How to save money on Medical Expenses

This information is not to be used in place of medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose or treat serious medical conditions. Please seek the advice of your physician before using these remedies and especially if you have tried these treatments and not experienced a clearing up of symptoms. Admittedly, your doctor will probably laugh and tell you they won't work, but he (or she) will also have to admit that they cannot cause harm! Untrained in the use of herbs and natural ingredients, medical doctors tend to scoff at using anything but medical based treatments.
With that said...these remedies REALLY work!

Let's start by learning how to soothe red, irritated eyes. I have had very sensitive eyes all of my life and if anyone near me suffered from pinkeye or some other eye infection, I would surely catch it! The cost of medical treatment for these constant infections was significant. Since learning of this herbal treatment for infected eyes, I have never again had to seek medical care for this problem. Nearly everyone at some time in their life has experienced red, itchy, draining eyes, or knows someone that has had these symptoms. If you have children, you know that these symptoms seem to come out of nowhere at the worst possible times, such as on a holiday or over the weekend. While working as a nurse in a minor emergency clinic for several years, I frequently cared for young children suffering with red, draining eyes. And because pinkeye is highly contagious, whole families often needed treatment.

The best herbal treatment that I found to be effective against pinkeye - liquid chlorophyll. Chlorophyll can be bought at your local health food store or on-line. Buy some now and keep it on hand. While you're buying the chlorophyll, buy an empty medicine dropper or two to have on hand. When refrigerated, Chlorophyll stores for months. You can warm it up before using it by placing the bottle in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes. Be sure and test the temperature before using it in your eyes by placing a few drops on the inside of your wrist (just as you would test baby formula). You only want to take the chill off, not heat it. Personally, I find dropping the chilled liquid in my eyes to be soothing but children tend to dislike that cold feeling.

1. Stop sharing towels and use paper towels instead or assign each family member their own towel. Good hand washing technique is essential. Use clean paper towel to turn faucets off and on. Bar soap harbors germs; use a pump dispenser instead.
2. Gently wash around eyes with a warm, wet washcloth. Use the washcloth only once then put it in the wash to be bleached.
3. Shake the bottle of chlorophyll and pour a small amount into a medicine dropper.
4. To avoid contaminating the dropper, be very careful not to touch the dropper to your eye. Put one drop in each eye. It's a good idea to treat both eyes, even if only one is red. Starting with the unaffected eye, apply one drop and blink, blink, blink to spread the drops around. Then do the same to the other eye.
5. To put drops in a child's eye, have the child lay down and close his eyes. Put two drops in the inside corner of each eye and have the child blink.
6. Have tissues handy to catch the runoff, as the green liquid may stain clothing.
7. Don't be alarmed, the green only discolors the eyes for a few moments!

Liquid chlorophyll can be used for many types of eye irritations including redness, dryness, and allergic reactions to pollens; and can be used as often as needed. It's best to use the drops at least every 2 - 3 hours if the eye appears infected. Don't use this treatment if you suspect that the eyeball itself has been scratched or if the conjunctiva (the white part) has any foreign body inbedded in it. That would definitely require medical assistance and is beyond the care of simple home remedies. Liquid chlorophyll should only be used for minor ailments of the eye.

If for any reason, the symptoms get worse, pain develops in the eye, or you don't see significant improvement in a day or two, call your physician. Eyesight is a precious thing and not worth taking chances with.

I know of one other great treatment for pink eye and will share it with you at the end of this lens.

Now let's move on to the ears. It's so hard being a parent and trying to make the right medical decisions for your child. Earache is another problem that sends many parents to the Emergency Room at night and on weekends with their babies and toddlers.

What do you do? Your child wakes up screaming in the night, pulling at his ears. Been there, done that. Over and over again. Honestly our children never got sick during the daylight hours or conveniently during weekdays. We made frequent trips to the ER and waited hour after hour for treatment. It was miserable for all of us and very costly. Plus all we got was a prescription for antibiotics that didn't help the pain. Five years of working in the ER showed me that we were not alone. Every night and weekend the ER was full of screaming babies and children pulling at their ears.

My best advice: Earache is not a reason to go to the ER in the middle of the night! We do that as parents because we don't know what else to do when our child is in pain. So next time this happens to you, try staying home and using one of the following treatments. The earache may go away entirely or the treatment may get your through the night until you can call your physician the next day.

Earache can come from different sources. One is caused by pressure on the eardrum and is usually brought on by a cold or sinus infection. The other is called 'swimmers ear' and is caused by water in the outer ear canal that causes irritation and sometimes results in bacteria, yeast or fungus growth in the outer ear canal. The treatments for these two types of ear pain differ.

1. For ear pain that accompanies a cold or sinus infection, try using an ear oil. The kind that I have found to be the most beneficial is actually called Ear Oil by Gaia Herb Company. This oil contains: St. Johns Wort, mullein, and garlic. There are many kinds of oil that can be placed in the ear, but we have found this one to be the most effective. First, warm the oil by placing the container in warm water for a few minutes, then test it on the inside of your arm (like you would test baby formula). Put one drop of the oil in the effected ear. It is most soothing when the temperature is slightly warm, never hot. Massage around the ear gently to encourage the drops to enter the ear canal. Ear oil may be administered every 2 - 3 hours as needed. If high fever is present, you may need to administer acetominophen or ibuprofen by mouth.

WARNING: DO NOT USE THESE DROPS ON ANYONE WITH TUBES IN THEIR EARS. The oil or liquid may plug up the tubes.

2. If you suspect that the pain is being caused by 'swimmers ear,' try the following:
Mix 1 teaspoon white vinegar with 1 teaspoon rubbing alcohol. The vinegar will change the pH of the ear canal, which stops bacteria, yeast, and fungus from growing; and the alcohol helps dry up any water left in the ear. Lay down on your side (or have your child lay down) with the painful ear up, then using a medicine dropper, drop 2 or 3 drops into the ear. Let the drops soak in for at least 5 minutes, longer if possible. Tuck a cotton ball in the ear when you get up to catch any liquid as it drains out. Don't leave the cotton ball in the ear of a baby or small child - it can become a choking hazard.

Several other treatments for swimmer's ear:

1) Use ice packs around the ear to reduce inflammation. The cold numbs the pain.
2) Blow up balloons; this changes the pressure in the ear canal, which can result in less pain.
3) Chew on crushed ice or suck on a popsicle; this can reduce inflammation from the inside.
4) Try the Ear Oil mentioned above - it just might help!

Often with a few days of one of these home treatments, the ear pain disappears entirely. This is especially true if the earache accompanies a cold. When the symptoms of the cold start to recede, the earache goes with it and no antibiotics are needed. An ER doctor once told me that antibiotics prescribed for ear pain in babies and children are almost always unnecessary and are only given to relieve the parents anxiety! On the other hand, if the symptoms get worse, there is purulent drainage from the ear, or the earache is accompanied by a high fever - call your doctor!

Last, but by no means least, let's look at joint pain. Bursitis, tennis elbow, arthritis, fibromyalgia, or plantar fasciitis - these all have one thing in common - they thrive in an acidic body! The person experiencing joint pain almost certainly has an acidic system. If you are suffering from one of these conditions, changing your pH will change your life! How can you change your pH? By changing your water. Our bodies are 70% water; doesn't it make sense to start with fresh, pure water?

Let's use the analogy of fish in a fish tank. The fish represent your cells and the water the fluid in your body. What happens when the water in a fish tank becomes cloudy from contaminants and the wastes from the fish? The fish get sick, right? If you call the pet store where you bought the fish and tell them your fish are sick, what's the first thing they say?... HAVE YOU TESTED YOUR WATER? WHAT'S THE pH? So to get your fish back on the road to health, instead of giving them medications, you change the water and fix the pH. And 99% of the time, your fish get better. They may need some medication for awhile since they were so polluted and contaminated by bad water, but they eventually get well. It's the same for us. When I first heard this analogy I was stunned. It made such perfect sense - since we are 70% water, why not try fixing the water FIRST?

In our American way of doing things, we immediately start looking for drugs to relieve the symptoms of illness, when what we should do first is change our water. Your body tries very hard keep your blood pH between 7.35 and 7.45, which is slightly alkaline. If your blood pH veers from that level even the slightest, you become very sick. The only place in your body that is supposed to be acidic is your stomach, and that only when you are eating. When the body detects high acid, it secretes buffers to neutralizes it but when the acid becomes too overwhelming and our buffers are exhausted, the acid has to go somewhere. We are in a constant battle against acid. When that acidity settles around the joints (which it often does) it results in joint pain and ultimately arthritis, fibromyalgia, and all those other chronic joint diseases. Most chronic diseases are linked to high acidity

All of the following chronic diseases have been linked to high acidity in the body. If you have any of these diseases, try changing your pH and see what miracles can occur!

Acne
Arthritis
Bursitis
Tendonitis
Fibromyalgia
Candida
Insomnia
Migraine headaches
Urinary tract infections
All Kinds of Cancer
Gastric reflux
Multiple Sclerosis
Constipation
Obesity
Menstrual cramps
Hyperactivity
Lack of Sex Drive
Impotence
Low energy
Psoriasis
Endometriosis
Scleroderma
Asthma
Kidney Stones

Acid forms as a result of stress, our diet, exercise, what we drink, and even the waste our body produces as it breaks down and utilizes the food we eat. I BELIEVE THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM THAT CAUSES OUR BODIES TO BECOME ACIDIC COMES FROM WHAT WE DRINK! Soft drinks are the worst culprit, testing 2.5-4 on the pH scale. This is highly acid and detrimental to our bones and joints. If you don't believe me, try putting a chicken bone in a glass of soda pop and let it stay there all week. At the end of the week, take it out and see if there is any change. Put it back in the soda and check it again in a month. Can you see why soda is so bad for you and what all that acid can do to your body? Coffee, tea, and even most juices fall in the same category - acidic. And would you believe, most of the bottled water you drink is extremely acidic!

If you suffer from joint pain - steroids, anti-inflamatories, and pain medications are not the only answer; or even the best answer.
So what is the answer? WATER! And not just any water. Did you know that almost every bottled water you buy, even the expensive ones, test 2-4 on the pH scale (the lower the number the more acidic)? If you drink bottled water, especially reverse osmosis water, you are contributing to your pain! Pumping my body full of highly acidic bottled water for years only contributed to my pain and poor health. I recently discovered a water that has amazing properties- ionized, alkaline water- and it has changed my life. After drinking it for a month, my joint pain disappeared, and after drinking it 4 months, many other of my chronic health issues disappeared also. What actually happens when you drink alkaline, ionized water is that your body becomes hydrated with very good, pure water and begins to heal itself of many of the chronic diseases that have become established because of high acidity. People all over are calling it 'miracle water." The human body is a miraculous creation, capable of healing itself of all kinds of illnesses and injuries - if we give it the right tools.

This water does not come in a bottle. Alkaline, ionized water is created by a machine that zaps electricity into tap water as it travels over metal plates. This causes the water to become alkaline and makes the water molecule smaller so it is more easily absorbed. And as an added bonus, it has very high antioxidant properties. In fact, there is nothing that has higher antioxidant properties than the water created by the best ionizer machines. This water closely resembles water as it was meant to be. The way water is at the base of the Himalayan Mountains today where the Hunza people live. These people are living well into their hundreds without any major diseases! As the water trickles down the mountainside, it filters through sand, picks up needed minerals, and is broken into smaller molecules as it bounces over rocks in the streams. It becomes more oxygenated and alkaline as it travels to the bottom of the mountains. Our water in the United States, as is that in many other countries, is polluted and must go through water treatment plants where it is chemically treated with chlorine, lye, and many other chemicals to make it drinkable. These chemicals are harmful to the body and can cause major illnesses. For those who have well water, this water also is often contaminated and acidic.

If you don't live at the base of the Himalayan Mountains with the Hunza people, where can you get alkaline, ionized water ? The only way to enjoy ionized, alkaline water is to buy a machine or find someone who has one that will share with you. The water does not stay alkaline and ionized for long, that's why it can't be bottled. The best and most effective way to drink this water is right out of your own faucet.
It is a major investment-the best machines costing $2,500-$4,000 dollars. It is not a water filter or kitchen appliance. It is classified as a medical device in Japan and Canada. There are many brands of machines to choose from and, of course, some create much better water than others.Buying a cheap imitation of a machine that could radically change your life would not be wise. If drinking this "miracle water" could allow your body to heal itself of pain and a whole host of other medical issues, and end frequent trips to the doctor AND do away with the use of expensive medicines, wouldn't it be worth the investment? Do your research well before investing in an ionizer. It can change your life! Check out this website for more information on alkaline, ionized water: www.healthywaterlife.com/cdrowell or look below for a clickable link to the website.

In the beginning of this lens I said that I would tell you of another treatment for pinkeye and other eye irritations. The treatment- acidic water produced from the ionizer machine. Yes, the same machine that produces alkaline, ionized water has many more capabilities and is deserving of another lens that explores its many uses. Briefly I will tell you that the better machines are capable of producing different pH waters that have a variety of uses. The strong acidic water ( 2.5 on the pH scale) can be dropped into the eyes and will kill germs and soothe the irritated tissue. (Be aware that only the very best ionizers are capable of producing acidic water that is at least 2.5 on the pH scale.)