my household, and the magic of the plant healed just about any injury.
My sister and I had never been vaccinated until we absolutely had to, as we were going to attend college. Some believe it causes other diseases or even autism; however, I’m not sure how true those statements are. When I researched vaccines, I found that some of them were not given in Europe even if they were encouraged by physicians in the United States, which made me wary.
I also researched the odds of a considerably healthy individual in a modern society actually catching the viruses the vaccines claimed to protect against, and they were miniscule.
Many people in the medical field I have spoken with say it is extremely important for children and the elderly to be vaccinated, and feel there is no downfall for everyone to be. I found the idea of foreign, unnatural, chemicals being absorbed by my muscles and tissues make me more nervous than having a cold which was a concept probably instilled in me by my family.
I do not think I would have argued to not be vaccinated or even given the flu shot to help with my immunities, but as a child those decisions were not up to.
Vaccines or medications are not necessarily bad, but they are not always as necessary as many believe. It should not be a natural remedy versus modern medicine debate, as it often is, but rather a discussion on when medical treatment is needed after the more natural route is not enough.
The concept of medication being prescribed as the first option for certain ailments is not always the best in the long run for patients. Prescription drugs do not have to be so readily pushed as the first solution to heal a simple injury that could be just as easily cured by a change in diet, drinking more water, or exercising.
Some medicine is very needed with illnesses like cancer where advancements in technology can actually put terminal diseases into remission and save lives. Mental health and the necessary medications to regulate specific chemical imbalances are also extremely important and cannot usually be replaced by alternatives.
My concern is more on the side effects of certain drugs and the unfamiliarity with the chemicals and compounds people so willing throw down their throat.
The residual issues with some drugs can be as severe as addiction and even death.
