In the Soviet period, before the evidence-based medicine emerged, most people had turned to alternative medicine as the most available and affordable way of treatment. Such methods included liver/gall bladder cleanse, treatment by a hot-water bag, use of mustard powder if any symptoms of ARVI develop, or some kinds of physical therapy. Today, the evidence-based medicine principles are widely recognised, and doctors doubt the use of alternative medicine and put the physical therapy on the back burner. Nevertheless, people in the former Soviet republics still receive treatment by vegetable oil to cleanse the body, and inhale the vapour of boiled potatoes.
What types of treatment were there popular in the former USSR countries? Why are they dangerous? Let’s check it out below.
Alcohol procedures used to be very popular to treat colds and are still actively used. To use this method, they used gauze, which was soaked in spirits or vodka. Then, it was wrapped around the neck and covered with a PE bag. A warm scarf or kerchief was wrapped around the bandage.
This kind of treatment has a warming effect and can reduce pain, but it has certain contraindications:
– body temperature 37°C or more,
– children under 3 years of age,
– pregnant women,
– lactation,
– oncological disorders,
– suppurative otitis and tonsillitis,
– bronchitis,
– heart diseases,
– hypertension,
– skin diseases, including allergy.
The treatment principle with the use of iodine is that a mesh was drawn by a cotton swab soaked in iodine on the patient’s back. It boosted circulation and could cure from the primary stage of ARVI or cough.
According to the instructions, the solution can be used as antiseptic and decontaminant.
In the early 20th century, treatment with the iodine mesh was described in detail by the Russian doctor I.Kolbasenko. In his opinion, the iodine mesh helped treat the upper respiratory diseases. But the most important rule was that the iodine mesh should be drawn in fine lines 1.5 cm away from each other 3-4 times a week. Otherwise, the patient could suffer burns. Another important contraindication is the body temperature of 38°C and more.
Moreover, treatment with the iodine mesh was contraindicated in case of thyroid diseases, including thyrotoxicosis and hyperthyroidism, as well as iodine allergy.
To cure the acute respiratory infection, the patient’s sock were filled with mustard powder, which warmed up the patient’s feet and contributed to speedy recovery. This method of treatment is still used in the former Soviet republics. However, the downside of this method is skin irritation and increased blood flow to feet. However, mustard has no influence on viruses and bacteria.
Mustard was used not only to warm up feet. Another area of its application is on the chest or the back. To do that, pieces of paper soaked in mustard powder were applied on the chest or the back of the patient. This method was considered a good method to get rid of cough and ARVI, in general.
Today, medicine agrees that mustard powder does ease the symptoms of ARVI as it increases the blood flow and warms up the necessary body areas. At the same time, warming up with mustard is dangerous in case of inflammatory processes in the bronchi and lungs, in case of fever. Moreover, mustard can cause allergy in an ARVI patient.
Currently, treatment with cups in former Soviet republics is still widely used. In the past, they thought that putting cups on the back could cure from cold, ARVI, tonsillitis soon. To do that, cotton cool was soaked in spirit and lit. The cup was warmed up on this fire and was put on the back. The cup sucked on the skin and warmed it up, leaving traces behind.
However, according to doctors, cupping therapy can be used at the onset of the disease only, as it can harm and lead to complications later. Particularly, if a person discharges sputum, has an inflammation or has fever.
Lamp warming-up was considered a good method against ear diseases, especially otitis in children. Once first signs of otitis appeared, ears were warmed up with candles, blue lamp or paper wicks.
Today, doctors don’t recommend to use this method for reasons of fire safety. Moreover, it is contraindicated to warm up the ear canal in case of running ear because the abscess can burst and the suppuration can enter the brain and lead to meningitis.
To clear upper respiratory tract, boiled potatoes were widely used for inhalation. To do that, potatoes were boiled in a pot, and while water was boiling, the patient should be breathing in hot air for 15 minutes. This technique is considered hazardous today as it can lead to a burn, oedema or allergy.
At the same time, inhalations are widely used in medical practice and are deemed effective method of ARVI treatment. The main principle of their use is that the steam breathed in by a patient should not be burning hot and must enter the lungs.
Electrophoresis or current treatment was used by Soviet doctors to treat various diseases: from back pains to gastrointestinal issues. The idea was to inject the drug into a pain spot without the needle but with an electric current. The action of current did not extend beyond skin.
However, this method of treatment had a short-term pain relieving effect and acted as a local anaesthetic without removing the source of pain.
Today, electrophoresis has been recognised as treatment of excessive sweating of hands and feet. However, it has a major shortage – the time of one procedure is from 30 minutes a few times a week.
Moreover, contraindications for the use of electrophoresis include: suppurative inflammatory diseases, heart failure, hypertension, bronchial asthma, skin diseases, and malignant neoplasms.
Heat therapy methods are still used to kill pains. For example, for osteoarthritis joints are warmed up by a hot-water bag to alleviate symptoms.
Various means are used as the source of heat: a hot-water bag, warm paraffin, mountainous wax, mud, clay, sand, or vapour.
According to the evidence-based medicine, such methods are not useful, and mud or clay warm up just like an ordinary hot-water bag. Warming-up helps a person to relax, that’s why warm was applied to spastic muscles nearly 100 years ago.
This method of ARVI treatment in the former Soviet republics is deemed the cheapest alternative with no side effects. However, this method is not evidence-based as few groups took part in the study.
Currently, halotherapy principles are actively used in day spas as a method of prevention of upper respiratory tract diseases. Indications for halotherapy are prevention of such diseases as bronchitis, maxillary sinusitis, asthma, allergy, excessive weight, heart diseases. However, doctors remind that halotherapy has only secondary effect and does not cure the disease.
Doctors all over the world today are against ARVI treatment with antibiotics because the latter act against bacteria, not viruses. Antibiotics are prescribed only if bacteria complicate virus infection.
Moreover, specialists recommend using antiviral drugs at the onset of cold and follow simple rules: drink plenty of fluids, inhalations, rinse mouth with a liquid, and nasopharyngeal wash.
In case of compromised immunity, the body may not be able to cope with the virus and bacterial infection is added. In this case, the doctor prescribes certain antibiotics based on the patient’s organism characteristics.
The specificity of the liver/gall bladder cleanse is to remove gallstones. For this procedure, the patient must drink a mixture of vegetable oil and lemon juice on an empty stomach. Moreover, some people used to add magnesium sulphate or magnesium citrate to this mixture.
Once the evidence-based medicine emerged, this method of self-cleansing was criticised because taking vegetable oil on an empty stomach provokes pains in the stomach, nausea and vomit, and some patients even had a fever. These symptoms, according to the evidence-based medicine followers, confirm biliary colic and calculous cholecystitis.
Magnet therapy also refers to the methods of physical therapy and suggests the use of magnetic fields, especially to treat osteochondrosis and spine disorders. The followers of this method think that magnetic fields improve metabolism, immunity and neural processes.
However, doctors remind that magnetic treatment can be used only as prevention, and is not the key treatment of any disease.
The principle of magnet therapy is as follows: the patient lies on the couch, and then the couch is moved into a special device. The patient’s head remains outside. The time of the procedure is set by the doctor. Usually, the procedure takes 5 to 40 minutes, and the treatment regimen lasts for 10 days, on the average.
Contraindications include many diseases – from hypertension to varicose vein diseases.
Cervical ectopy or erosion is the most widespread disease among women of reproductive age. However, the disease may develop both in parous and nulliparous women. The disease itself is the change of the lining of the uterine cervix. The main causes of the disease are:
- Cervical injuries – deliveries and abortions,
- Genital infection,
- Dysbiosis,
- Early sexual activity,
- Hormonal problems.
Back in the Soviet period, the disease was treated by current or diathermic electrocoagulation. High frequency current was supposed to destroy the wounded area without contacting healthy tissues. New tissues recover in 1.5-2 months afterthe surgery. Although this method had been used for almost a century, it has a number of bad consequences, including:
- Bleeding,
- Cervical adhesions,
- Development of endometriosis,
- Possible development of infertility,
- Habitual miscarriage,
- Premature delivery
The main factor of erosion treatment was the opinion that the disease could lead to cervical cancer. However, today, according to doctors, cervical cancer is caused not by erosion, but by some types of human papilloma virus (HPV), namely 14 types of HPV are known as high risk categories.
Doctors do not think that cervical ectopy is a disease and consider it a normal condition. The tenth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems adopted by the World Health Organisation in 1990 shares the same opinion.
In 2017, new rules regarding treatment of cervical ectopy were adopted. The following recommendation was given: “Ectopy is not recommended for destruction as the cervical ectopy is a norm and does not require treatment.”
In general, today there are more sparing methods available to treat the cervical ectopy. However, for accurate diagnosis and selection of treatment, the vaginoscopy procedure – examination of the uterine cervix via microscope – and medical tests – vaginal smear, HPV, STIs tests – are required.
This publication was produced as part of the mentorship programme under the Development of New Media and Digital Journalism in Central Asia project delivered by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) with support from the UK Government. It does not necessarily reflect the official views of IWPR or the UK Government