Indexing Title: OLEYSON’s Medical Anecdotal Report [04-7]

MAR Title: Back to basic!

Date of Medical Observation: 16 September 2002

 Narration:

JC a 27-year-old male, who happens to be my neighbor sustained a second degree burn 4% total body surface area on his left forearm after opening a car radiator. I was on my home at that time when he approached me  and complained his ailment. In as much as I wanted to help him, I decided bringing him into my house nearby to immediately treat his wound. I  had to washed the wound with tap water and dressed it with sterile gauze.  I did not remove the blister but just drained the fluids inside so as to serve  a biologic dressing on his burned skin. I prescribed silver sulfadiazine, pain reliever and advised daily wound care.   

After 3 days, I saw him again when I was on my home, playing in the street but I noticed  some leaves in his forearm.  I asked him if he bought the medicine I prescribed, he told me he cannot afford to buy one, instead, I was surprised with his reply. He plainly said that he treats his wound by using what they call, “tubang tapal” on his wound. He added that he regularly cleanse his wound then dressed it with the leaves which according to him,  afforded relief. Upon checking the wound, blister was really healed seeing that  the overlying skin appeared to be  a natural dressing. Through religiously treating his wound with the used of such leaves, his ailment was hastened while  burned skin just sloughed-off revealing a pale colored skin.  After 10 days, I was amazed when I saw his wound was completely healed with minimal scar visible.

Insights (Discovery, STIMULUS, REINFORCEMENT) / (Physical, Psychosocial, ETHICAL):

 Discovery

Nowadays, due to high cost of health care, people tend to shift to unconventional mode of treatment such as “Herbal Medicine”.  Though secondary alternative as it may seem,   many people still believe that it really works.  The Department of Health even conducted several trials and had proven that some naturally grown herbs here in the Philippines are beneficial and effective.

Stimulus

Conduct a study and find evidences regarding the use of the “tubang-tapal” leaves as an alternative dressing in burn wounds. 

Ethical

There are odd times that patients could be the best educators of doctors. Like in the case of JC who unfortunately belong to a poor family, resort to his beneficial way of treating his own wound with the help of his elders by introducing the “tubang tapal”  which gave me an interest to find out how it is efficacious for pain and burns and not just a simple leaf that I usually love to see around.