Tag Archives: folk medicine

kneecap

“Me duele la tapita,” your patient says, gingerly touching her knee, to the interpreter next to you.

“Her kneecap hurts,” the interpreter informs you.

You proceed with the office visit, but your brain is wondering, Didn’t I just learn that ‘tapita’ means bottle cap? (You’ve been trying to learn a little Spanish yourself.)

Before the interpreter leaves, you get to ask her.

“Yes, according to your regular Spanish-English medical dictionary rótula is actually the word for kneecap, but I have this.” She pulls a blue, pocket-sized book from her purse.

You look at the title. ‘Understanding the Guatemalan Patient: A Glossary of Spanish Medical Terms and Folk Medicine. Pretty long name for such a small book.”

She laughs. “I know, right? Well, there are more than 600 terms just in the Spanish-English section, a lot of them slang. Since many of the people we serve here are Guatemalans who don’t speak real dictionary Spanish. It’s helped me out more than once. See? Right here in the English-Spanish section.”

“Kneecap – tapita.”

“That’s right. I love it when I know just the right word to make our patients feel understood.”

folk illnesses

Have you heard of these Guatemalan folk illnesses? Search our “Word(s) of the Week” archives to see some of the definitions or have them all at your fingertips after you pick up your own copy of Understanding the Guatemalan Patient on Amazon.

folk illnesses (n.)

aire, cir, ciro, empacho, mal hecho, mal ojo, pérdida del alma, pujo, susto

ventosa

f. a folk treatment with a candle and a glass which creates suction on the skin; often leaves a circular bruise; can be used to remove “aire”; also means flatus

varillas

f. fontanelle; “Se le cayó las varillas” is an expression meaning a child’s fontanelle is sunken. In folk medicine, this situation can be caused by sitting a baby up when he is too young and is treated by holding him upside down and patting the soles of his feet or by pressing on his palate. Also treated by “palaguear” with “Miel de Chicoria” (Chicorium intybus) on the gauze.

susto

m. a fright; as a folk illness it is sometimes treated with a ritual (see ensalmar) or salty water; thought to cause diabetes

sajumar/sahumar

v. ritual treatment of passing children through smoke by a curandero; see desahumar

luna

f. moon; thought to affect the activity of parasites and position of babies before birth

inconoso

adj. refers to certain foods which are thought to cause wound infections, such as eggs, fish, avocados and beans. Patients need to be taught about diet to avoid malnutrition and poor wound healing.

frio -a

m., adj. cold; also used to describe medicines and other physical agents capable of causing/curing disease as well as the diseases themselves. In some areas, pills may be rejected on the basis that they are the incorrect color for the disease (red is hot; green is cold).

desipela

f. cellulitis, esp. of the leg which is treated by rubbing with a frog or tortilla dough with achote; possibly derived from “erisipela” (erysipelas).