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AIRE
Aire is caused by leaving a hot environment and entering a very cold one. There are two forms-childhood (causes ear ache) and adult (muscular spasms or facial paralysis). The treatment for childhood aire is to blow warm smoke into the ear or to form a paper cone, place the point into the ear then light the outer edge so that warm air enters the ear. "Cupping" with a ventosa is used for adult aire. The cup is heated and deoxified with a match or candle, then placed on the affected area. The vacuum in the cup causes the skin to swell and the knotted muscles to loosen up. A variation on "cupping" in certain cultures is "coining."
Empacho (A Cold Illness)
Empacho (or tripida) literally means an impacted stomach or surfeit. While all ages may be prone to empacho, it is much more common in young children. The etiology is felt to be adherence of soft food and difficult-to-digest substances (such as popcorn or chewing gum) to the stomach wall. Symptoms are anorexia, stomach ache, vomiting, pain with diarrhea, and generalized abdominal fullness. The diagnosis is made by the healer noting symptoms and checking for direct (but not rebound) abdominal tenderness, feeling knots in the calves, and/or rolling a fresh chicken egg over the abdomen. Empacho is confirmed if the egg appears to stick to a particular area. Remedies include rubbing the stomach or
back, popping of the skin, and purgative teas of wormwood (estafiate) or camomile (manzanilla). Lead (azarcón) or mercury (greta) powders are still occasionally given.
Administration of these heavy metals can cause severe illness and death, but occasionally are still used despite a widely disseminated public information program.
Caida De La Mollera
Caida de la mollera means "fallen fontanel". The actual etiology may be any severe illness resulting in a 10% loss of body weight in an infant such as bacterial or viral dysentery, meningitis, or sepsis. Children with caida are commonly felt to be neglected and there is an high degree of maternal guilt (which may not be recognized by the health care professionals). The etiology is felt to be mechanical in origin--the fontanel being pulled down by the soft palate when the nipple is pulled too suddenly out of the infant's mouth or by a sudden jolt, bump or fall. Symptoms are dehydration, crying, inability to achieve sufficient suction while nursing, fever and diarrhea. Remedies include: pressing upward on the soft palate with thumbs or fingers, sucking the anterior fontanel, holding the baby upside down over water with or without shaking or hitting the feet. Poultices are applied to the fontanel with raw egg, oil, or liniment and the hair is pulled up (so that the roots will raise the skin back up). This is the most challenging and potentially fatal pediatric folk illness.
Ojo
Ojo means "strong glance" or "evil eye". Young children are most susceptible but all ages may suffer from ojo.
The etiology of ojo is when a person with a "powerful" gaze glances or looks admiringly at someone without touching them. The symptoms include sudden onset of high fever, vomiting, headache, coryza, fainting, and sometimes convulsions. The diagnosis of "Ojo" is made by consideration of the patient's symptoms and an examination of a fresh egg broken after being passed over the patient's body. A positive diagnosis is made when the egg appears cooked, or the yolk appears to have the image of an eye. The most effective remedy is to have the perpetrator touch the patient as soon as possible. When that is not an option, an alternative treatment is as follows:
1.a fresh egg is passed over the patients' body;
2.it is broken into a bowl of water and covered by a cross of palm or straw; and
3.put under the head of the patient's bed.
4.The patient is then put to bed for the night and in the morning the egg is examined; if it is curdled
then that indicates that the Ojo is cured and the egg is then disposed of.
For prevention, children or susceptible individuals wear buck-eyes as amulets or necklaces, or pink coral bracelets. In this Hispanic folk tradition if a child is complimented, the care giver should make every effort to touch him or her. (This contrasts sharply with an Asian belief that a child should never
be touched on the top of his head).
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