Now that the scourge of homeopathy has been given a patina of credibility by the MRHA allowing changes to homeopathic packaging, it's got me wondering how this applies to bushcraft and similar natural activities.
Bushcrafters enjoy using traditional tools and ideas, and often the use of naturally available materials crops up. I think it's great that there are natural products that do seem to work, but how do we reconcile the fact that natural remedies can often be ineffective and sometimes dangerous too?
Fortunately on here most suggestions for injuries seems to be "don't mess around, go and see a doctor" or relatively harmless ideas such as using sphagnum moss as a nice soft padding. But then you do get the occasional suggestion to munch on various leaves, roots and barks - which is fine if you're stuck for something else, and you know what you're doing, but in general this can be a fairly dangerous!
The oft-quoted example is aspirin being derived from willow bark. This is true, but just chewing willow bark can have some nasty side effects.
I was just wondering how people on here view natural remedies. Do people actually use them, or do they just reach for their FAK or packet of paracetamol? If we can use natural remedies, is there any way of ensuring that we only use safe treatments?
Bushcrafters enjoy using traditional tools and ideas, and often the use of naturally available materials crops up. I think it's great that there are natural products that do seem to work, but how do we reconcile the fact that natural remedies can often be ineffective and sometimes dangerous too?
Fortunately on here most suggestions for injuries seems to be "don't mess around, go and see a doctor" or relatively harmless ideas such as using sphagnum moss as a nice soft padding. But then you do get the occasional suggestion to munch on various leaves, roots and barks - which is fine if you're stuck for something else, and you know what you're doing, but in general this can be a fairly dangerous!
The oft-quoted example is aspirin being derived from willow bark. This is true, but just chewing willow bark can have some nasty side effects.
I was just wondering how people on here view natural remedies. Do people actually use them, or do they just reach for their FAK or packet of paracetamol? If we can use natural remedies, is there any way of ensuring that we only use safe treatments?