The most Harmful health advice
WHILE most first degrees take about three or four years to complete, a first degree in medicine tends to take at least five. The graduate then has to complete at least a year of on-the-job training before he/she is licensed to give general medical advice to anyone. Yet many of us are guilty of thinking that two minutes of scholarly reading on the Internet qualifies us to diagnose and treat our own medical illnesses.
Then there are others who did no research at all, beyond hearing of a remedy (or something close to it) and passing it along. Sometimes the tip just might do the trick, but other times they end up putting us in a worse state than the original ailment did.
These readers learned the hard way that prevention is better than cure — especially if the cure is coming from a questionable source.
Kerry-Ann, 30, vlogger:
The worst medical advice I ever got was to tie onions to the bottom of my feet inside socks and wear it around the house. This was supposed to stop me from getting the flu from my relatives. I also had to cut some and put in every corner of the house. It didn’t necessarily harm me, but I got the flu anyway, and the entire place got smelly. It wasn’t worth it.
Matthew, 36, supervisor:
When I was much younger, I took my uncle’s foolish advice and tried to burn out a cavity because the toothache was unbearable and I couldn’t afford to go to the dentist. I didn’t have anyone to help, and I was trying to use an ice pick, heated on the stove, to burn the exposed nerve inside the bad tooth, with the help of a mirror. I burned my lip, my tongue, my gums, everywhere. I wouldn’t advise anyone to try that foolishness.
Sonia, 26, receptionist:
My mother told me to tie thread on a garlic clove and insert it in my vagina for a yeast infection. Well, I’m not sure what I did wrong, but I felt like there was a fire burning inside me, and it got very smelly after a day up there. I was so embarrassed to tell the gynaecologist what I had done.
Shawn, 27, physical therapist:
I was out of deodorant one day and I was looking around for an alternative. I saw on the Internet that limes cut odour, so I picked one and rubbed it under my armpit, and left home for class at UWI. I meant to buy deodorant on my way to class, but I forgot. By the time I got to campus I could feel sweat running down my shirt, and I was very frowsy. The lime just added to the green smell, and I could tell based on my friends’ faces that they could smell it too.
Alexander, 24, student:
When I was younger, my big brother told me that I could tie heavy objects to my organ to make it grow longer. I tried it once and thought it was ridiculous so I didn’t follow it up, although he was doing it, and a lot of other crazy things. Then the other day I found out that he has to be taking blue pills and drinking up a lot of tonics. He is only 29. I can’t help but think that if I listened to him and did all that madness, then I would be having a hard time getting hard too.
Cass, 28, teacher:
I was worried that I might become pregnant although I hadn’t missed my period yet, and I was going to get the morning after pill, but my friend told me to just drink a hot cola and take paracetamol and it would prevent conception. Well guess who now has a four-year-old child?
