All the knowledge that ever existed in this world, past or present is now available on the click of a mouse on a platform that has become unanimous with knowledge and information: Google.

We search Google for everything. Let’s accept it. What to eat, what to wear, where to buy it, where not to buy it, what is what, about things we always wanted to know, about questions we always wanted to ask our parents about but were too hesitant to ask, about the weather, about the earth and the sky and the universe and the human body and all its ailments and how we fit into their descriptions. The internet has thrown open a completely new world of knowledge for us. The benefits of this explosion of knowledge are many. For starters, everyone has become knowledgeable.

Knowledgeable, Yes!  Wise? No.

Does ‘googling’ to find solutions for all our problems give us the wisdom to decide where to draw the line? The problem starts when we start taking matters into our own hands about subjects we have no reliable knowledge about, especially in areas relating to our health. I read a funny placard on a doctor’s desk the other day 'Consultation Fee Rs 1000/-' and Rs 1500/- with Patient Inputs from Google! (No offense to Google, please!)

I run a clinic where patients come with respiratory problems. During the course of our interaction with them I discovered to my horror that they take medicines like inhalers and anti-allergens quite recklessly all by ‘surfing the net’ as they call it. This is called ‘Self medication’, a term that can have many adverse and lasting effects on your body and overall health. The most terrifying part is that these patients don’t even realize that medicine is a foreign particle in the body and leaves a certain side effect if not taken under supervision.

I am appalled by ‘educated’ mothers saying that “I don’t give any medicine to my child, just an inhaler every once in a while.....”. Inhalers are medicines too to begin with. Giving them to your child is harmful enough and giving it without the supervision of a qualified doctor...? What can I say?

Taking a quick-fix antibiotic for a minor allergy like seasonal cold is like jumping into a shallow pond to swim cross it while all you needed to do was to wade through it. The point I’m trying to make here is that sometimes chronic ailments need seemingly simple solutions to fix them.

As far as allergies are concerned, any amount of medication is not going to ‘cure’ it. Then why subject your body to a two-way distress, one the ailment itself which is causing the trouble and two the distress caused to it by reckless medication. 

Allergies respond very well to natural herbal remedies, even simple home remedies work wonders for them. So go natural with allergies as far as possible. One simple solution that can help you without any medication at all for all your respiratory problems is salt therapy. Salt therapy is a 100% natural treatment for respiratory and skin allergies.  Next time before you reach out for that inhaler give nature a chance to cleanse your lungs with salt.