Cough and fever, are two infirmities common in my area. I've suffered from these two a long time ago. I grew up in a home where the primary and most pressing need was food. Every other need was secondary, even emergency ones. The primary need was food and it was still very difficult for my parents to make this need available. So back then when I used to suffer from cough and fever, there were days I could never forget. The techniques and improvisation strategies often employed by my mom to calm fever and cough were amazing. With these techniques and prayer, we believed there were healing factors most times when I didn't have to take drugs to get well.
My country is an amazing one, hehe. Country mosquitoes compete for space with the rich and the poor. With the prevalence of mosquitoes which are the vectors for the causation of malaria, fever which is a common symptom of malaria is also very common. Back then, the mosquito net we had wasn't always enough to cover up everyone in the room and most times I would roll out of the bed and some parts of my body would be exposed to mosquitoes. I used to have a fever incessantly.
Cough is a common symptom of the common cold. My mom also had her techniques and improvisation strategies she believes can remedy these coughs. I know you may be curious to know her strategies for the two subject matters. Let's get down to them.
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For fever, which was very common then, my mom devised the strategy of regular bathing and cleaning my body with a wet cloth. The water she often used was neither cold nor warm, just water at room temperature. She believed by doing this, my temperature would fall and I would recover. She always encouraged me to drink water too. There is this feeling of coldness I develop when I suffer from fever, my body is always warm but I would feel cold. So I used to cover myself up with bed sheets but my mom told me I shouldn't. She said that by covering the body, one would conserve the heat that was supposed to be evolved out of the body.
That was her home "crazy" remedy for fever most times I got well after she employed her strategies. I don't know if her remedy techniques worked or if my immune system fought for my recovery.
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For coughing, her "crazy" remedy technique was drinking warm water. My mom believed that drinking warm water would clear every mucus or "cause" of the cough. When she said "every cause", she included everything that could ever cause a cough. That was her philosophy. This technique was more like a punishment to me because even when I wasn't thirsty, I still had to drink to calm the cough when it got very serious.
This "crazy" home remedy was "one-in-town", my mom was my home doctor, a special one indeed.
I later discovered that my mom is actually right in some her believes which I thought were just to "try." I got to discover that warm water actually helps clear the throat.
Thanks for reading.
This is my entry for the #julyinleo day 12 prompt. To know more about the #inleo daily prompts, check it out here:
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