María Esther Humala’s case study
The use of urine as a medicine is lost in the mists of time. There are written records of its use in practically all the treatises of antiquity. In fact, the first written records of its use is in the Books of the Vedas of the Ancient Indian culture, dating back more than 5000 years.
Right up to the beginning of the last century, urine has not only been used as a medicine, but also as the preferred diagnostic tool of ancient physicians.
Ancient physicians were able to accurately diagnose all sorts of diseases simply by examining the color, odor, and taste of urine. So, for example, when urine tasted sweet, diabetes was diagnosed.
Not to mention the multiple industrial uses of urine and substances derived from it. Suffice it to mention that urea, one of the main components of urine is widely used in cosmetic products.
Going back to the medicinal use of urine, we have been fortunate enough to have met someone who continues to use urine strictly according to traditional uses of the Inca culture. Traditional uses transmitted from generation to generation. Such is the case which follows.
MARÍA ESTHER HUMALA’S CASE STUDY. María Esther Humala is a native of Ayacucho, Peru. Since Humala arrived in Spain in 1990, she has not stopped working and living together with our family for more than 30 years, becoming another family member.
When María Esther learned that we were using a urine-based therapy, she confessed to us, very timidly at first, that everyone in Ayacucho used urine for all types of illnesses, on men and animals. María Esther had never dared to comment on the subject to anyone, which is easily understood.
URINE STORAGE. María Esther explained to us that in Ayacucho, her home town located up in the Sierra, they kept urine in large clay jugs which then fermented and turned into “old urine”.
In the face of any discomfort, such as colds, headaches, injuries or even major illnesses, they used urine by ingesting it, rubbing it on the skin or applying urine compresses on sores, tumors or any sick or painful part of the body.
URINE TREATMENT OF HIS FATHER. María Esther especially remembers how her mother lovingly “bathed” in urine, mixed with “molle”, her father, seriously ill with rheumatism that affected the bones. In this way, it was possible to reduce inflammation and alleviate the intense pain caused by rheumatism.
“THE TREE OF LIFE: MOLLE”. As for the molle, prior to applying the urine, a medicinal plant native to Peru had been macerated in it: the molle. In ancient Peru, the molle was known as the “Tree of Life” for its many virtues.
“URINE BATHING”. “Bathing” someone in urine consisted in applying the sick person, seated on a stool, urine rubbings all over the body, from head to toe. Such a procedure was carried out in a surprisingly similar way to that advocated by the founder and revitalizer of Urine Therapy, John W. Armstrong (1944).
PRACTICES ROOTED IN POPULAR KNOWLEDGE . The use in Peru of urine and other substances such as medicinal plants is as old as the Andean cultures. Most of the traditional practices are rooted in the popular knowledge of the people of “the sierra”, however, the “modernization” of medicine and industrial food has meant that many of this knowledge have been largely forgotten, little valued or lost.
“EVERYONE IN AYACUCHO DID THE SAME“. Everyone in the town –explains María Esther- used urine and other substances, such as medicinal plants, in the same way. It is a tradition that comes directly from our ancestors, the Incas. Sure, in the town we would have loved to have modern medicines (conventional medicine), but they were only available in the capital. The problem was that in addition to the fact that we were poor and had no money, the capital, Lima, was very far away, more than 15 days away from Ayacucho, on foot or in carts”.
Even today, communication with Ayacucho is not easy, since it is located at a distance of 564 kilometers from Lima, a distance that takes more than 9 hours to travel by car.
THE DISCREET PRACTICE OF TRADITIONAL THERAPIES IN THE BIG CITY. María Esther confided to us that both she and her relatives and most of her Peruvian friends had never stopped using urine even in “civilized” Spain. Yes, even today, they use urine to treat a variety of ailments, from colds, headaches to allergy problems.
A continuación se muestran algunas prácticas actuales de los peruanos, familiares y amigos de María Esther, que viven en Madrid.
RASHES. Allergic skin rashes on the face are treated by washing the face with urine. Once the face is dry, egg white is applied on it.
TOOTHACHES. For toothaches, urine with salt is swallowed and kept in the mouth for as long as necessary until the pain stops.
WOUNDS. The application of urine with salt on the wounds stops the bleeding almost immediately while making the wounds heal perfectly and quickly.
BLOWS, SWELLINGS AND BROKEN BONES. Cloths soaked in urine with salt are applied to the affected part. Urine cloths or packs make swellings subside and help bone healing.
STOMACH ACHE. Fresh urine is drunk directly for pain relief and to settle the stomach.
DRINKING CHILDREN’S URINE. The above generally involves the use of one’s own urine, but there is no objection to using other people’s urine. As for the urine of young children, that of your own child, it is considered especially effective for improving and maintaining health.
FAMILY THERAPY. María Esther also told us that she applied urine therapy to her own son when he was very young, but once he grew older, the boy no longer wanted to be treated with urine.
CONCERNING SERIOUS DISEASES. Regarding the treatment of diseases classified as serious by official medicine, María Esther until very recently did not dare to use urine for such diseases and went to the doctor for “pills”, as most of the people who do not know other alternatives or medicines do. But it seems that in this, as is happening to many of us, María Esther is beginning to change and appreciate more, as they deserve, each and every one of “grandmother’s remedies” almost lost or forgotten.
Modern conventional medicine often only treats the symptoms, not the disease itself. Thus, in the face of pain, what we want is for it to be taken away, without worrying about what their cause may be. In this way, what often are nothing but minor ailments, by not treating them in a simple and natural way, the only thing that we achieve is that they worsen and become chronic.
APPRECIATION OF TRADITIONS. Sometimes we don’t know how to appreciate the things we have until we lose them. We fail to appreciate traditional therapies because we think of them as retrograde, “poor man’s therapies.” We prefer to undergo all kinds of treatments, obediently taking any type of pill that is prescribed, with the frequent result that, far from getting better, we get worse.
But even when this happens, we might still take a lot of time to realize that with the “retrograde” treatments of our home town, we were healed, while with the very advanced ones of the city we were not.
HOW I SAVED MY DOG’S LIFE! Finally, María Esther left us amazed when she related the story of how she saved her dog’s life with urine, with her own urine.
Starchy, his 11-year-old dog, who is still alive today, fell ill in 2018, a large sore forming on his side. After the corresponding veterinary treatment, to which he did not respond, the veterinarian said that the dog had no cure and so it should be put to sleep.
Without saying anything to anyone, María Esther, remembering what her mother had lovingly done to her father, and wishing to save her apparently hopeless dog at all costs, applied urine compresses to Starchy on its sore, with the result that in a very short time the dog was completely healed to the astonishment of everyone, and particularly, of the vet.
A FEELING OF GREAT EXCITEMENT. Let me finish this section by saying that meeting someone like María Esther arouses strong emotions, because it makes us feel connected and in communication with a past and remote wisdom from which we have much to learn.
