East of the Sun. Take thou some new infection to thine eye.

Eye infections can be lethal… Solution ? ‘Your plantain leaf is excellent for that ‘
 Dr Montague, the eye doctor ? Recommending plantago major, rich in Vitamin A, definitely good for eye health, Romeo’s right.That annoying rosette of dark leaves on your perfect lawn ? Ditch the weedlkiller, plantain might help to save your sight.1

Waiting for ever, then several hours more in A & E, a friend came close to giving up. Messages were grim. Red and horribly painful eyes, like they were being bored by a screwdriver, sit there any longer, waiting ?

Stay there, we all messaged, from different parts of the country. Eyes, you really can’t take chances. Somewhere in the tenth hour of waiting, they were called in. Treatment at last, our friend would be fine ?  Not exactly. Told to come back tomorrow. Then another long and painful wait, as the eye pain grew worse. All around, in A & E, so many others, maybe in the same kind of trouble, maybe with a different bug. Finally, a prescription. No pain relief. Next ? The antibiotics didn’t work, eyes and pain worse than ever. By now, you didn’t need to be any kind of medic to start guessing what was wrong. Antibiotics not working ? Is this MRSA ? At the vets’. they have strict rules for four legged patients who might have an infection, and far shorter waits too.

Three days later. another appointment, and the news was bad, almost as bad as it could be, MRSA, confirmed, and the infection so severe, our friend could lose one eye. The other was in trouble too. Time wasn’t on their side. Intense and exhausting treatment began, drops every thirty minutes, for the first two days. Sent home, the patient had to administer the drops themselves. No sleep , no pain relief. After 48 hours, the first signs of improvement. Two days later, the news we’d all been hoping for. A long way to go, but the eye was safe. Won’t lose it. Vision still blurred, but should recover. Should...

And if this horrible experience had started this week ? Another five day doctors’ strike, wait longer still in A & E , as MRSA does its worst ? Would this have worked instead ?

Take cropleek and garlic, of both equal quantities, pound them well together… take wine and bullocks gall, mix with the leek… let it stand nine days in the brass vessel…So goes a thousand-year-old Anglo-Saxon recipe to vanquish a stye, an infected eyelash follicle. 2

 Dramatic claims for this thousand year old remedy need rigorous peer reviewed and peer challenging testing, but don’t dismiss the Brother Cadfael school of health care. A few years ago, one of our pets was in trouble, a leg injury refusing to heal. The vet was mystified. Why on earth would you want to keep a cockerel? Unwanted male chick, Bramble was family, imprinted at one day old. Amoxycillin didn’t work. Time to say goodbye ? Retired farmer, a neighbour knew exactly what to do.

’ Down by your beck. ( stream) Woundwort. Always grows there. Make a poultice.’ Stachys germanica, and it worked.3 Garlic grows there too. Digitalis ? Front garden foxgloves. Rosemary ? By the kitchen door, all infections and cancers too. Monkshood ? Ask Brother Cadfael.
My infuriating ID problem ? Simple, really. Passport was the only ID being rejected, rejection invalidated all the rest. Took myself and my passport to our solicitor’s office. Cost, but everything else I tried was a waste of time. .

 

1  https://healthyfocus.org › health-benefits-plantago-plantain-leaves

2https://www.nationalgeographic.com › science › article › anglo-saxon-mrsa

3archive.bsbi.org.uk › Wats17p59.pdf