16-11
FOR SUTURING WOUNDS:
You can use silk or cotto n sewing
thread, and a sewing needle, also
In some parts of the
sterilized. (See WTND, p. 86.)
world, the heads of
ants with big jaws are
FOR SURGICAL PADS
AND BANDAGES:
used to clamp wounds
shut. After the ant
bites, the head is cut
Instead of sterile gauze pads, the
sisters have used the leaves of a
off the the jaws stay
locked.
Philippine tree called hogonoy.
These are said to be antiseptic and to
help control bleeding. The leaves are first washed and then soaked in soapy water.
For outer bandages, the sisters use papaya
leaves, which they scrub and soak in soapy
water, and then bind in place with thin strips
of banana bark.
ACUPUNCTURE AND ACUPRESSURE ANESTHESIA:
A number of health programs in the Philippines, including the Medical Mission
Sisters, are experimenting with acupuncture and acupressure for anesthetizing parts
of the body and for treating a variety of common health problems.
Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese science now
being used increasingly in many parts of the world.
Thin sterile needles are put into specific parts or
points of the body—often distant from those areas
being treated or anesthetized. Special ‘body maps’
showing the many acupuncture points are available.
Acupressure, or ‘finger pressure’, is similar
to acupuncture, except that the points are
pressed rather than being pierced with a
needle. Acupressure is now being taught to
health workers in several countries. In the
Philippines, some health workers are said to
pull teeth painlessly using acupressure as the
only anesthesia.
The Medical Mission Sisters recognize that
acupuncture and finger pressure usually are
most effective for removing pain or other
symptoms, not for curing the underlying illness. They do not work for all illnesses
or for all persons. Yet for problems like arthritis, headache, backache, sinus trouble,
and asthma, they sometimes give great relief— at little cost and with no side
effects.
Basic techniques for acupuncture or finger pressure may be appropriate to include
in health worker training, especially in places where these methods are already widely
accepted. But just as with modern medicine, care must be taken that the learners do
not misuse them as magic ‘cure-alls’. Books are available on both acupuncture and
acupressure. However, the best way to learn is from someone who knows how.