Questionable Home Remedies Filipino Mothers Use

If you have so much bills to pay and children to put in school, saving money would be your number one priority. That means you do not buy new clothes until your old ones are so thin they break apart easily, or you don’t buy expensive food and rely on tuyo, instant noodles, bagoong and other cheap Filipino food to calm your stomach.

Filipino mothers know their priority and that is to give their children proper education, so they do all the things to save money. That means even not going to the hospital if they know they can cure it at home.

If you grew up in a poor family, you know how expensive a doctor’s appointment can be. So in order to save money, they skip the doctor and cure the kids themselves. Some of these methods are something doctors would definitely question, but for mothers it is something their parents did, and their parent’s parents did, so why won’t it be effective?

Sometimes the cures make sense but most of the time it does not. Here are some questionable home remedies Filipino mothers use to treat their kids:

Vicks

While Vicks vapor rub is a medicine for relieving coughs and headaches, the way Filipino mother use it is fascinating. They use it for pain, itch, mosquito repellent, pimples, scratches, wounds, warts, athlete’s foot, sore muscles and more. No wonder they call it an all-cure medicine!

Omega

Stomach pain? Joint Pain? No Problem! Just rub an omega ointment on the pain and it will eventually go away. For Filipino moms, the more you apply, the better- only it burns so much it makes things worse.

White Flower

The all mighty cure for headache and nausea, White Flower is the clear ointment that makes everyone in your office look around and ask “bakit amoy matanda?”

If you’re mother is from Visayas, she most likely forced you to drink a warm water laced with White Flower to cure stomach ache and acid reflux. Note that there’s a warning on the product label: External Use Only.

Katinko

Another medicine every Filipino mothers are fond of using, Katinko can be used for many problems including itch and pain. It is basically like Omega, but it is less messier to apply.

Royal True Orange and Raw Egg

This one is actually delicious and is related to the popular Vietnamese drink called egg soda. Our Filipino mother’s version however, does not have a condensed milk and is used to cure cough.

Rice Boiled in Soda

Have you accidentally spilled your Coke on your meal and it your rice gets soaked with it? Apparently, it is a medicine for pasma. As for how it actually cures pasma, nobody knows.

Tuba-Tuba Leaves

Mothers use a lot of herbal medicine and one of them is the Tuba-Tuba leaves, others boil it but some warm the leaves and cover it in the body to cure stomach pain and lamig.

Tawas for Singaw

Tawas is not just for your armpits, it is also weirdly used to cure singaw or stomatitis. It tastes weird plus it stings, but if Filipino moms say it works, you just do it even if it hurts.

Vinegar

Salt and warm water solution to cure sore throat is preferred cure by doctor. For some mothers however, a vinegar solution is better. They feel that the stronger the sting, the better. The problem is that the vinegar burns.

Blanket

Odd one on the list but it is commonly used by mothers to “sweat out” the fever. They cover their kids with blanket and even place socks on their feet. They believe that once their kids start sweating, the fever will be gone too.

Laway for Usog

It’s disgusting, yes, but if it is the only solution to cure usog, aren’t you going to try it?

See! Some of these home remedies does not make sense, yet some Filipino mothers insist on its effectiveness.

But you know whats actually the best medicine by mothers and does not even cost anything? It’s their care and love! No matter how sick you are as long as their with you, you will feel better. Now that is something we are sure of!

(Image Source: Comedy Flavors)

Do you believe that mothers know best or these methods just pointless?