Main piece:

“I always go and get this… I call it spicy lemonade, but it’s like lemon, agave, and cayenne pepper, and it’s from Whole Foods and I always go and get it when I’m sick.”

Background:

Informant is a third year pre-med student at George Washington University who grew up in Mill Valley, California. While she knows that this may not be highly effective, using this combination of ingredients as a cold remedy is something that she learned from her mother, and she says it does make her feel better.

Context:

I was just getting over a cold, so the informant shared with me some of her favorite ways to feel better.

Commentary:

This cold remedy is not based in science, yet it is one that I have learned from many different sources, be it my peers, my family, or the internet. Because it is so well known, it is easier to believe its effectiveness. The informant’s mother made this concoction for her growing up, so naturally she is going to trust its validity and continue the practice. This is a prime example of how a remedy gains more “scientific” credibility when it is corroborated by a larger community.

A published example of this recipe can be found here.

Main piece:

“I burned myself with oil when I was cooking, and I put white toothpaste, like it can’t have any stripes or any green or anything it has to be white. And I got it from my friend… she used to work in a restaurant and that’s what she said the chefs were always doing.”

Background:

Informant is a third year pre-med student at George Washington University who grew up in Mill Valley, California. A few years ago, her arm was badly burned while she was cooking, and her friend told her about this remedy. She has used it ever since, and has passed it along to some of her friends and family as well. 

Context:

I asked the informant if she had any home remedies, and this was her response.

Commentary:

This practice, like all folk medicine, has no real basis is science but is still commonly accepted to have healing properties. The informant was desperate to relieve the pain of her burns, and as this was corroborated by both her friends and professional chefs, she believed it to work.

Main piece:

“When I was younger, in like elementary school, I was at my friend’s house and I got the hiccups and they wouldn’t go away and my friend’s dad told me to get rid of hiccups you have to drink water out of a cup with a paper towel on top of it upside down. It was really confusing, but I mean the thought of it actually made it work.”

Background:

Informant is a first year student at the University of Southern California who grew up in Pleasanton, California. She learned this method from a childhood friend’s father, and has used it ever since.

Context:

I asked the informant if she had any home remedies that she likes, and she shared this cure for hiccups.

Commentary:

The folk belief that hiccups can be cured by drinking water upside down is quite common, but it is interesting to see the variation in this belief with the addition of placing a paper towel on top of the cup. It was most likely added as an attempt at keeping the water from spilling while the children struggled to drink the water upside down, but the informant still follows this to this day.

As a piece of folk medicine, it is evident that this practice is not based in science. It is interesting to see that not only do so many people follow this belief, but also the informant herself even seemed to recognize that this practice does not actually make scientific sense, admitting that just “the thought of it actually made it work.”