Silver Bullets

Sometimes, you just need a win

Few things in life are really easy. We can feel like we found a way to do things more easily or simply, only to later find out that the complexity has just moved elsewhere. But sometimes, there's a cheap, easy, simple solution, where things are well in balance, and just need the exact right push. Often it's what people have been already telling you, and if you listen and try it, it will work. Here are some of my experiences where this has happened..

Water in my ears

If you're swimming or bathing and do a bunch of somersaults, you end up with water stuck inside your inner ear. It might come out in a yellow gush after a few hours or days, or you might end up with an ear infection. I complained to my friend about this while we were swimming outdoors in a local swimming hole, and he showed me how to bend over sideways and shake my head like a ketchup bottle to get the water out. The ear with water in it is the ear that faces towards the ground, the water immediately runs out, then you can repeat on the other side. I do not recommend doing this, you should talk to your doctor, but it works for me, and I haven't had any other associated problems, so far.

Postural adjustment

I had a lower back injury where my pain was steadily increasing after a seemingly minor initial strain/injury, for about 6 weeks. It was getting bad, to the point that I scheduled appointments with my GP (my first in years), chiropractor (my first ever) and physiotherapist(first time in decades). The physio, bless her, told me to engage my core more, I flexed my ab muscles, she said no, suck in your belly button, boom, pain gone. I still live with daily pain and multiple daily stretching sessions, but was able to more or less immediately continue working and living essentially normally.

Infection in my ears

Another time, 1-2 weeks of a hot, painful ear. I had disgusting, smelly pus leaking out of the ear. I bought some eardrops, and the first eardrop in had this incredibly cool, clearing sensation, a whole lot of yellow liquid came out, and the pain went away and didn't come back.

Infected cuticle - elevating the eponychial fold

My fingernail cuticle was red and sore, I was just tolerating it and waiting for it to resolve itself. I'm not a nail biter, but it still happens to me from time to time. Then I read that you can gently lift up on the corner of the nail bed, and it allows all of the pus to drain without making any incision or cut - gross! Immediate pain relief, and the redness and infection went away and didn't return. You can just ask a doctor to do it.

Anti-inflammatories

I had a head cold and nasal congestion with a headache. I was miserable, there was a bunch of inflammation and things were all blocked up with nowhere to go. I really think that I wasn't getting great circulation to tissues that needed good blood supply, due to the constriction of various tissues in the nose and sinus area, due to inflammation/congestion. I took a Tylenol or Advil and immediately felt better, went to bed, and woke up basically recovered.

I usually try to avoid antipyretics during a cold or flu, but I think there is something to be said for:

Anti-biotics

I once had a high fever for 2 weeks, eventually accompanied by a productive chest cough, from the contemporary equivalent of the flu. The viral infection had morphed into a bacterial one, and the cough stuck around for another 2 weeks after the other flu symptoms had resolved, without getting better. I had a throat culture and was prescribed a strong anti-biotic for the bacterial infection in my lungs, and took it for 1-2 days before the cough cleared up entirely and I finally felt much better.

I am not looking forward to a future medical episode where I am prescribed anti-biotics and they don't work, that has a good a chance as anything else of being the end of me.

Shaving

I was given a safety razor, shaving soap and a shaving brush as a gift for a special occasion. What do you mean, the blades cost 15 cents and come in a pack of 100, and the shaving soap lasts for 6 months, and I can use a fresh blade every time I shave if I really want to? ? I don't have to buy multi-blade refills at 2 bucks a pop and aerosol cans of shaving cream? The best part is feeling like you have joined some sort of secret club of the enlightened, because you can't buy the safety razor, safety razor blades, shaving soap, or shaving brush at major mainstream retailers.

Grocery delivery

I'll admit this one is fairly new to me. But where I live, you can get grocer delivery for a year for $100, at a store which also has the lowest prices in my area. Minimum order to qualify for free shipping is $35, fulfilment is next-day. If I value my time at roughly $35 an hour, it's three hours. But the amount of time I currently spend grocery shopping is probably 1-2 hours a week, so 50-100 hours a year. So I'm getting a 15x - 30x return. I still need to add the groceries to the online cart and place online orders, but I already have to maintain a shopping list anyways. I can just add my stuff to the online cart and use that as a shopping list. I have spoken to other people using the same service and they say it's great, we'll see how it goes.

Chocolate

If things aren't going well, a piece of chocolate can make a world of difference. Not a chocolate bar every day, and not every time something doesn't go to plan, but when you are in a pinch, it can really turn things around.

Dishwashers

My life changed when I moved into a place with a working dishwasher. It was basically an hour a day, every day, washing dishes by hand in a small single-basin sink. It's almost like not having a washing machine, and having to wash all of your clothes by hand.

Learning something new every day

Doesn't matter what it is, if you keep learning something new every day, you will feel like you can do anything. It keeps your brain young.