On having a toothache I was advised to use clove oil.
I probably wouldn’t have tried it due to my sceptisim of alternative medicine and my judgement that it probably was one. Then a person I told about my toothache who I’d never met before just went and bought me a packet of cloves, which was very kind.
Thank goodness he did! They work.
Just thought I’d post this in case it might help anyone else likely to be sceptical as I was.
I realise I also need treatment from the dentist b.t.w, just that the appointment is not until the 8th March.
While much alternative medicine (deservedly) gets a bad rap, there are a number of scientific studies which show that some of the things can and do work quite well. (BTW, the clove solution for a toothache is only good for about 24 hours. After that, the cloves no longer work on the pain. Just an FYI from someone with experience on the matter.) To dismiss alternative medicine completely is to be just as guilty of stupidity as those nutters who dismiss modern medicine in its entirety.
Granted, I wouldn’t try alternative medicine over conventional medicine, but in combination with, or in a case where modern medicine had nothing to offer, its certainly something to consider. The Green Pharmacy by James Duke, PhD is a good place to start. Dr. Duke worked for the USDA as a researcher tracking down plants all over the world with pharmaceutical properties and has worked for several other government agencies as a plant expert. He’s also got a rather wicked sense of humor. He once was hired by the DEA to train agents on how to recognize plants like opium poppies. As he was walking into the DEA building, he couldn’t help but notice they had several species of opium poppies growing in the landscaping in front of the building! He gave his lecture without mentioning that they had those plants growing in front of the building.
To dismiss alternative medicine completely is to be just as guilty of stupidity as those nutters who dismiss modern medicine in its entirety.
The knee jerk reactions are entirely understandable considering that a lot of what is called “Alternative Medicine” is quackery at it’s very worst, and it’s extremely rare to see any of the claims made by the peddlers of snake oil hold up under rigorous examination.
The thing is that there does indeed need to be rigorous examination. A lot of the treatments based on various herbs, spices, and medicinal plants come to us by way of some experience with same by tribal cultures and they weren’t always wrong. It’s just a matter of giving everything a good close to identify what ACTUALLY works as opposed to what doesn’t work and why it does IF it does. It sounds to me like there may be some chemical agent in the cloves mentioned here which have an analgesic effect.
Well, it depends on your definition of alternative, I suppose. Most medicines historically were naturally occurring compounds. If cloves work to relieve tooth pain (I’ll take your word for it for now), it’s obviously because of some compound present in the cloves which acts as an analgesic. That’s not alternative medicine, IMHO—it’s just medicine.
The main ingredient on clove oil is eugenol, and it’s been used for many years as a dental analgesic. So, it can’t really even be called alternative. As Doug says, it’s just medicine.
According to THIS STUDY clove is as effective topical anesthetic as is benzocaine. But I think I would still go for benzocaine. I have once visited a printing house where they print those little pieces of paper you’ll find inside the medicine package. This was only a printing house (there was no medicine to be found anywhere near), but they were so strict that we had to wear a mask and a special outfit to avoid a potential contamination of the paper. Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it? Since only god knows who prepared the clove oil, I think you may be statistically safer to go for the benzocaine.
The main ingredient on clove oil is eugenol, and it’s been used for many years as a dental analgesic. So, it can’t really even be called alternative. As Doug says, it’s just medicine.
Occam
I know it’s just medicine Occam.
I posted because people might mistake it for alternative medicine, as I did, until I tried it.
Since only god knows who prepared the clove oil, I think you may be statistically safer to go for the benzocaine.
I’m not using clove oil.
Just cloves.
Stephen
I imagine the possibility of a clove being contaminated (say, with a fungus) would be even higher than that of a clove oil. I know the chances of that happening are probably only microscopic, but I’ll still prefer a real medicine prepared by scientists who are obsessed with hygiene than a raw clove which got to the store from some farm food storage place infected with mice or fungus.
Since only god knows who prepared the clove oil, I think you may be statistically safer to go for the benzocaine.
I’m not using clove oil.
Just cloves.
Stephen
I imagine the possibility of a clove being contaminated (say, with a fungus) would be even higher than that of a clove oil. I know the chances of that happening are probably only microscopic, but I’ll still prefer a real medicine prepared by scientists who are obsessed with hygiene than a raw clove which got to the store from some farm food storage place infected with mice or fungus.
Well, the clove works great.
I’m unaware of the availability of “real medicine” and if it would be as effective and easy to use.
Two things. 1) Clove oil is sold as a food flavoring so it has to be prepared with the same high standards that all food does. Eugenol sold is C.P. (chemically pure); 2) If you’ve ever played around with eugenol or clove oil you’ll realize that it’s so nasty that nothing could live in it.
