Help for bronchitus (Crochet!)

About 17 days ago I got a really bad throat infection.  The doctor prescribed antibiotics for me. I also took garlic, horseradish and Vitamin C tablets.  I had a really bad cough due to my irritated throat.  The cough just went on and on and on.  Nothing helped and I was feeling desperate. I confidently prayed the prayer on the Miraculous Medal which is: “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”

I also prayed for and to the Holy Souls in Purgatory asking them for a healing.

Yesterday I thought of doing some crocheting.  I thought that it might have a soothing effect on my mind, that might translate in a positive way to my highly irritated throat.  It worked.  I am much better today and the cough is almost gone.

(The throat infection was very real, but it seems that when I felt the problems in the throat and started to cough, it set up a pattern of coughing and the crocheting was a calming influence on the mind that distracted it from noticing the trouble in my throat.  If it works for this, the  distraction therapy (crochet) might also help those who are experiencing pain, even if the pain is due to real physical problems.)

Some more thoughts on the subject
The more I coughed, the more my poor throat was irritated, and the more that it was irritated, the more that I noticed it, and the more that I noticed it, the more I coughed!  A vicious cycle was set up, that the calming influence of doing crocheting interrupted.

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Offer it up (poem)

Offer it up when you are in pain

Offer it up when you’ve missed the train

Offer it up when you are rejected

Offer it up when your not selected.

Offer it too when your troubles pile up

And when sorrow and suffering

Overflow your cup.

If you offer up whatever comes your way in union with the Passion and Death of Jesus, you can release souls from Purgatory, obtain the conversion of sinners and the perseverance of the just, make reparation for your sins and the sins of others and shorten your own Purgatory.

Today is the 100th anniversary of the death of Blessed Mary MacKillop and also her feast day.

Today is the one hundredth anniversary of the death of Blessed Mary MacKillop of Australia and it is also her feast day.

She was a much misunderstood woman who suffered greatly at the hands of the clergy particularly the bishops.  Blessed Mary MacKillop was unjustly accused of so much, for example, each month she suffered great pain for a couple of days and had to stay in bed on these occasions.  There were no suitable pain killers in those days, so the doctor suggested that she take a tablespoon of brandy to dull the pain. Another nun even measured it out and administered it to her.  Despite this she was accused of being an alcoholic!  She was pronounced “excommunicated” by a bishop when she was just asking for a clarification of his words. This was actually an invalid action on the part of the bishop and was fixed up when he was dying. There is heaps to say about Blessed Mary MacKillop and I can also relate some great stories about her intercession. Do yourself a favour and read the story of her life.

Happy feastday St. Charbel. The healing of pain (A favour granted through the intercession of Saint Charbel )

During one of my pregnancies some of my ligaments had softened up in preparation for childbirth. This caused me a fair bit of pain. The pain had been occurring for several  weeks. One night my husband and I went to a Mass celebrated according to the Maronite Rite. When I went up to receive Holy Communion it was obvious to many people that I was in pain, because they could see the way that I was limping. After the Mass a group of ladies approached me and said something in Lebanese, (a language which I do not speak) and they then ushered me over to a side chapel. They prayed in front of a large picture of Saint Charbel and doused me with water from a baptismal font, that was in front of the picture. The next night we attended Mass at the same church. All my pain had gone. This was also apparent to people by the way that I walked when going up to Holy Communion. After the Mass the same group of ladies approached me. They again ushered me to the chapel of Saint Charbel in order to give thanks for the obvious healing of my pain. 

This is one of the stories in my book: Help from heaven (Answers to prayer) which can be read free on-line here.

Pain relief for everyday aches and pains (the kind that is not caused by serious illnesses)

When you have pain it is important to seek medical advice as to what is causing that pain and follow the doctor’s advice. It might be stemming from a serious cause.

Even if it is not, you may still experience occasional everyday sort of pain in your lower back, hip, leg, arm etc.

My neighbour advices the following which helps to relieve pain.  If you have pain in your arm or leg or lower back, rub the area with firm downward strokes with some skin cream. (I would then wipe off the skin cream with tissue or paper towel), then apply a heat producing product such as Dencorub. This is a brand name for a common pain relieving cream.  I do not have shares in this or in any other company.  Any similar product will do. It is worth a try!

When you have pain it is important to seek medical advice as to what is causing that pain and to follow the doctor’s advice. It might be stemming from a serious cause.

Even if it is not, you may still experience occasional everyday sort of pain in your lower back, hip, leg, arm etc.

My neighbour advices the following which helps to relieve pain.  If you have pain in your arm or leg or lower back, rub the area with firm downward strokes with some skin cream. (I would then wipe off the skin cream with tissue or paper towel), then apply a heat producing product such as Dencorub. This is a brand name for a common pain relieving cream.  I do not have shares in this or in any other company.  Any similar product will do. It is worth a try!

Help for a heel spur (a home remedy)

If you have a heel spur, it is important to see a doctor. There are various ways to treat heel spurs depending on their severity.

 

Home Remedy

One of these is the following: you fill up a glass soft drink bottle with hot water and screw the lid on tightly. You daily roll the foot which is affected by the heel spur, back and froth over the bottle with the hot water in it. About ten minutes, twice a day would be good. The more the better. If you cannot cope with the heat of the water, you can leave it out or use a rolling pin.  This can have a beneficial healing effect and reduce the pain. 

 

Update 

 

I received the following useful comment on this topic from a doctor whose method is a bit different from the one that my doctor recommended. I think that it is worth reading. 

1.      Before you start the home remedy, please see a podiatrist or foot doctor specialist. I have never heard of using a hot water bottle; I usually suggest cold water. The effect of using a hot water bottle would stretch the plantar fascia (heel spur) certainly, but it would take a long time to properly heal the plantar fascia, depending on the extent of the injury. I have a great interview with Dr. Robert Schleip for the blog that discusses plantar fasciitis (heel spur)

My comment:

Thank you for this comment. I saw a reference to using cold water on some websites and in these the water in the bottle was frozen.  There is one other thing that I would like to mention.  The link to the doctor’s blog has a useful article on treating foot troubles, but it mentions yoga and I have read to be careful of using anything that has connections with pagan religons and unfortunately Yoga has.  As far as I know Pilates (exercises) doesn’t have this connection.  I take the point though that stretching is a useful tool in healing.

The reason that it is not good to use Yoga which has its roots in a pagan religion is because it can be a pathway to the occult.

The Plight of the Holy Souls in Purgatory

Try the following imagination exercise to help you to imagine the plight of the Holy Souls in Purgatory.  (It won’t be sufficient, but it will be useful).  I have taken these examples from real life scenarios involving relatives. Put yourself in the following scene: you are over eighty years old and live by yourself in a small house in a retirement village.  You have a fall and break your hip and lay in agonising pain on the floor for three days, unable to reach the telephone and call for help. You have no food and drink for three days and there are other problems. (Use your imagination to fill in the gaps here).  You cannot be heard when you call for help and are terrified that no one will find you and you will die there all alone. Three days later someone notices that you are not around and goes to investigate and rescues you. The Holy Souls are much worse off than that and are waiting for your prayers and sacrifices to rescue them, relieve their pain and deliver them from Purgatory.

Next example:  you are in jail for over a year and a half, but receive only two visitors (very close family members), but other relatives don’t know that you are in there, because it has been covered up due to family shame and your friends don’t want to know you anymore.  Finally two relatives learn of this and rescue you for the last six months of your jail term by sending letters and photographs to cheer you up.  (You are helped by this). It is not possible for these two relatives to visit you because the jail is a long distance from where they live, but they do what they can to help you.

The Holy Souls are in a jail like that waiting to hear from you (receive your prayers and sacrifices) to alleviate their pain and suffering and deliver them from Purgatory so that they can enter heaven), however unlike the jail that the relative was in, their jail does not have good meals, a TV set for good behaviour and a library and a chapel with a statue of Mary and Jesus in it, a reflection garden and a Catholic chaplain to help.  The Holy Souls are in a terrible place with no comforts. 

The powerful intercession of the Holy Souls in Purgatory for their benefactors