It's the Internet. There are lots and lots of physicians and medical students and RNs and so forth who give practical advice now. It's not specific advice to cure a specific individual case, but rational parenting advice because children cannot be expected to know not to swallow their phlegm.
Think about it. If your car battery goes dead, if you're poor or ignorant, you get an expensive tow truck to come out, jump it, and then replaced, and this is expensive. There might be simply a wiring issue or corrosion, but it might be the alternator.
Any guy or gal worth their salt can do ALL of that and cheaply and avoid the labor costs. But if they do preventative maintence and look under the hood, be more in tuned with how the battery is reacting while driving, and have a basic understanding of how it works, then they can teach themselves. A tool to remove the leads on a battery is no different than buying a tool like a neti pot to irrigate the nose.
This is not rocket science but common sense. Why would medicine be any different? It's rather annoying that people complain about doctors when they can't make some doofus stop swallowing their own phlegm.
Let's say some teenager comes in with acne. It might be a pregnant woman also because of hormonal changes. It might be stress induced in anyone. Well, if they used a little organic vinegar (pat on the skin) with active bacterial culture (so cheap to use) on a daily basis with a little clean water, then their skin would glow, cut down on skin bacteria, and improve their self-image.
Or they can visit a dermatologist, buy expensive creams of dubious value, take oral antibiotics, and still have acne.
