Bala Kathiravelu, 75, shares his story below…
Standing in the centre of the lounge room, a blur of colours swirled around my eyes. I’d accidentally dropped my glasses and could barely see without them.
Kneeling down, I felt around blindly.
“Finally!” I exclaimed as I made contact.
Standing up, I heard a subtle pop followed by an intense pain that shot through my left leg.
“Ahh!” I cried out, collapsing into my recliner.
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Somehow, I’d twisted my knee.
I waited for the pain to pass, but hours later it was still sore. Wrapping a heat pack around my knee with a compression bandage, I laughed in disbelief at how a simple movement could wreak such havoc.
That’s better, I thought as the heat and pressure alleviated the ache.
But my relief was short-lived. The moment I put weight on my knee, the pain returned.
With a bit of rest, it will come good, I told myself.
To my dismay, three days passed and the pain had only worsened.
I racked my brain trying to recall how my mother would treat my injuries when I was a child.
Of course, I finally remembered: ginger!
She used to say that applying chopped ginger helps to reduce pain and inflammation of wounds.
Hobbling to the kitchen, I cut up a knob of ginger and fastened the pieces to my knee with a bandage before climbing into bed.
But waking the next morning, I still felt a surge of pain when I went to walk.
I need help, I decided.
Reaching for my phone, I called a friend who I often went to for advice.
“You should add garlic,” he suggested, “it’ll help speed up the healing process.”
“At this point, I’m willing to give anything a go,” I joked.
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After the call, I chopped up more ginger before mincing some garlic, too.
“Here goes nothing,” I sighed.
Wincing at the fresh pain, I sprinkled the garlic and ginger directly onto my knee and compressed it with a bandage.
After a few hours, my knee stung and felt cold to the touch.
Must be the remedy working, I figured.
That night, I kept the bandage, with the ginger and garlic filling, on my leg as I went to bed.
Maybe if it soaks overnight the pain will be gone by morning, I hoped.
But to my disappointment, when I woke the next day, my knee was still stinging.
Might be worth letting it air out for a while, I thought.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I slowly unpeeled the bandage. Bits of ginger and garlic fell to the floor.
Suddenly, an almighty pain surged into my leg.
“Oh my God!” I shouted, looking at my knee.
Layers of skin had been peeled back and the open wound was oozing fluid.
I need a doctor, I thought desperately.
After wrapping a fresh bandage on the wound, without adding any spices this time, I drove slowly to the doctor’s office.
Once I arrived, I unwrapped my wound as the doctor leaned in for a look.
“Did you burn yourself cooking or on a fire?” he asked, puzzled.
Sheepishly, I told him the story of my twisted knee.
“I tried to cure it with a home remedy of ginger and garlic,” I explained.
The doctor frowned at me.
“Ginger and garlic have compounds that can cause chemical burns if left on the skin too long,” he explained. “Especially when they’re combined.”
I covered my face in disbelief.
He knelt for a closer inspection of the wound.
“You’ve given yourself a third-degree burn,” he remarked.
Thankfully, he prescribed some cream to stop the swelling and combat the open wound.
For almost a month, I had to keep looking at my mistake, until, eventually, it closed over with some slight scarring.
If only I’d gone to the doctor straightaway, I chided myself.
My scarred knee is proof that in an emergency, seeking medical help is the best option as home remedies won’t always prevail.
It pains me to say that mother doesn’t always know best.
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