Thanks to our neighbor ate Arlene for giving us betel leaf to relief the stomach pain of my daughter. Betel leaf is also known as samat leaf here in the Philippines, according to lola Maring, it is a herbal medicine which treats constipation, sore throat, headache, wounds, inflammation, stomach disorder, cold and congestion. Betel leaf is a climbing plan or a kind of creeper. It is a slender, heart shaped leaf. It has medicinal properties and ayurvedic treatment. I apply castor oil on the betel leaf and warms it lightly and put on the stomach to treat my daughter’s stomachache.

Betel leaf is applied to relief headache because it has cooling and analgesic properties. It also treats nervous pains, nervous exhaustion and debility by drinking the juice of few betel leaf with a teaspoon of honey because it is consider as a good tonic. Teaspoon can be taken twice a day. In addition, it is consider diuretic which help to ease urination. The extracted juice of betel leaf can be applied on the wound and it should be wrapped over and bandaged. During lactation, you can apply leaves smeared with oil on the breast to help secretion of milk. It also treats sore throat and use to relief of ear aches.

It was last year when my daughter has a lot of stomach pain after the treatment of her urinary tract infection (UTI). Stomach pain is more frequent upon waking up and before going to bed. But after massaging her stomach with aciete manzanilla, the pain was then subside so I though it is due to excessive gas in her stomach. I don’t want to take her to the doctor because it is mean more antibiotic to take and examination.

When we transferred to our new home, she suffered amoebiasis and after treatment of amoebiasis, stomach pain is still present so I decided to have another stool examination. It found out that there are a lot of bacteria in her stool so the doctor gave her another antibiotic for her stomach. The doctor thought that bacteria can be the cause of her stomach pain but after taking of 7 days antibiotic, the stomach pain is still there.

After one week, she suffered severe cough and develop a fever with stomach pain at night so once again I take her to the doctor and gave her cemaflor for upper and lower infection and salbutamol for her cough. After taking these medicine, the fever is on and off with stomach pain so we take her to the hospital and do urinalysis and hematology. According to the result of her urinalysis, there is urinary tract infection but thanks to God that her blood is negative to any illnesses. She didn’t admit to the hospital instead gave another antibiotic such as clariget and relestal for her stomach pain. The doctor advised also to take Kremil S for two weeks because her stomach pain can be a sign of gastritis. Relestal can’t improve her stomach pain so I decided to take advised from the elders here in my neighborhood, lola Maring advised to use betel leaf (samat leaf). I apply castor oil and warm the leaf lightly and then keep it in her stomach for three nights. I believe that traditional medicines are still effective. Her stomach pain is now instantly healed. There is no more complaint for stomach pain. Betel leaf is believe to be effective in digestive and stomach disorder. I also give her pandan lalaki for her urinary tract infection. I boil fresh pandan lalaki with a cup of water and drink it as water.