The Study of Thai Folk Healer’s Wisdom in Luead and Lom Disease Treatment: A Case Study of Mor Lin Sitthipol in Thai Mueang District, Phang-nga Province
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Abstract
Folk healers are the successors of the treatment and health-care process associated with local residents’ lifestyle, beliefs, traditions and culture. The purpose of this qualitative research was to study the wisdom of Luead and Lom disease treatment of Mor Lin Sitthipol, a folk healer in Thai Mueang district, Phang-nga province. Background data and wisdom inheritance, treatment process and herbal medicines in the treatment of Luead and Lom diseases were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire for in-depth interview. The results showed that Mor Lin Sitthipol inherited the wisdom from his ancestors. According to the disease occurrence concept, Luead and Lom diseases are caused by an imbalance of the four major body elements (thart, tard or dhatu in Thai). The healing process starts with interviewing health history, observing overall appearance and assessing fever by the coldness of fingertips. Then, the individual decoction drug is dispensed together with reciting the spell “Symptom 32”. A total of 19 medicinal formulas were found in the treatment of 16 symptoms of Luead and Lom diseases (e.g., menstrual disorders, anemia, fever during period, postpartum fever, menopausal, menopause with fever, leucorrhea, follicular pharyngitis, jaundice, constipation, flatulence, rash, erysipelas, bruises, asthma and fatigue). This study demonstrates the knowledge of folk healers that has been accumulated and inherited through the process of trial and error; it has become a therapeutic wisdom that is worth preserving for future generations
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