Jinger Duggar got candid about her feelings toward modern medicine after her daughter Felicity, 7, was taken to the emergency room.
“OK, so yes, I’m growing more and more crunchy,” Jinger, 31, admitted during the Wednesday, October 29, episode of the “Jinger and Jeremy Podcast,” after Jeremy Vuolo described his wife as “a little crunchy” when it comes to health.
“But I don’t think I’m imbalanced in it,” she continued. “Maybe I should go a little more crunchy than I am right now. … I’m more aware of what’s in our house.”
Jinger and Jeremy, 38, went on to use Felicity’s health scare as an example of how “crunchy” she can really be. The couple explained that they recently “hosted a wedding” at their house, and at one point, Felicity was “in excruciating pain” from an ear infection.
“I was like, ‘OK, this is time for pain meds,’” Jinger recalled. “So I had a bottle of kids chewable ibuprofen [and] I gave her two tablets, which is her dose. And she took that and I wanted.”
Jeremy remarked that offering the ibuprofen was “a lot” for Jinger, who said, “I don’t like doing medicine. I’m anti-medicine.”
Felicity was apparently “in so much pain” that she asked her mom for “the whole bottle” of ibuprofen. Jinger asked if any of the wedding guests happened to be a doctor, to no avail.
“All the people at the wedding told me, ‘I think you should take her to the ER,’ because her eardrum may have burst or something,” Jinger continued. “I looked up the symptoms she was having on ChatGPT and it said to take her to the ER right away. And the symptoms, like, even after being on meds, the pain did not go away for an hour.”
Jeremy ultimately took Felicity to the ER, clarifying that Jinger isn’t “so crunchy” that she’s “against modern medicine” entirely. However, the incident sparked a discussion because the ER doctors wanted to give Felicity an antibiotic.
“They wanted to give it to her right away,” Jinger said. “And then I was thinking about it and I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t want her to have an antibiotic because those can really just mess up your gut.’ … Especially before flu season, all of that, where you’re gonna be encountering more sicknesses, you do not want your good bacteria getting cleared out too.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, children’s ear infections can clear up without the help of antibiotics, and “watchful waiting” can be done before seeking other treatment options. If recommended by a healthcare professional, however, “it’s important to take the antibiotic as directed even after symptoms improve. Not taking all the medicine can cause the infection to return.”
After a few days, Felicity wasn’t complaining about any pain, so Jinger asked her “very crunchy” friend Audrey Roloff for advice. Audrey, 34, recommended ear drops that have “worked like a charm” for her and husband Jeremy Roloff‘s kids. According to Jinger, the drops already seemed to be helping Felicity.
Jeremy pointed out that Jinger’s family had “a different approach to medicine” than he did growing up.
“We weren’t by any means ‘crunchy,’ but my mom wasn’t just throwing Tylenol on all of us,” Jeremy said. “But you have, like, an aversion to it.”
Jinger explained that her parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, weren’t totally against medicine despite their other strict religious beliefs. (The Duggar family followed the teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, with conservative guidelines about modest dressing, birth control and more lifestyle choices.)
“I remember Tylenol and ibuprofen were common for us to use,” Jinger said. “But beyond that, we would not do a ton of medicine. … No one was on medications for anything. And I think, you know, we were fairly healthy, [but] we didn’t eat super healthy foods.”
Along with her opinions on antibiotics, Jinger shared on the podcast that she tries to use “healthier” cleaning products around the house and prefers mineral sunscreen (when she uses it).
“I don’t put on sunscreen all the time,” Jinger confessed, “which is probably why I have more wrinkles. … I definitely try not to use the normal sunscreens because they’re so toxic when you do the sprays and stuff. I like the mineral-based sunscreens that you can apply.”
When evaluating her “crunchy” habits, Jinger explained that she doesn’t have time to study “everything,” but she’s more conscientious about “reading labels” and monitoring ingredients, like seed oils.
“Yes, we love a McDonald’s ice cream cone,” Jinger said. “So we’re going to go get a McDonald’s ice cream cone and enjoy it. And at the same time, we can’t do that every day. So we’re making little decisions that will benefit our family.”
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