American reacts to Healthcare in Germany (10 fun facts!)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 พ.ย. 2022
- Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to 10 fun facts about health care in Germany: From home remedies to house doctors | Meet the Germans
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Generally, you always greet when entering a room with people in there, not just waiting rooms. You don't have to engage in a conversation, but you greet. It is also polite to bid a "good bye" when leaving.
That is true.
I always di that, it is polite. O di Not expect a smalltalk back but - honestly - I would appreciate a hello back.
Older people in the waiting room usually di soz, younger not
I suppose it is "not cool". 🤷
@@m.m.4645 oh, it's just a matter of education. Here with us, the young people also say hello. But maybe Hanover is just a little more polite than... ;-)
@@m.m.4645 na its just pointless and annoying. i dont want people to do it, talk to me if you have something to say , and especially in a room full of germ spewing old folks, i dont want them to breathe more than necessary
@@denzelpanther240 but at least answering "hello" would be polite.
Wouldn't it?
@@denzelpanther240 here in northern Germany we don't talk much, but even we say "Moin" in these moments.
It's actually even weirder with the waiting areas at your doctor. When you enter the room, it's imperative that you greet the people waiting there, but then you are not supposed to talk to anyone, not even the people you came with. So it's basically like an uncomfortable elevator ride, but it can last up to three hours.
I laughed so hard on this 😂
Yes it`s true. So it is.
I don't experience it as such. I'm in the Netherlands, though. But here you also will greet people and then be quiet. I don't really find it awkward. Usually I just read a magazine.
I´d like to visit the doctor where it lasts "just" three hours to wait.
Doesn't anyone read anymore?? Just bring a book...
When coming into a room where people are already, you say "Hello." no further Smalltalk is happening.
Don’t forget to say „Tschüss!“ after 15 Minutes of no interaction.
Das ist ja auch schon mehr als genug
I was taught that's polite. Say hallo and tschüß. Like bitte and danke
I think this is quite normal also in other Central European countries :)
I think it’s a European thing. When you walk into any room really you say hello because it’s polite. (Waiting rooms, hairdresser’s, small shops…)
Since most germans really don’t like taking pills until it gets „serious“ we often use natural antioxidants like onions, honey or ginger for minor issues like a cold etc.
homeopathy is a big topic right now because there are no reputable medical studies that prove it works but a lot of people swear by it and most health care providers still accept it as a medical treatment.
Oh and most doctors offices closed on wednesdays still work 😄 they just don’t have office hours and do a lot of paperwork and stuff during that time
and garlic :D
There's a lot of reputable medical studies that prove that it doesn't work though. Homeopathy is a money making scam. But some natural remedies like honey or ginger can help ease the symptoms of short term things like a cold that goes away on it's own. Note that, while many people seem to think so, natural remedies are not homeopathy. Homeopathy is one specific kind of "medcine" where they take something that causes the symptom, then dilute it to the point of nonexistence. Homeopathy is just very expensive water that does jack shit. Natural remedies can often help in certain ways, but of course that also heavily depends on what it is you have. Some honey can help with a sore throat and even has some slightly antibacterial properties. But you're not gonna cure cancer with natural remedies.
So yeah, home- and natural remedies CAN work sometimes, but actual homeopathy is a proven scam.
In Germany, we don't say “This method isn't backed up by scientific evidence!” We say, "Wer heilt hat recht!" (he who cures is right!) and I think that's beautiful. 😉😉
Well.. over the last Years the most Germans are taking Pills and running to the Doctor for everything. Its pretty rare to find someone that take Natural stuff like the Onion etc. But i personaly dont trust any of that Pharma Pills so i always take Natural stuff (thats why Germans calling me an "conspiracy theorists" for using NATURAL STUFF)
@@EskChan19 absolutely. Thanks for pointing this out more clearly than I did :)
Hi Ryan, the onion thing actually works but it is a finely chopped onion, warmed up to about body temperature, wrapped in a very, very thin and tender piece of cloth, so that the moisture of the onion can reach the skin and then put on and around the ear, being covered by some warm textile or even unwashed wool, coming directly from the sheep (very smelly but compared with the onion still okay). This has to remain about 20 minutes on the ear, then removed and cover the ear again with some very warm scarf to keep it warm. There is something in the onion, which is able to penetrate the skin and helps fighting bacteria, viruses or other ill making stuff. Cheers from Switzerland, Leo
Actually we've always used a half onion and a headband. We stuck it to our ear, open cut side pressed against your head. Helped as well.
@@Agite123 yay! Onion Earphones!
My mom used to do that when we were little. It hurts at first but helps in a few hours.
@@xxJOKeR75xx Exactly!!
I learned about the onion thing when I moved here. I scoffed at it, but did it anyway when my daughter had an ear ache. It worked! Since then, we always do it. My daughters are adults now, and went to the US to visit in August. They all ended up with Covid. One of them asked my sister for chopped onion. Confused, she did what they asked and was surprised when it worked. I think it’s the liquid or oil from the onion that helps. Back in the day (1960-70s) the doctor would prescribe warm oil drops for ear aches. Mom would put in a few drops, and we stuffed cotton balls in our ears. It always felt so much better.
Cold wraps lower your body temperature and work very well. They are still even used in hospitals and old peoples homes. In fact they work so well that it can be dangerous to use them because sometimes they lower the temperature to fast so a constant temperature check while using wraps is very important.
yep, used them for my kid and it worked way better than antipyretics
In Czechia too, my parents always wraped me to a cold wet towel when i had high temperature or put me under cold shower for a minute, its even necesary if u get above 39 + degrees as it may damage your brain. I remeber once having 40 and i was halucinating.
They work, but you have to make sure you change them frequently because otherwise they can heat you up again ;) I HATED the cold clammy things on my legs when I had a fever as a kid. The difference in temperature was just too much, the cold wetness actually hurt.
Yepp, and it's highly advised that you only use it when the temperature is extremely high.
A temperature of 40.5°C / 104.9°F or very close to that is a pretty good indicator to use it SPARRINGLY.
Because at those temperatures proteins the body needs may start to denature, in some cases irreversibly.
In which case the positive effect of increased bodily resistances due to increased temperature are outweighed by the potential damage done by the increased temperature.
Fifteen minutes TOPS is the absolute limit. Then remove the cold wrap, dry off the body part used, and cover up again, snuggly.
My mum used to give me vodka soaked towels when I was a kid and had very high fever. As Vodka is even more cooling than water.
Well the onion thing is not some old tale.
The Freiburg University made a study that it actually helps especially against a cough and pain in the ear because it is anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial.
Though it is more the "juice"/ethereal oil of the onion, that should drip into your ear. Besides that, you could also make sirup for your cough.
That is a far more common thing to do. I never heard about the onion on ear thing. But my mother used to cook chopped onions in a lot of sugar and water and made basically a home made cough-syrup which actually works.
Also calf wraps are efficient to help with high fever and are not just a home remedy. They do that at the hospitals, especially with kids.
My grandma used to do that onion thing on the ears too. Plus vinegar socks, a scarf with warm but raw potatoes around the head for headache and another wrap with warm curd on the chest for the cough. Oh, and some extra onions on the bedside table for a cold. Basically when sick you'd feel like part of a very big potato salad.
When I was ill and I cut onion, I suddenly could breath and the pain in my throat or nose stopped.
The same with ginger and garlic.
My son very often had earpain, when he was a kid. The onions really helped. Afterwards he was stinking horribly, but it worked :-)
Regarding your tooth doctor question - the dentist is separated in two different special doctors. the „Zahnarzt“ (literally tooth doctor) cares about your teeth in general, does fillings, sometimes mouthguards etc. Then there is the „Kieferorthopäde“, (orthodontist) who is specified in braces and almost every german teen gets their braces at the age of ~13-15 for 1-2 years. Insurance pays for that, but if you want special brackets, that are almost invisible or smaller etc, you pay around 150-800€ on top.
Sorry, I had to laugh at the "1-2 years". I had mine for 5 years, starting at 15. 🥲
Also, not to forget the specialized profession of the "Kieferchirurg", literally the "jaw surgeon" (or oral surgeon, I suppose) who's usually kind of a dentist but specialized in surgery in the mouth area, like removing wisdom (or other) teeth entirely, doing specific, reconstructive work, etc. though there are tasks, a regular dentist might be able to do as well.
@@lena644 Haha, depends on how long you need them I guess. I had mine for 2 years here in Deutschland.
@@dimrah and the Endodontist who does inside the tooth stuff
@@lena644 Can't remember how long I had mine, but I guess the duration depends on the severity of your misalignment. 🤷♀️
when we enter a room full of people we greet.. it is called respect
sure that it's not greetique ( for the slow ones critic).
And when you get on the bus you don't do that, out of disrespect of course.
@@vomm I always say guten Tag when I go on a bus, Wiedersehen when I go out. Same in France with the french words. Same when you're enter a space with people. Basic politeness.
@@brigittelacour5055 Yes of course and on Sundays every passenger gets a piece of cake 🤡 It may be common in the country to greet the bus driver but anyone who greets passengers is a wierdo, even in the country.
Only that greetings most of the time are fake. Like 90% of the time you only do it because "you greet", not because you mean it.
Those 3 words (hello, goodbye, and thanks) really don't have a meaning nowadays anymore because they are said too much just because you're obligated to.
I don't see why you have to greet people while they are fully into their smartphones/magazines and don't seem to actually be interested in you. An honest smile as a sign of recognition when entering a room is enough when you're not engaging in conversations.
People often under-estimate the knowledge of older generations when it comes to health. Plants and vegetable a lot of plants are medicinal plant or have effect to support your health.
Onions have a anti-inflammatory effect. Thats why older generation used them for ear infections., wasp stings or sore throat ( in combination with honey). What also very useful against coughing is home made thymian syrup and tea with a shot fo rum
. Wadenwickel are there to lower fever and to.make Symptoms associated with fever, such as restlessness or headaches better. Headaches blackcoffe with 1 fresh lemon ( ot tast horrible but it work ) I had the luck to grow up with my great grandma and she got a book from her mother that was writen for generation.about plants and vegetables and there healing power. And she teaches me a lot about it. I still soem the recipes to not take so.many pills. And it works. But also go to the doctors if need it. I.think a balance between those is need it.
The opposite is the case, often the knowledge of the elderly is overestimated. Underestimated is the knowledge of antiquity or the Stone Age, for example, about mushrooms and medicinal herbs but all this nonsense from grandma and grandpa is almost all garbage. Apart from that, everything was different back then: soup chickens were not full of diseases due to factory farming and were not bred so fat, a scarf was then made of sheep's wool not plastic yarn, and so on, so this pseudo-knowledge can no longer be applied nowadays. Most home remedies have at most a placebo effect (which is a good thing) but the belief in an effect does not make something "knowledge"
Well, there used to be times when herbs and stuff was the only thing available. Regardless, it's also stuff that was scientifically examined early on; if it's effective, then it's been recreated anyway.
@@vomm
The material of the scarf is irrelevant, you're not eating it. You're putting it on to create a localized warm zone at your infected throat that kills bacteria similar to the way a fever would, but without the damage and nutrient loss from overheating your whole body with a real fever.
Talking about nutrients, that's a major part of the effectiveness of chicken soup: Easy to digest, but also nutritious, giving your body resources needed to combat a cold without a high digestion cost. That's actually proven.
So are the antibacterial effects of onions, garlic, and a wide variety of other effects of herbal remedies that are often mistaken for "granny placebo" by people who derive their entire scientific knowledge from that one random article about the placebo effect, but never bothered to google what everyday herbs like rosemary do to their blood.
The idea of soup chickens being riddled with disease, however, is not in accord with reality, German food standards do not allow for that. What you call low-grade meat is called a food scandal in Germany.
OP is correct, the knowledge of the elderly is often underestimated, and you are providing a perfect example of that.
Homeopathy is actually pretty frowned upon in Germany, however: my parents both work in medicine and still my mum gave me "Arnikaglobuli" when I fell down or hit my head as a kid. Arnica does work against pain and swelling, but most likely not in the sugar pills, because the concentration is next to nothing. But it helped me as a kid stop crying, because *drumroll* placebo! I thought: it's from the pharmacy, it's medicine, it'll make the pain go away. And I stopped crying and the pain was instantly gone. So, for this specific instance I absolutely understand using homeopathy, but other than that? Keep that stuff away from me! (Important note as a pharmacist in training: homeopathy doesn't equal phytotherapy, that actually works haha)
Unfortunately, it is not really that frowned upon. A lot of the health insurers even pay (partially) for it, and for whatever reason it is quite common in academic households (In 2020 they paid out around 6.7 million Euros, not a lot in the total budget but still wasted money in my opinion). In recent times it slowly shifts and there have been quite a lot of satirical shows about the topic, so let's hope it will go further than that. Pseudoscience should not be supported by governmental or similar institutions. (Unfortunately a big cluster inside "Die Grünen" political party is in support of Homeopathy)
@@MrBunt Well, there is one problem with funding in medical care: some things seem to work for many people beyond the placebo effect, but aren't fully understood yet. If we would cut funding for everything that isn't common ground there also wouldn't be funding for rare research approaches.
Of course we should stop funding eating sugar against cancer or treating ill children with concentrated water (not a joke, kids die because of that).
But in all honesty: kids who suffer from deadly illnesses might swim with dolphins the whole day, that can stay funded if you ask me. Because it helps to ease suffering, even though is does not help in any other way.
But a crying child that has a sore throat does not need publicly funded ease. Just give that kid a single m&m, it's the same and should be affordable for everybody...
But most of the time, homeopathy causes more suffering and opens the door to more stupid cult stuff. That is not just a problem of the academic households (point given: they usually have more money to spent, so they are heavily couted by those people).
We should stop funding cults in general here. Chinese alternative medicine, Waldorf-schools, Demeter - stuff like this. And no more tax exemption for the church!
I believe the problem is not that we fund some points of interest. The problem is that we focus on financial success doing so. Cancer treatment is not financially successfull, but getting rich people to buy promisses and sugar is. It is a cash-grab.
And then the brands... oh the brands and their history: Weleda took part in human experiments in Auschwitz, people there were forced to work in greenhouses for research for demeter, Waldorf-schools are named after a tobacco brand to advertise for said brand and the ideology they base their concepts on was created by a fascist and heavily supported by the NSDAP to create obedient subservients.
I can't believe that all this is still so popular. In germany, out of all places...
My parents were strict believers in homeopathy because they thought it cured my recurring ear infections when I was a child. I have very fond memories of our family homeopathic doctor who told them she couldn't cure me forever but reduce the middle ear infections from annual to every 5 years. Which is exactly what happened and I have no explanation for it because they didn't tell me about the 5 year prediction until much later.
This doctor accompanied my family for decades. She went on to train in psychotherapy and psychosomatic illnesses. So at some point when I was 15 and had a constant sore throath I went to see her regularly and she really helped me, because we'd talk about my pain and everything else that bothered me for an hour and I was basically in psychotherapy without having to admit that I was struggling emotionally. At some point in my mid 20s I was visiting my Mum and got a really bad case of amigdalitis with a high fever. My Mum called the homeopathic doctor and she told her I needed antibiotics immediately. I also remember seeing her because of a skin condition in my teens and she told me there was of course an emotional component, dietary considerations etc but it would take her half a year to treat it like this and I might just want to go to the "house doctor" to get rid of it faster.
So, not all of them are quacks. I think in some cases it can be better to take some sugar pills (or M&Ms) and stay home and rest and allow the body to heal itself instead of popping pills every time you feel a little unwell. As long as you still seek help when things get serious.
@@annaf3915 You don't need homeopathy is still the baseline.
A doctor who "cures" patient that don't need help with sugar still makes money by selling worthless remedies no one needs. Thats still cashing in due to people who feel unsure. If a doctor gives you the feeling sugar for 10€ is a good solution for not so serious cases is still morally questionable, no matter how often this doctor tells you medicine is a good thing when you are seriously ill, too.
I am sorry that our system is so f*ed up that this is a very easy way to make money, but it is still not okay to do that.
There is far more to medicine than taking sugar or popping pills. That you think in these two extremes just shows that people tried to compromise your way of thinking.
There are doctors who will care for you and help you without giving you useless medicine and still won't use you as a cash cow.
A doctor who milks you for money can be a nice person, but they will still milk you for money.
And I am sorry if I sound harsh but your parents were still wrong: you were not cured by homeopathy. They wanted to believe what they wanted to believe, there is still no real reason to it.
But, it is nice to hear that you found someone who listened to you during hard times. I wish you all the best and that you will find people helping you without beeing in (and potentially draging others into) an abusive money-hungry system of lies.
Pretzels and cola help against diarrhea because: With diarrhea, your body doesn't only lose fluids but minerals too. Thus, your body may struggle to keep the 0.9% sodium level in your cells and blood. You may not be able to stabilize your potassium, magnesium, and calcium levels but you can at least replenish your sodium levels with pretzels as there is not only the salt on top of the pretzel that contains sodium but also the lye that created the brown surface of the pretzel itself. Cola, on the hand, contains an enzyme called pepsin (hence the name Pepsi-Cola) that your body needs to digest certain foods. Normally your body makes pepsin out of pepsinogene and chloridic acid (stomach fluids), but this process can be interrupted in patients with diarrhea. So pepsin helps to normalize digestion.
Most other remedies mentioned in the video work too. The knowledge of monks, nuns, and midwives of plants and their healing effects collected for centuries haven't lost their appeal - even for modern medicine. Just one example: Our ancestors used to chew on willow twigs to get pain relief. In the 1800s a German chemist isolated salicylic acid as the effective molecule and with some experimentation they created the first modern drug acetylic salicylic acid - Aspirine.
@Saga Fox-Wilde Thanks for the flowerrs.
the thing with drinking water after eating cherries (or any other fruit) is, that if you eat a lot of fruit and drink a lot of water with it, you'll get a stomach ache (or worse, diarrhea)
Unwashed fruit can have bacteria on it, so if you mix it in your warm stomach with a lot of water, it may well ferment and cause stomach ache. I don't think that's so likely today, as just about everyone would wash fruit before eating. But decades ago the water was probably not as clean as it is today either, so this one was probably true then, but not so much nowadays.
@@alisonhuber3068 it's actually about the yeast settled on the fruit. You'll get bloated because it will ferment due to too little acid fluid in the stomach.
There's also a thing called "Zwiebelsäckchen" (onion bag) which is recommended for small babies when they have a cold. You just cut an onion, put it into a cloth, wrap it up and hang it over the crib when the baby sleeps. The onion juice helps the baby to breath for it "cleans" the stuffed nose. You just have to make sure the baby can't reach the bag, but I guess that's common sense :-)
we also make chopped onion with sugar, leave it for a few hours and use the juice for healing minor colds
I did that with my Baby 😊
@@carnifaxx nicht Zucker Honig
@@lenalarose2555 of course. Nevertheless, I'm not sure what are the recommendations in German, but I think honey is not suitable for small children. (I checked it and it's not recommended to give honey to children younger than 1 year because of risk of infant botulism.)
I know "Wadenwickel' against fever, "Zwiebelsaft" (onions made into some sort of juice/ sirup with sugar) or "Heiße Zitrone" (lemon juice with boiling water and honey) against coughs, hot potatoes in a sock against a sore throat, warm milk and honey against sleeping issues and the half onion against wasp sting (you just press the onion directly on the sting. My mother always took a single onion with her when we went on summer vacation).
Oh that is funny! And when Customs and Border Protection officers find the onion? It's out.
Yes, and the much feared 'Schwitzpackung' ( sweat package) back in childhood. Mom would stuff a ton of blankets around you in bed and make you drink hot elderberry juice and you had to sweat the cold out of your body - the horror !!
@@grandmak. This is odd - as you typed this I was drinking my first cup of hot elderberry drink that the Apoteke gave me. It has so much sugar in it my teeth hurt.
@@LythaWausW Well, only if you travel to the US? Most countries don't have that strict rules for importing agricultural products.
@@Otte74 exactly. I received that treatment in the 1950s. Japanisches Heilpflanzenöl wasn't known back then. But Gesundschlafen was the general treatment for all kinds of children's sicknesses.
it's true, it's polite to say hello when you enter and bye when you leave, but else there will be no smalltalk in between. XD
I recently discovered “vinegar socks” against fever. It’s like magic. I was shocked 😮. You soak some socks in a solution of vinegar and water, wring them out, put them on, then some plastig bags over them so you don’t make your bed wet and in a few minutes the temperature drops. Works like a charm, I swear. I was gobsmacked
jup. Apple vinegar works the best. Not only on your feet, but also as compress on your chest , then plastic foil, then a woolen scarf all around the chest - works wonders against cofs. I learned that from my granny. The most important lesson: if it´s not better the next day, go to the doctor! 😄
My Estonian friend swears by 'vodka socks' but laughed at the idea of wadenwickel... Whatever works if you're sick, right?
The onion thing sounds stupid, but it rly helps. A few years ago is had a bad ear infection and the pain meds did not work on that. I desperately tried a lot of stuff and the stupid onions on my ear were the only thing that helped.
If you missed the bus that day, maybe it cured you that you missed the bus.
@@vomm onions are anti-inflammatory and antibacterial
1:38 how often you greet people in germany varies depending on where you are. In villages or small towns it is considered more polite to greet people (especially older people) (even if you don't know them) if you meet them on the street.
Even in small towns or villages you don't greed complete strangers on the street. In smaller town and villages it comes natural that you come across people a lot you at least once spoke to for some reason in the past. So if a face sees familiar you leave a quick ''hi'' and a smile when walking by.
The cold wraps do help against fever, as they mechanically cool down the body and circulating blood.
hmm but my mom always said , nonono! don't cool it down! , it is your body doing its job.
@@dslight113 She's right. Fever holds a purpose. We just use it in severe cases, before taking medicine, to get the fever down a bit.
@@chrissib.7803 ah ok ty
Yes, a bit of fever aids the immune response to kill off pathogens. Too high temperatures need regulation though
Regarding your last question: Why should one head out to see the GP straightaway to get a prescription for drugs/medicine, when the tried and tested domestic remedies might just work the trick as well and save you the inconvenience of going out to see your doctor?
The German approach most of the time seems to be: If you’re down with an ailment like the common cold, try the household remedies first, because they are readily available, and experience has shown that they work in most cases. If your on-board materials don’t remedy your situation, or if your ailment is more serious than you thought at first, go to your GP, let him/her do a check-up and rely on his/her expertise regarding further treatment.
And some remedies have been around for ages. Why use a lot of money and spend it on Jod or sprays to disinfect a wound, if honey works just as well and is already in the house. Saves time and money.
Still, if the infection has set in, you might need to rely on pills after all. If you want to keep that part of your body
@@Sparrow-ye5cs I didn't talk about serious condition like an open wound where a gangrenous infection has set in, in a cases like this or other serious cases like a severe cold with fever, pneumonia etc., Germans go to see a doctor or head to the drop-in clinic of their local hospital, of course.
But, as I wrote, if a German is down with something mild like a cough, a sore throat, a cold etc., he will most likely try some of the home remedies, e.g. if you have a sore throat, try gargling with thyme and drink warm milk with honey etc.; btw., all German homes I know have well stocked "medicine cabinets" which almost always also contain antiseptic agents like Betaisodona.
The cold remedy in my family is lemon ginger tea. 2-3cm of ginger, washed and sliced, pour over a liter of hot water and let steep for 10 minutes. After steeping pour in the juice of 1 lemon. Leave the ginger in the teapot and drink the whole liter, adding honey to each cup you pour. You will need more honey for the later cups as the ginger makes the tea more and more spicy
Homeopathy is the best topic in German speaking social media, when you want to see it burn
For a reason. You can't say "follow the science" and than support this BS financially
True it is hilarious how fierce they fight for their useless smarties.
@@jancleve9635 as long as they don't hurt themselves I don't care what made up things they intake, placebo is a real thing. tho when people scam others is not nice
@@ravanpee1325 i completly agree
@@jancleve9635 Dude, dare you compare globulies to Smarties? Smarties have far more ingredients, are after all colored and have been proven to make you happy!
Using Onions by Insect bites is common here in germany. It works ;)
Hi Ryan,
in general it´s slightly unpolite not to greet when entering any given room where you can oversee the number of people. That means even if I enter a small bar I´m used to greet. "Guten Tag" or "Hallo" everywhere, "servus" in the south and "moin" or moin, moin" in the north. Mostly I greet also when I enter a lift with one or a few people in it. It´s a kind of reflex. Mostly the people greet back or they´re just nodding. If you meet friends in a bar and they´re siitting already at a table, you can also knock on the table (3 x) to greet all of them instead of shaking hands. They will knock as well to greet back.
That are just habits.....
Have a nice week!
Dettmar
I never heard of the knocking. Maybe that's a regional thing? :) Sounds like you are from the north ;)
@@voyance4elle common in Bavaria too...
But you knock just twice
@@voyance4elle shure I am.....
The juice of the Onion is a natural medicine. We also Mix chopped onion with honey, let ist rest for 15 minuten and you have a medicine for Sore throat and against coughing.
Here (Poland), we also say only "Hello" and "Bye" in many occasions, without any other, further talk, so yeah.
It might sound stupid (and maybe it is), but my mum also taught me: "No water after eating cherries" (same for no water after ice-cream). I don't know why or what would happen if you did, bc I never dared to try and find out if it would cause something bad 😂
And putting cold towels on your calves when you have a fever really works ... it has nothing to do with just believing. The "hot potato on your chest for cough" is called "Kartoffelwickel" ... you basically mash the hot potatoes, put it into a cloth and put it on your chest. It eases the urge to cough and can also help with a sore throat or muscle tensions.
The water and cherry thing comes from way back when drinking water wasn't as clean as today. The bacteria in it would make the cherries ferment and cause a tummy ache.
@@danielanoll4069 very interesting!
greeting thing is mostly true in Europe in general. basic courtesy
Our little family remedy against coughs is onion juice, actually. We'll cut up some onions, put sugar on them and after a day or two there'd be some juice at the bottom of the container. I always got a spoon-full of that before bed when I had a cough as a kid. Not sure it did much besides soothing my throat for a short time but I always liked the taste so at least it made being sick suck a little less.
We do that with honey instead of sugar
well sugar feeds the bacteria so I would recommend hones aswell ;)
@@voyance4elle No. You make mamelade with a lot of sugar for preservation.
being at the doctor's is an intimate situation all in the waiting room are thrown into. Likely everyone being there has some sort of problem and is in a vulnerable state. Thus it is common courtesy to dissolve tension and announce yourself with a short, polite greeting.
It´s common politeness to greet , when entering the room. Referring the onion thing: my grandma used to set up sliced onions with a fair amount of sugar, getting a kind of syrup out of it, used as a treatment for nasty coughs. It works. And i go with the cold wraps; works with high fever (temperature control!)
a Cherry tree can grow in your stomach, when you drink water after eating cherries. thats fact ;)
And now....think about watermelons! :D
Well, something else that is common here is Naturheilkunde (Naturopathy) aka using the natural effects of plants etc. When you have a cold for example, it is easier to just wait it out and drink tea instead of taking pills. That is probably because a lot of this goes back to monasteries who could only heal people like that for centuries and people copied what worked
Hildegard von Bingen....but yeah, since there actually isn't a proper medicine against the common cold, drinking tea and ingesting a lot of Vitamin C works just as well.
@@swanpride Not just her. Many monks and nuns did the best they could to help others. One wonders how much weird shit was going on back then without people knowing today...
Cold towels on the legs and arms against fever is really good. Even in hospitals it's done that way.
homeopathy does not go beyond the placebo effect
wrapping your calves in cold towels actually helps reducing your body temperature when you have fever.
Is it also a wet towel? How do you make the towel cold?
@@LythaWausW ye it's a wet one. Simply soak it in cold water
Yes, that's true about the onion and the earache. I know it when I was a child, my mum always gave me an onion or a warm cherry pit pillow for an earache. but the onion also helps against bee and wasp stings. The juice of the onion not only has a cooling effect, but also has a slightly disinfecting and anti-inflammatory effect.
#1 is true.
But as you pointed out one does not really feel like greeting when feeling sick.
1. Yes, that's true. It's considered polite to greet everyone when entering a waiting room (be it at the doctor's or the hospital). I interpret it as a way of announcing your arrival to the people waiting and also to sort of apologize for the intrusion by being extra polite (smiling at them and saying hello). You might not always receive a greeting in return (though the more polite people will nod at you, greet or smile back to acknowledge your presence, they might also make room for you or inform you of who's next in line if necessary) but many people (esp the elderly) will think you're rude if you just "sneak in" and sit down in silence. It's customary here in Austria too. And a pretty big hassle for introverted people. Apart from the greeting you're not expected to talk to anyone. Quite the opposite, you're expected to stay quiet/not make too much noise, to not stare at or disturb anyone and patiently wait your turn.
2. Yes, those're just the names for different doctors, duh.
3. Never heard of any of these, except that drafts one. It's often said that gusts of wind will give you a cold (esp if you're not dressed for the weather) but also living in drafty/poorly isolated old house, cold air from the AC in summer/when you're sweating and leaving the window open for too long, esp during cold season will make you ill.
4. That's correct. For medicine (be it presctiption or over the counter) you have to go to the pharmacy (Apotheke), whereas the drug store (Drogeriemarkt) is a shop selling toiletries, cleaning supplies, hair and body products, make-up and such. You'll usually find alternative medicine (vitamins, herbal remedies, teas, etc) at both places. Pharmacies are typically closed in the evenings and on Sunday but they do have a pharmacist stationed there outside of opening hours (at least where I live), so there's a door bell/intercom you can ring in case of emergency or if you're in urgent need of a certain medication - that's called Nachtapotheke (night pharmacy).
5. Yes, home remedies are a thing and there are a lot of them. When I was little my mom used to do cold towel wraps and Topfenwickel against fevers and colds - for the latter you put a hot towel soaked with Topfen (a form of creamcheese) on your chest (to soothe your cough I believe). Carefil what you wish for. I wouldn't wish ear aches on anyone - I had constant ear aches as a child because of a middle ear infection- it really sucks.
6. Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine. Those little sugar balls contain a teeny tiny amount of a substance that usually would be harmful in large quantities (f.e. belladonna) but in miniscule amounts is said to help the immune system (differs depending in what it's supposed to cure), kinda like an antidote. Since it's not technically a medicine you can take globuli preemptively too. It's not scientifically proven to be effective, some people believe it is, others (like me) don't. My mom fervently believes in it though, so whenever I was sick I got to eat little sugar balls. I always looked forward to that, so much so that sometimes I'd pretend to have a cold coming on, so my mom would give me a teaspoon's worth of those yummy little sugar pills.
7. Checking the bio weather is indeed part of many German and Austrian people's daily routine.
A "good day" or "hello" is part of the normal manners.
It may also be that someone asks "how are you?" which is to be answered with "fine".
Then, as the conversation intensifies, the question arises, "And what about the weather?"
The answer to that is that it is either too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry.
If the conversation progresses then it is about the prices being too high or something else in general. 😉
Drinking wine after beer also makes you sick. Then you no longer know whether it was bad wine or bad beer that caused the headache. 🥴
You're not "supposed" to greet when entering a room but it's common courtesy to do so. People who don't exercise this simple rule of polite behavior are often and quickly regarded as unfriendly and/or rude. My mom always used to ask me a question which literally translates into "What does a donkey say when entering the mill? Hee-haw." Means even a donkey greets as the Hee-haw was regarded as its "Good day".
It doesn't hurt anyone to be polite and maybe you even make someone else's day a bit better by being friendly and kind =)
The onion/ear thing really works. I did that when my kids had ear infections. Apparently the essential oils in onions are anti-inflammatory. I chopped an onion, put it in an old sock, microwaved it briefly and put it on the infected ear. The warmth soothes the pain and the essential oils help fighting the infection. There are a lot of home remedies that actually make sense. The cold towels around the calves helps bring down a fever.
The waiting room thing is true. It's common when you enter a room, and there are already people there you say hello or "Guten Tag". Not on the bus though. But definitely in the waiting room unless it's the huge waiting area at a hospital. There you would perhaps offer a greeting to the person you sit down next to but not yell out "Guten Tag" to the entire room. 😀
I think Germans are more reluctant to take meds for minor ailments and often try home remedies first. Gargling with sea salt solution helps against a sore throat btw. as the salt is anti-bacterial. It's not very pleasant but it actually works. Some people also use nasal douches with salt water. Works, too but not pleasant.
The Tooth doctor is a dentist. we also have the "kieferchirurg" a "jaw surgeon"
The "Wadenwickel" is a science-based method to lower fever. But you dont take Cold towels. you take water between 30 - 40°C. The Leg holds a huge amount of Blood. You can cooldown your entire body by regulating the temperature of your legs. That really works. You can search for studys of this.
In germany we have a lot of specialist doctors. You must study medicine and after the groundstudy you can choose the specialist way like Teath-doctor (Zahnarzt)=dentist. If the "normal" doctor (Internist or Hausarzt) can`t help you he send you to a specialist. If you know, your problems can`t solve by the normal doctor you can go direct to the specialist. The other point are the drugstores. In germany the drugstores aren`t allowed to sell medicine. For the real medicine you have to go to a pharmacy=Apotheke. If you want to open a Apotheke you need to study pharmacy first.
@@nordderby7675 Sorry, konnte ich in meinem eher mäßigem Englisch nicht besser erklären.. Habe mal versucht, dass zu korrigieren..
A lot of those home remedies actually work...the onions works because they desinfect. Similiar, honey helps if you have a sore throat. Certain tea also works for nausea and similiar and if nothing else, it ensures that you drink enough, something you should really do if you are ill. The salty sticks with the cola works half...the salty sticks are easy on the stomach and they ensure to replace the salt you don't take in if you throw up a lot. The cola is supposed to stimulate the ciculatory system, which it kind of does, but since it is NOT easy on the stomach, it is actually contra-productive. Tea is the better choice (I still tend to drink the Cola, just for old memories sake). And yes, Wadenwickel help to lower your temperature, but you should actually be careful when you use them...for one, fever is a defense mechanism of your body, hence there is no reason to lower it unless it gets so high that it is dangerous and two, you can actually lower the temperature too much if you aren't careful.
But one shouldn't confuse those remedies with the Globoli nonsense, which is just idiotic. But I guess Germans tend to be more open to it, because we are aware of how well certain remedies work.
Coke also contains a ton of sugar that would make tea disgustingly sweet if you're not from the Southern USA. Oh and the co2 is stirred out first.
Hahaha I have definetly used the onions for pain in my ear several times and it absolutely works! Also my calves have been wrapped in towels when I was a child... I can think of many more of these actually :D Also I definetly wear my scarf to keep my neck warm when I have a cold or a sore throat or an infection in my throat - in winter, in summer, indoors, in bed, definetly!!!
My parents never used the concept of pretzel sticks and Cola, when you have digestive problems. But drinking camomille tea and zwieback/rusk.
Omg, I really am German. I did 10 out 10 of these growing up! So many times I've stayed in bed with a scarf around my neck and a sack of raw onion on one ear when I had yet another ear infection. 🙈 Now it's still 9 out of 10, but I'm not a believer of homeopathy anymore.
Homeopathy is BS indeed. In contrast: the ethereal oils in onions are proven to be anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory. The scarves and wraps are helping the body to keep the proper temperature in the affected regions to fight off the infection effectively.
9:18 One really useful tool for people with specific allergies is the pollen forecast. The weather service collects data about blossoming seasons and predicted wind speeds to calculate how much you may suffer from hay-fever that day in your area.
In some weather apps you can check boxes on which plants you're allergic to, so that it can alert you.
Tooth doctor is pretty much the literal translation of Zahnarzt, for which the proper english word is indeed dentist. Orthodontist is Kieferorthopaede (literally jaw orthopedist) which does the braces guy. Then there's Endontologen (endodontist according to google) which are dentists specialized in root treatment (as in you didn't go often enough so now you get to enjoy the full program). They do normal dentist work as well, but are better equipped for the bigger work, at least that's my personal experience.
Yes in Germany u say hello to strangers even in the streets. I say hello everytime when I come to wartezimmer (waiting room) in Hospital It is a common thing here ))
A home remedy I know from my mom is onion and sugar juice for a cough... so basically if I have a cough my mom will layer onion and sugar in little layers until the glas is full and then we wait a day until juice has formed and then you'd take a tablespoon of it.. I'm also from germany btw!
For a very brief time you had to pay 10€ practice fee once in a quarter (of the year). But you could show the billing to other practices you had to visit in that time span and pass. But now its free again. And that's basically all you pay for visiting a doctor. An emergency/ambulance ride is 10 Euros, too.
Onions work, on ears and cough. Onions and garlic are anti biotic and help to cure. Such as Thym and oregano. like we say in Germany against every disease grows a herb or plant.
The 'tooth doctor' is a regular dentist, the orthodontist would be a 'jaw orthopedist' ;-)
I grew up in an area that is at a stage between village and city. I learned that you greet everyone. At that time you knew 3 out of 4 people you met. When I enter a room where people are already present, I greet them.
Fun fact we Germans get hard opioids only if not absolutely necessary. I had a hernia surgery and only got ibuprofen and some liquid somehow better pain killer. No opioids or canabiods at all. So we don't have a opiod problem at all. According to Rachel Maddow in MSNBC the us citizens used in average about 82 opiod pills a year in 2016.
It is not a whole onion. You mince an onion, wrap in tissue and put that into your earshell. The mild acid from the onion is then disinffecting the germs or so I was told.
And they missed one vrey crucial thing: when ever you are going to a doctor with a cold they will discribe two things: rest and drink a lot of water or tea ( pepperming, ginger or camomille.) Only then they ask if you have things at hoem to sooth your nose or throat or headache. And of course a three days doctors note you can not attend work for said time
I used to take a lot of singing lessons and even studied it for a bit. Back then I would wear a scarf almost all year to keep my instrument safe. And many people I know wear scarfs to not get sick because a cold neck is bad news. So no, a scarf does not mean someone is already sick in germany. 😄
Private Practices over here traditionally close on Wednesday afternoon (and friday afternoon) to do home visits for elderly people who can't leave the home anymore.
Onions got lots of essential oils in them. They don't only make tears in your eyes when you cut them up, they can also enter your body throgh your skin and help your body to fight against infections by beeing anti bacterial.
Whenever you enter a room, where people are in, you greet them when you enter. Except your greeting would disturb them (e.g. cinema, theater, ...).
yes, it's true, you say "hello" when entering the waiting room. it's polite. you don't greet every person separately, you just say hello and sit down.
Wrapping hot potatoes in a cloth helps relieve a sore throat. Wrap them around your neck. Drinking lemon tea and eating a spoonful of fennel honey also helps.
The greeting is a sign of good up bringing. If a elderly enters a bald s you offer a seet. If you pass a individual that is an elderly, you greet with Good morning or Good afternoon.
Cold towels (Wadenwickel) are for small children and it really helps to lower the fewer.
Hey or Hallo,
It’s pretty normal to greet everyone, even in elevators. The Zahnarzt (tooth doctor) is the dentist. And the cold towel on the calf’s (Wadenwickel) is common to use if you have a fever. It works most of the time.
The cold towel wrapped around your legs or sometimes neck is to help lower the fever. If your kid wakes up at night with a temperature of 103 it works faster to bring it down by a degree than having to wait 30 minutes for meds to kick in.
A fever serves the purpose of fighting off a virus. Meds are given if a fever is way too high.
Cold wraps for your calves are definitely a thing. We do this here too and it works very well. 👍 I've never done anything with onions, but I've had people report to me that they had satisfactory results. Something else we do is quark wraps. You put cold quark on a cloth and you wrap it around any body part that you overstrained and/or is swollen. It cools the area and the acid also helps against the swelling.
I lived near the North Sea. The salty air did more for my well-being than anything else.
it’s also funny for me as an austrian to see your videos. i learn a lot about us, but the most about the differences between germany and us 😂 … we are neighbors and official we have the same language, but there are much more differences between our cultures as i suspect of 😅
My former GP (he is retired) prescribed chicken broth with curry for everybody with a cold or flu.
And I got both cold wraps, I got warm wraps (obviously at another time) and I also got quark wraps. All versions worked very well
8:10 these globulis work under the placebo effect it is very fascinating😊
In general people in Germany will greet you when meeting you in a context you interact for short, even if the interaction is being in the same room. Especally in more rural region is it furthermore common to greet everyone you walk by.
I did use a cold wet wrap around my legs, when i had 40.3C fever or 105F. It helped.
As I kid, I often had to drink self-made onion juice when I had a cold. And I had a little sack with onions on my ear. But it helped.
Brezel sticks and Cola were standard with stomach bugs.
I also know the cold wraps around the calves, yet I didn't like it.
And mom's here (me included) use the homoeopathic Globuli.
I swear by the Zwieback my Grandma stored for I don't know how many months. It destroyed the inside of my mouth but I got full and didn't feel sick afterwards
Try it next time with fennel tea (if you like it). You can dip it or mix it together to have a thick soup.
Some people say they get influenced by fast change in air pressure but also with extra high or low pressure.
The weater migranes are a thing tho. Due to the alps and the so called "Föhn" here (especially south bavaria). When there normally would be rain but there isn't due to Föhn people tend to get migranes and headaches.
Your " Hallo" gets better every video
Yes, you say hello, if you enter a room, of course, it is polite. Onions work really well. Salvia against a sour throat, in the hospital we give arnica after an operation, SOS-cream after birth (vacuum extraction) on the head of the baby...we also use aroma therapy in the hospital and at home
Hello from Switzerland, yes, onions help against earache. I once saw that with a friend at the time, whose son got up at about 10 p.m., came into the living room and complained about an earache, I thought to myself "great, that's going to be a hard night". She made him an onion wrap (chopped onions rolled in a cloth and tied around his head), I smiled almost pityingly to myself, thinking as if that would help; but actually, he didn't get up again until the next morning. I now know that there are many "home remedies" that can actually help, one of which is ginger and others. If the flu is coming up, a homemade ginger tea (grate the ginger root and put it in hot water) helps the thing go by faster.
As far as medicine is concerned, one must also keep in mind that today's physicians are not omniscient either, many diseases are still not known from what they come from or how to treat them effectively. In some cases, homeopathy offers an alternative that can also make a difference. It should also be considered that many medicines have side effects, which is less (rarely) the case with alternatives from homeopathy. But it must also be said that in severe cases, classical medicine is more likely to be used.
Home-remedies are sort of a emergency and quick solution to get rid of a sickness. If that fails to produce anything over night or over the weekend, see the doctor Monday morning.
Doctors are great, where would we be without them. But keep in mind, that most of our modern medicin comes from plants and are just higher concentrated.
Homeopathy is a topic with a lot of debate. But wether is works or not, placebos have been proven to make things happen simply by people believing it. So, at least that is on their side
Having a cold, in northern Germany , you may get rid of by drinking hot elderberry tea or juice.
It helps, since middleages it is known as one of the useful home therapies.
The sugar balls do nothing. And the most annoying thing about them is, that the public health care is paying for them, but really useful things like glasses or a professional teeth cleaning are not fully covered.
It's really a waste of money.
Home remedies, work for my family : mashed steamed potatoes or onions in a cloth on the ear (potatoes hold the warmth longer) the warm humidy solves the stuffing, etheric oils from onions are reducing inflammations. That's why onions are the base for my homemade coughing Sirup too. Espresso or strong coffee with a squish of lemon juice against upcoming headache. Inhaling salt water for stuffed nose. Globuli are not just suger. They consist of plant extracts. And they are also used for animals, so believe makes it work doesn't go there.
As far as I remember it’s that onions have anti inflammatory capacities. Worked in my childhood.
so, to clear the thing with the doctors up: ophthalmologist = eye doctor= Augenarzt; gynecologist/obstetrician = women doctor = Frauenarzt; midwife = Hebamme; dentist = tooth doctor = Zahnarzt; orthodontist = (there is no jaw doctor) = Kieferorthopäde; optometrist = (shop where you can BUY glasses) Augenoptiker.
The "Tooth doctor" is actually the term for the dentist, an orthodontist has a completely different name which contains the word "Kiefer", meaning jaw, mandible, or can just refer to the part of the bone on which the teeth are attached.
Wadenwickel/cold towels on calves works anyway against fever. In the hospital we make this sometimes.
By diarrhoe I take black tea and saltsticks,by vomitting black tea and Zwieback/rusk
7:09 I know onion juice for coughs!
In earlier times it is even said that cough syrup was used with heroin!
From this, Bayer developed a process for the synthesis of diacetylmorphine and had the brand name “Heroin” protected on June 27, 1898. Heroin was marketed as an oral pain reliever and cough suppressant in an advertising campaign in twelve languages.
yes it is true we really say hello when entering the Artz Parix it just shows respect and good dealings with other people we are brought up like that :)
The general greeting when entering a doctor's waiting room is not a joke. It is very common and people will look a bit sour, if you don't do it. It's also a thing in small, local restaurants, especially on the country side. You simply greet everybody when walking in and say goodbye to everybody when leaving. It's just polite to do that.
A "tooth doctor" is a dentist and they will do the braces in Germany as well. We don't have a specialist for that.
Wrapping your calves in cold towels actually does work with little fever whether you believe it or not. This procedure can lower your body temperature up to 1.5 degrees Celsius and is widely practiced with little kids, because most German parents don't want their little ones to take medicine if it isn't really necessary.
Something that helps against a common cold are bee wax wraps (Bienenwachswickel) you heat one wrap up with a "Wärmflasche" (I don't know the English word) and lay it on the chest. My mom used to do this when I was a kid.
In Germany we do not pay deductables we only pay somewhere between 4 and 10 euroes for a perscription and if you are in the hospital you pay 10 euroes for the first 14 days this is a form of room and board. After the first 14 days your stay is free.
when she mentioned that drinking water after eating cherries I instantly thought of my grandma, she always warned me of that.
I think that was actually true when she was a kid, since the pipe quality has improved a lot in that time, so tap water became much better
and when I have a cold, I get myself a warm beer
Hi Ryan, i‘ve been working as a medical assistent by a pediatrician for over 20 years and i can tell you we also recommend the onion method by ear pain.
Onions are wondermedicine.
Onions contain a plethora of oils and juices that help to improve the imunsystem.
A common cold medicine is onions and honey.
You cut the onions into plates and put honey inbetween. The sugar quite literally sucks out the healthy juices out of the onions. You get a healthy and yummy juice commonly used to fight coughs.
The more liquid honey contains a lot of healthy juices from the wildflowers that are being collected from and sugar also gives quick energy for the exhausted body.
another typical thing in Germany is the recommendation of hot lemon when you (may) get a cold and ginger with honey (and lemon) for sore throat
As a Child i Had a lot of „Ohrenschmerzen“ earpain. My Mom always Put onions on my ear and it always helped