Natural Isn’t Necessarily Safer: Three Former Home Remedies That Had Disastrous Consequences

Natural Isn’t Necessarily Safer: Three Former Home Remedies that had Disastrous Consequences

Natural therapies and home remedies often have an aura of authenticity to them simply because they have been in vogue for so long that nobody even knows their origins at times. However, natural does not always mean safer. In fact, some of the world’s most dangerous chemicals and processes are “natural”. So how did these home remedies begin in the first place? One plausible explanation is that they evolved during an era when scientific learning was still in its infancy and nothing of significance could be proved against them. Another possibility is that these remedies actually did work at some point in time when humans were hardier than we are today: skin was tougher, stomachs were stronger and people were generally more resilient to internal disturbances than they are now.

Although many home remedies continue to be administered around the world, some of them have been debunked by science. In fact, the ones you are going to read about below actually do the exact opposite of what they’re supposed to.

Applying Butter to a Burn

This is one home remedy that most people have heard of, and probably even tried at some point. While applying cold butter to a burn may cool the area temporarily, it has more detrimental effects than beneficial ones. First, butter is a fat; therefore, it forms a layer over the burn, trapping the heat inside, so making things worse. Second, butter can contribute to bacterial growth and subsequent infection, which complicates what might have been an easy-to-treat burn. Third, butter is very difficult to clean off when the wound is subsequently treated. The cleaning process may then damage the injured cells further.

Taking Paraffin to Induce Vomiting

For many decades, children have been given paraffin, or kerosene, to induce vomiting when they have ingested something potentially poisonous. Far from being a safe remedy, paraffin can not only damage the lining of the stomach, but the fumes can enter the lungs and cause irreparable damage there as well. Paraffin itself is a poison, and several studies have shown that inducing vomiting using paraffin will make the vomiting worse and can even lead to death. Today, forcing a child to ingest paraffin to induce vomiting is seen as a barbaric practice that still continues in many parts of the world.

Castor Oil for Constipation

Castor oil is very popular as a laxative even today. The truth is that castor oil is indeed excellent for this purpose, but care should be taken when it’s used for more than a couple of days. Side-effects of prolonged use of castor oil include stomach pain, cramps and other stomach issues. The other danger from castor oil is that the process of waste evacuation comes to depend on castor oil in order to function normally at other times. Essentially, this is the equivalent of an addiction because the person can no longer eject waste without the help of castor oil.

These are just three former home remedies that had disastrous consequences. There are several more, which is why self-treatment can be such a dangerous thing. Blindly trusting an old wives tale can lead to dire consequences.

Zane Schwarzlose writes for the McMinn Law firm, a personal injury law firm in Austin, Texas. Zane thinks that injuries caused by home remedies are way too common.