Toothmeat

First two teeth about one year ago

It is teething time again.

It was a bit over one year ago, when Fräulein got her first two teeth. The first eight surfaced quite easily. She didn't seem be bothered about them during day time, but she was awake whining for one to two hours in the early hours during one night for each tooth.

But when it was time for the first molars, the problems started. As one molar tooth is like four smaller ones, she was awake for four nights for each tooth.

In the beginning of December, a couple of friends were visiting us. One of them has had her first child while living in Switzerland, so she was able to share a tip, which I have been very grateful of!

In the pharmacies, they sell some anesthetic gel especially for teething pain!

If you are from central Europe or UK, you probably think "yeah, so what's new?". But this is something you cannot find in Finland!

For about 4 euros, you can buy such a great relief! You just apply a small amount to the baby's gums. With Fräulein, I only do this before her bedtime. And I have later noticed that they sell this gel also in our local grocery store, Rewe!

After Fräulein's four molars, there was four month break in teething. During the last couple of week, she has had her first two eyeteeth. So, two more eyeteeth and four molars left from this baby teething period!

But what was the subject of this post about?

Well, one of my favorite German words is Zahnfleisch, which means gums, but is literally 'toothmeat'.

This just makes me giggle...

*****
Fräuleinille on taas tulossa uusia hampaita. Reilu vuosi sitten hän sai ensimmäiset etuhampaansa ja jouluun mennessä hampaita oli 12. Nyt muutaman kuukauden tauon jälkeen vuorossa ovat kulmahampaat.


Vaikka hampaiden tulo on ollut suhteellisen kivutonta, etenkin poskihampaat valvottivat tyttöä. Onneksi sain ystävättäreltäni vinkin, että täällä myydään apteekissa puudutusgeeliä, joka on tarkoitettu avuksi juuri hampaiden puhkeamiseen! Itse asiassa geeliä myödään myös tavallisessa ruokakaupassa, hinta n. 4 euroa.


Ja mitä postauksen otsikkoon tulee, yksi saksan kielen lempisanojani on ikeniä tarkoittava Zahnfleisch (kirjaimellisesti "hammasliha").

Odd German Way No. 7 - Alternative Medicines

In several occasions, I have noticed that in Germany alternative medicines, like herbal and homeopathic products, are used as, well, 'normal' medicines.

First I thought it was just something our Hebamme (midwife) was into, as she recommended homeopathic medicines for Fräulein's colic and my breast infection. But when I bought some medicines for Fräulein's cold from the pharmacy, I noticed they included some homeopathic ingredients as well.

Before Christmas, I went to the pharmacy to buy some gel for Fräulein to numb the pain caused by teething. After giving me the gel, the pharmacist wanted to introduce all the herbal medicines they had available for teething. I was happy with the gel.

This week Fräulein has had a mild eye infection. According to the doctor, the infection is most likely viral, so he prescribed some eye-drops for her. If those would not help her in 3-4 days, we should go back for a prescription for antibiotics.

A pair of watery eyes

Herr Welle picked up the eye-drops from the pharmacy. After a closer look of the product data sheet, we noticed that it was actually herbal medicine, made of plant called Euphrasia. There isn't much improvement in Fräulein's eyes yet, but I'll need to wait until tomorrow to say for sure, if these drops have worked or not.

I have previously been quite pro-modern-western-medicine type of person, but especially with Fräulein, I am more than happy to accept any 'gentler' medications, if they actually work. Thus, I don't want to give any label of 'good' or 'bad' for this oddity. However, I do remain quite sceptic about alternative medical systems.

But putting aside my own scepticism, I am amazed that these herbal and homeopathic products are sold side-by-side at the pharmacy and doctors prescribe them equally. Yes, the homeopathic system is originally a German invention, but I would have thought that in this country, the lack of scientific evidence of their real efficacy would be valued more.