“Desperate times call for desperate measures”
Hannah Setzer had already tried everything conventional. Three rounds of antibiotics and her conjunctivitis was still there, with no improvement.
Then she recorded the moment Brandon, her husband, held Tessa, a goat, while directing a stream of raw milk straight into her eye. “When three rounds of antibiotics haven’t cured your conjunctivitis, you become rebellious”, Hannah wrote when sharing the video, which went viral because of how unusual the scene was. She says the remedy helped her tremendously, although she clarified that everyone should decide for themselves.
Hannah isn’t a stranger improvising remedies: she was born with a lymphatic malformation affecting her head and neck, has undergone more than 60 surgeries, and now lives as an adaptive athlete and activist.
But her personal history doesn’t make raw milk safe for the eyes. Doctors warn that it may contain bacteria capable of causing infections more serious than the original conjunctivitis, and that feeling better afterward doesn’t prove the milk was the cause.