Traditional practices in the treatment of infantile colic

Objective: This paper aims to determine the types of traditional method applications used for treatment and the benefits of these methods in infants diagnosed with infantile colic in infants aged 0-6 months. Method: Infants aged 0-6 months who applied to the outpatient clinics and emergency services of Adıyaman University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics with complaints of crying, restlessness, and bloating in the abdomen were evaluated. Patients diagnosed with infantile colic according to Wessel criteria were included in the study. In the study, a face-to-face questionnaire was applied to the parents of the patients. There were 63 questions in total in this survey. The first part consisted of questions about the demographic information of the baby and the family. In the second part, the traditional methods applied in the infantile colic treatment and the duration of application of these methods, and the benefit asked by grading. Data were analyzed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) 22.0 program (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, United States). In the evaluation of the data; Chi-square, Student T, Pearson, and Spearman tests were used. Significance was based on p<0.05. Results: Of the 233 infants included in the study, 140 (60.1%) were boys and 93 (39.9%) were girls. The mean age of the babies was 3.05 ± 1.5 months. Siblings of 72 (45.2%) of 159 patients with a sibling history also had a history of infantile colic. It was determined that 118 (50.6%) of our patients used gas drops only, while 115 (49.4%) did not use gas drops but tried to treat infantile colic with traditional methods. The demographic information of those who use gas drops and those who do not use traditional methods were compared and it was found that traditional methods were applied more to those who had a sibling with a history of infantile colic. There was no significant relationship between other demographic information and the use of gas drops. It was determined that among the traditional methods, massage, changing position, pulling the legs to the stomach, avoiding gas-producing foods, giving olive oil, and giving a pacifier were the most used methods. It was stated by the families that infantile colic symptoms were relieved by massaging, giving anise, and driving around. Conclusion: In the treatment of infantile colic, the family should first be informed that this is a temporary and benign condition and that this condition is not caused by any disease. Family concerns should be addressed. It should be said that the use of traditional methods without the advice of a physician may be harmful to the baby. There is a need for larger studies investigating the effects of traditional methods used.