We are a family of oddballs to say the least. As time passes we seem to get more odd, at least according to mainstream America. One of our particular oddities is trying to avoid unnecessary medication. This is in an effort to live as simply and naturally as possible. It hasn’t always been easy for us and for some families I know this is not an option but we praise the Lord for our good health and pray for the wisdom to keep it.

One book that has really helped us towards this goal is Natural Healthcare for Your Child, By Agatha Thrash. Thrash is a leading expert on natural and alternative medicine and with some 50 plus years in the medical field she has a lot to say.

In addition to background information on anatomy the book is organized by ailment. This actually is the only problem I have with the book because sometimes you don’t really know what the problem is and then it is rather hard to diagnoses but in most cases you can figure it out.

For example yesterday Avril seemed fine when she lay down for a nap. When she woke up we had plans to go to Proeun’s parents for the evening. She woke-up and we left right away. About halfway there she started complaining saying, “Mommy I don’t feel very good.” When we got to our destination I was helping her take off her coat when I discovered she was burning up. This is particularly worrisome with Avril because when she was 21 months old she had a fever induced seizure and ended up in the Emergency Room. We were told that she was probably prone to them and we should be very careful with her temperature. The doctor even recommended medicating her if her temp got over 100 degrees. Getting a 21 month old to take medicine is not easy. I normally ended up wearing it. Don’t get me started on suppositories.

When I reviewed the information in Natural Healthcare I discovered that fever induced seizures while common can be prevented and natural methods to prevent or cure high fevers. I also discovered the wonderful work a fever is working to accomplish in our bodies, that of actually fighting illness and to limit this ability in our bodies is to limit the bodies ability to heal itself.

So I knew all that stuff logically but I still wanted to panic when I discovered another fever. I quickly wet a cool cloth and applied it to the back of her neck. This is a trick my aunt passed on. Since all the blood going to your head passed through the neck, often close to the surface this is a good way to cool temps quickly.

Then I saw her pull on her ear–so the problem in addition to a fever was an earache! Even though we have our goals my first instinct was to take her to urgent care and get antibiotics. However on returning home and reviewing earaches I discovered most heal themselves in 3 days or so. Therefore keeping the patient comfortable is the main treatment. Among other things they recommended hot baths nightly followed by early bedtimes and hot compresses on the problem ear. I also learned more about the anatomy of a child’s ear and how to avoid problems in the future. She slept for 13 hours last night and woke with fever much improved and tonight her ear feels “good.”

Other things we have diagnosed and treated, athlete’s foot and eczema. I discovered I have a dairy allergy from another Thrash book, Food Allergies Made Simple. You can get both these books from Country Life Natural Foods. This is primarily a bulk food company but you can also order very helpful books. For great dairy free recipes I love The Country Life Cookbook and 7 Secrets Cookbook.