|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Claim: A Facebook user claimed in a video that bathing with water from dried coconut and plantain fronds relieves headaches and body pains.
Verdict: There is insufficient evidence to support the claim. Health experts have also cautioned users against relying on this bathing therapy as headaches and body pains may be signs of other underlying health problems.
Full Text
Coconut has been frequently mentioned as having an impact on various health conditions. These include diabetes, skin irritation, boosting immunity, lowering blood pressure levels, arthritis, pain, and fighting cancers.
A Facebook user, Everyday-with-Irene, recently shared a video claiming that bathing with dried coconut and plantain fronds relieves headaches and body pain. Ms Irene called it a medicinal bath that also prevents malaria and arthritis. She asked the users to get dried leaves of either plantain or coconut.
She asked them to “wash these leaves carefully before soaking in water for 24 hours. Warm the water and bathe with the concoction. You will sleep like a baby and realise all the pain will disappear.”
The claim resonated with many, and other users thanked the claimant. A follower and top fan, Chinyere Ubah, wrote, “Thank you for all the healthy tips, you’re a blessing.”
Uka Amaka, another user, claimed that this medicinal bath has been helping her sleep well. “Anytime I bathe with this medicine, I always sleep well. I love this medicine like a kilo,” she said.
Like others, Adaobi Okafor appreciated the claimant and promised to replicate the same method for her mother.
“Thank you so much for sharing these tips. I will do this for my mum.”
Since posted on June 22, 2024, this video has received 32,000 plays and 83 comments. Considering its virality and implications for public health, DUBAWA sought to fact-check it.
Verification
Research carried out by Edirimuni Ediriweera, a professor at the Institute of Indigenous Medicine, University of Colombo, lists several uses of coconut leaves as a remedy for allergy, sty, burns, fever, gastritis, burning sensation in urination, purgatives, expelling dead foetus, and treating abdominal colic and cobra poisoning. The data gathered during the study concluded that various parts of the coconut plant have medicinal value. Coconut also seems to have a countering solid effect on poisons and allergies.
An article also examined traditional uses of plantain by herbalists as a remedy for cough, sores, and insect bites. It said crushed plantain leaves can be applied topically to treat insect bites and eczema, but these claims are not supported scientifically.
Experts’ opinion
A medical practitioner, Kingsley Azugo, a senior doctor at Maitama Hospital Abuja, explained that stress could cause aches and pains. He also said that taking a warm bath is always a good option, but bathing with coconut fronds might just be for psychological reasons.
“After a day of hard work and stress that might leave a person tense and aching, taking a warm bath is always helpful in making one feel fresh and relaxed. However, soaking coconut and banana leaves in water and bathing with them will probably fetch you nothing more than a placebo effect. The need to regularly get a routine medical check and see a doctor when you have a health problem can not be overemphasised.”
When interviewed, another medical practitioner, Dr Johnson Udodi, at the National Hospital in Abuja, corroborated Doctor Azugo’s response. He said bathing with water from coconut and plantain leaves has no effect on malaria, body pains, or headaches, as these might be symptoms of underlying problems.
“It is important to know that headaches are usually symptoms of other underlying problems. These problems may range from simple issues like fatigue to more dangerous problems like excessively high blood pressure or even brain tumours. If a headache is not responding to simple remedies like paracetamol, it is wise to seek medical assessment.
“While bathing with water extracted from coconut and banana leaves may not cause any harm to a person with otherwise intact healthy skin, there is no evidence to suggest that it can cure headaches, body pains or arthritis. Such a practice definitely has no effect on malaria prevention. There is not enough evidence to back up this claim.”
Conclusion
There is insufficient research to support the claim that bathing with coconut and plantain fronds, either dry or fresh, relieves headaches and body pain. Experts have, however, warned that headaches and body pain can be early symptoms of other underlying health problems which bathing therapy may not solve.
The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame Karikari Fellowship, in partnership with Premium Times / UNILAG, to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
