Curative Properties of the Pipe

[scotrob]

speaking of migraines (and they have been mentioned a few times here): my Dad was a pipe smoker 24/7 and suffered from migraines....I don't believe he ever found relief from the pipe in this case and eventually resorted to medication to control them....I have partially inherited the migraine "gene" in as much as I get the aura before a migraine (visual hallucinations, scintillating scotoma etc.) but not the headache or photophobia...in my case i THINK the pipe helps the scotoma to pass more quickly but I just dont get it often enough to have really experimented...it may be that fresh air or strong coffee works equally well.

 

[buster]

Many people think medical marijuana is only smoked or eaten and they do not get the desired effect and just get high. Personally I do not have time to get high, it was fine in my 20's but not now days. I have a back injury that is worsened by arthritis (yep getting old) smoking wont do squat. Yet a tincture made from cannabis and ever clear applied topically to where the pain/muscle spasms are works in an amazingly short amount of time and no high. Much less side effects than flexaril.
Another herb that I use when things get bad is Kava. Unlike MM it is legal in all states. I make up a quart like the Polynesians would for a kava ritual. Take a cup or two before bed and GOOD NIGHT! It tastes like mud but as muscle relaxers go it works for me very well. Warnings though, do not use Kava if you are on anti-depresents or have liver problems or are a heavy drinker. I have ordered it from two places. PM me if you are interested in links.

 

[scotrob]

Kava is great stuff- i have tried it in Fiji and Vanuatu, and brought some Vanuatu kava home with me...in small doses it numbs the lips and relaxes you, in larger it leaves you unable to walk and giggly...but its medicinal properties are well known amongst Melanesian and Polynesian communities

 

[cyndi]

Robs - the Chinese used tobacco smoke and saliva to ward off phantom pain. They said it was the ghost of the limb unable to find its way to the next life and would "spit" to scare the ghost away. Interesting, huh?

 

[scotrob]

i agree Cyndi...and i think Oriental cultures have a LOT to teach us westerners about medicine....they have 000s years accumulated knowledge which we are only just beginning to tap here, and i particularly like the way they factor in the "mystical" (as with the ghost limb)....if there is one good place to start your research, it would be there....i am certain the Chinese have other interesting uses for tobacco too

 

[cyndi]

I think you're right about it being the best place to start as it wasn't only used "back then" but is still used now. I think the prominent use of it as medicine was that it's a plant that grows absolutely everywhere. It's a lot like calendula - a flower in the marigold family - that is naturally antibacterial and anti fungal. You find it used in a lot of our healthcare products like lotions and creams and even in toothpaste for people with dental infections. It's very common to find it in the baby care department as a cure for cradle cap and inflamed skin. We don't understand quite why it works, only that it does.

 

[irish2fish]

I suffer from PTSD and bouts of anxiety, and have found that smoking my pipe calms me down way better than the meds the Army/VA have given me. And it doesnt leave me walking around like a zombie. It also helps with headaches.

 

[stryder]

I do not know if pipe smoking is the real problem solver or if the act of smoking a pipe is behind it, maybe both, but I do know this is one really kool topic and worthy of more research. Both Eastern and Western people's have used plants in a variety of ways to cure things for thousands of years. Many of these are being rediscovered.
I wonder if we separated "smokers" into type of smoker, ciggys, pipes and cigars what the difference would be in bad effects? I mean "people with lung cancer that smoke...X% ciggys , X% pipe and X% cigars". Might be really interesting. Maybe somebody already has the numbers????
My grandfather smoked a pipe for 50 years and yes he got lung cancer, but also worked in the shipyards during the war and the coal mines and did paint and body work on cars and worked construction.....was it the pipe or something else?
Anyway good stuff keep it coming!

 

[sherlock]

As a few others here I have chronic health problems. I have a kidney transplant so its not going to cure that, but it does help me to cope. I also have bad allergies, but smoking only makes this worse. For me the health benefit of smoking is more of mental thing than a physical thing, but I would be interested to read about Paul's forgotten article.