Our 3am Visit with Dr. Garlic

 Levi has had a really bad cold for about a week now.  It's one of the ones that starts with a fever and dry cough and general listlessness, then turns into the coughing, runny nose thing.  It may be some type of mild flu.

He doesn't seem to know how to blow his nose, so he sniffs all day.  I keep telling him to blow and get it out, but he just won't.

This morning at around 2 am, he woke up and said his head hurt.  He was bawling and holding his head.  I got him some hot juice and put a hot pad on his head, and he fell back to sleep.  I figured it was just congestion from the cold.

But an hour later, he woke up in terrible pain.  He was gritting his teeth and moaning, and said his ear hurt.  Why he doesn't tell me these things from the start, I do not know.  He's not the greatest at communicating sometimes, and he has a fear of the doctor since his stitches incident, so he doesn't tell me he's in pain until he can't take it anymore.

I touched his ear, and he shrieked and I knew the problem was there.

This had happened once before after a really bad cold.

It was the day of my little sister's bridal shower and I was supposed to go early and help set up.

Levi woke up in terrible pain, so I thought all the plans for the day were going to be interrupted with a trip to the doctor.  I called and set up an appointment for the afternoon, as early as they could get me in there.  I then called my older sister who was also running the shower, and she told me to call and cancel that appointment and do the following with garlic.

(Let me tell you that when she told me to do this, I did not like the idea, didn't believe it could really work.  I felt funny about putting something into my son's ear like this,

and she asked why I'd rather put some chemical antibiotics in that would not cure the problem but mask it.  I had no answer.  I thought about all that goes into our ears: water from chlorinated public pools where people of all kinds swim and... well, who knows what's in that water!  I'd gotten mud in my ears in a mud fight, food in a food fight, and who knows what else.  Certainly a little garlic infused oil wouldn't hurt to try.)

So I did as she told me...

Poured a little olive oil into a microwave save bowl 

(about a Tbs. or so)

and then microwaved it for about 10 seconds,

just so it is warm to go into the ear.

  I minced a clove of garlic into the warm oil...

stirred it so that the garlic and oil begin to bond together...

 and then pressed it through my 100 year old strainer.

(yes, I guess it looks about that way, doesn't it?

Somebody gave me a bunch of old kitchen utensils they didn't need when we got married,

and I think this was in there.)

 I used a spoon to press the garlic a little.

(You DON'T want actual pieces of garlic going into the ear; just the oil with garlic j

 I then used a dropper to put about 3 or 4 drops into Levi's afflicted ear.

He screamed, only because he screams about anything we do to him when he's in pain,

but we had him lie with it in there for a minute or so and gently touched the outside of the ear to make sure it was getting in there.

I then put this heating pad on his head.

This was a gift from my sister-in-law, and it is indispensable!  I don't know what we did without it!

You just place the whole thing into the microwave for 1 and a half minutes and it's ready.  It holds heat for about 15 minutes.  Shawn uses it on his back occasionally, I use it on my neck when it feels stiff, and it is so handy.

Great for headaches, too, as Levi found out.

After about 15 minutes, Levi was sleeping soundly.  This morning he has no pain.  I touched his ear and he didn't mind a bit.  It's incredible and amazing to me the power of garlic!

 If you want to read more about the incredible antibiotic qualities of garlic, this garlic article (click here) is fantastic.  It will make a garlic believer out of you!

On a side note, I have found 2 books helpful to me in dealing with childhood medical information.

I really don't know what I'd do without them.  How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite or your Doctor is written by a doctor.  After 25 years in Pediatrics, he no longer would prescribe antibiotics or the ear tube surgery for children.  He does give some helpful advice to see the Doctor after 48 hours just to be sure there is no foreign objects in the ear.  It is an incredible book that also helped me make some decisions about my vaccination choices.  He has been in the field and seen for himself the things he writes about.

The second book,  Smart Medicine for Healthier Living is incredible.  You can look up a condition: for example, I just looked up ringworm, as my kids get it occasionally from our pigs.  When looked up, it gives a description of it, conventional treatment (what the doctor will give you for it), dietary guidelines, nutritional supplements, herbal treatments, homeopathy, Bach flower remedies, acupressure, aromatherapy, general recommendations, and preventions.  It's thorough but understandable.  I keep it where I know where it is because I use it a lot.

And now I'm hoping tonight I'll get a better night's sleep.