22 Where There Is No Doctor 2011
EXAMPLES OF LOCAL NAMES FOR SICKNESSES
Spanish Name: EMPACHO (STOPPED-UP GUT) Name in Your Area:
In medical terms empacho
(impaction) means that the gut is
stopped up or obstructed (see
p. 94). But in Mexican
villages any illness causing
stomach‑ache or diarrhea may
be called empacho. It is said
that a ball of hair or something
else blocks a part of the gut.
People put the blame on witches
or evil spirits, and treat with
magic cures and cupping (see
picture). Sometimes folk healers pretend to take a ball of hair and thorns out of the gut
by sucking on the belly.
Different illnesses that cause stomach pain or discomfort and are sometimes called
empacho are:
• diarrhea or dysentery with cramps (p. 153)
• worms (p. 140)
• swollen stomach due to malnutrition (p. 112)
• indigestion or stomach ulcer (p. 128)
• and rarely, true gut obstruction or appendicitis (p. 94)
Most of these problems are not helped much by magic cures or cupping. To treat
empacho, try to identify and treat the sickness that causes it.
Spanish Name: DOLOR DE IJAR (SIDE PAINS) Name in Your Area:
This name is used for any pain women get in
one side of their belly. Often the pain goes around
to the mid or lower back. Possible causes of this
kind of pain include:
• an infection of the urinary system (the
kidneys, the bladder, or the tubes that join
them, see p. 234)
• cramps or gas pains (see diarrhea, p. 153)
• menstrual pains (see p. 245)
• appendicitis (see p. 94)
• an infection, cyst, or tumor in the womb
or ovaries (p. 243) or an out-of-place
pregnancy (see p. 280)