I live in rural eastern NC (turpentine capital of the world in the old days - you know, the Tar Heel State!) where my family has lived since the early 1700's. My great grandmother was in a car wreck 30 years ago at the age of 92 (she wasn't driving...). Banged up pretty bad with a broken arm and leg. She refused to allow the paramedics cut off her new coat and slipped her compound fractured arm out before they knew what she had done. After getting patched up and admitted, her attending asked if she needed any pain medication and if she was allergic to antibiotics. She thought for a moment, and answered that although she was not allergic to anything, she did not want any of that medicine. But she'd do just fine if he could get her some turpentine to rub on her arm. The next am there was a small bottle on her bedside. -g barden John Canning wrote: > Six or seven years ago, I was helping computerize an after-hours > pediatric clinic in an inner city ghetto. For someone who was > raised in rural Vermont, this was quite the eye opening > experience. > The clinic was staffed by pediatricians, nurse practitioners, and > pediatric residents from the local medical schools. > On the second or third day, I watched one of the residents lose it > when a patient came in with an "upset stomach." The Mom had > already treated it by giving the child a teaspoon of turpentine. > The resident wanted to send the child off to the emergency room to > have his stomach pumped. > The medical director and one of the nurse practitioners patiently > explained to the resident that in some of the neighborhoods around > the clinic, upset stomachs were frequently treated with turpentine > in an effort to kill of things such as pinworms or tape worms... > While it was not the recommended treatment by the clinic, it was > something that had become part of this community's knowledge base.