CHAPTER III.
SLIGHT HURTS AND AILMENTS.
There are a hundred little accidents liable to occur in a household which a very little surgical skill would suffice to set right.
Besides medicines, there are several handy articles which should be always kept ready in a clean drawer, should an emergency arise that demands their use. Have a little case containing a lancet, scissors, pins, needles and thread; have also one or two bandages, some lint and oiled silk, a bit of lunar caustic (nitrate silver), and some strips of adhesive plaster, a stimulant lotion, an eye lotion, a liniment, and one or two kinds of ointment.
Use the lancet to open small abscesses or gum boils; the pins are handy for fastening bandages, &c., and should be of different sizes; the thread should be strong and white; the needles of fair size, with good large eyes; charpie may take the place of lint; it is made by scraping old linen; it is often useful; for instance, to heal old sores, dip LINT or CHARPIE in clean, cold water, to which a few drops of carbolic acid has been added; then apply it to the sore, which it must more than cover; then apply oiled silk and a retaining bandage. The lint may be used for water dressings to wounds, and these may take the place of poultices in treating swellings which we wish to reduce or soothe.
Keep the best ADHESIVE PLASTER procurable; and it ought to be cut up into different breadths. When it is necessary to use this plaster, see that the wound is perfectly clean, and apply long narrow slips. Warm the plaster by holding it against a can of boiling water for a few seconds, then apply it across the wound. In case of scalp wounds the hair must be cut off before the plaster is applied.
In a case of fractured ribs, strapping should be applied to the injured side.
LUNAR CAUSTIC is used to cauterize dog, or cat, or skunk bites that are supposed to be POISONOUS.
An excellent LOTION for HEADACHE and other pain is made of a quart of water, a teacupful of common salt, one ounce of hartshorn, and a half ounce of spirits of camphor; mix and keep in a bottle tightly corked; saturate a cloth and apply to seat of pain.
That form of conjunctivitis (sore eyes), which occurs in new-born infants, is in the vast majority of cases, easily removed by lukewarm water, or by such simple astringents as alum and borax. (F. 193, 215, may be properly kept in the house for ordinary sore eyes.) Of course severe cases require skilled treatment, but in all ordinary cases careful wiping away of the secretion, the use of the alum solution, and the greasing of the skin to avoid excoriations, are in order. For œdematous inflammation with little purulent or mucous secretion, but with the tissues loaded with serum, a dilute wash of the witch hazel extract acts very beneficially.
The teeth of children when they are pressing on the gums and trying to make their way out, should sometimes be lanced by cutting the gums. Cut down to the new tooth until it is felt under the lancet; for incisors and cuspids a straight line; for molars a cross cut.
The best way to do it is—let the operator and nurse sit opposite each other, close together; the child is laid down face upwards, its head in the operator’s lap, and its feet in the nurse’s lap; the nurse holds the limbs of the child quietly; with his left hand the operator takes the jaw between his fingers, and then slowly and firmly does the cutting. As the child is still, there is no false cut.
SPRAINS caused by a twisting of the ankle cause very much pain, although there is no displacement of bone. When it first occurs, put the foot and ankle in hot water and let it remain for an hour in water as hot as can be borne; then wrap the part in several folds of flannel which have been wrung out of hot water, and cover it with a dry bandage, and let it rest for several days, keeping it elevated as high as may be comfortable. When first used again, support the joint by strapping. Strips of adhesive plaster cut an inch wide, may be applied both above and below the joint. It may be best to renew the straps every day,—the hair should be shaved off before the plaster is applied.
There are many LITTLE AILMENTS that may be cured or relieved by regimen; or by such articles as are in every house.
WATER.
A glass of HOT WATER taken in the morning before breakfast washes off a coating which is sometimes adhering to the lining membrane of the stomach, and affecting the digestion.
HOT WATER after continuous application renders great service to the WEARY EYE and cures the slighter maladies of the eye. If an eye is contused and blackened, foment the parts continually with hot water until the pain ceases, then keep the eye wet with a lotion, or bind on a bit of lean, fresh beef, to remove the dark discolored spot.
The itching of pruritis may be much relieved by the application of a cloth wet in hot water.
The HOT FOOT BATH is especially efficacious for some HEADACHES. If the head is filled with blood and the temples throb, soak the feet in very HOT WATER in which a spoonful of ground mustard or of salt has been stirred. The blood will be drawn from the head and relief obtained.
For those who are troubled with EXCESSIVE SWEATING, tepid sponging of the neck, face, chest and hands with equal parts of vinegar and water at bedtime is useful and agreeable.
CONVULSIONS may frequently be cut short by turning the patient on the left side; but as soon as possible put the feet in a basin of warm water in which is a little mustard, and apply a cloth saturated with cold water to the forehead.
A woman who suffers acute pain in the pelvic region a few days antecedent to the menstrual flux, should take a WARM SITZ BATH of fifteen minutes’ duration before retiring at night.
The ENEMA OF TEPID WATER may be useful in constipation, and in looseness of bowels, in spasmodic colic, and in painful menstruation; also for piles. The temperature of the enema should be agreeable to the patient.
The itching that accompanies many skin diseases is much reduced by a warm bath containing a handful of borax, and a handful of bicarbonate of soda, in about thirty gallons of water.
Those who practice daily bathing, and indulge freely in COLD WATER, are seldom troubled with a cold. Frequent bathing, the head being well dipped, will brace the system and render a person proof against draughts.
There are many obstinate affections of the head that have been known to give way to affusion of COLD WATER upon the part. For inflammation of the brain, headache, earache, drunkenness, delirium tremens, the delirium of fever, epilepsy, rheumatism of the head, diseases of the eye, deafness, loss of smell and taste, and in nose bleed this remedy may be brought to bear. One mode of taking the HEAD BATH is for the patient to lie down, placing the back of his head in a shallow dish filled only an inch or two with water.
The WET GIRDLE is a useful medical appliance to give tone and strength to certain parts. Two and a half or three yards of good toweling with tapes arranged at one end, the corners of which have been turned over so as to form a point, is a good girdle. It should pass about three times around the body; one-half having been wet and put on so as to have two thicknesses of the wet part upon the abdomen and one upon the back. The girdle may be worn every day, but the folded wet sheet is used for a time in febrile diseases, such as inflammation of the lungs, or of the bowels, colic, cholera morbus, &c. Fold a common coarse sheet four double; wet two thicknesses of this in cold water to come next the body; have the patient lie in bed with the four thicknesses around her, using warm bricks, bottles, &c., for the feet.
A table spoonful of CHARCOAL powdered, stirred into a glass of water and drank at once, is excellent in many cases of headache from SOUR STOMACH, FLATULENCE, &c.
Children who complain of choking sensations in the throat (caused by worms), may find relief from swallowing salt and water.
Those who are suffering from DYSENTERY should have a little WHEAT FLOUR stirred into the water that they drink.
TAR WATER.
Every body ought to have TAR WATER in the house. It is made by adding one pint of wood tar to four pints of cold water, mixing thoroughly and shaking frequently during twenty-four hours, and then filtering the water which may be poured from the tar. Given internally it is stimulative in its action, and acts somewhat upon the kidneys; is useful for cough and hoarseness, and for incipient urinary difficulty; locally applied it is slightly astringent, antiseptic and disinfectant; and by destroying the putrefactive germs, it prevents or restrains the process of suppuration. It is especially useful in puerperal septic diseases, as it is antiseptic and disinfectant; the resinous principle which it contains, exerts a healing action upon the genital lesions, and suppuration is prevented. It may be used three times a day as a vaginal wash during the lying-in period, and cloths used to protect the vulva and receive the discharges should be moistened with it. It is a useful local application in the treatment of various diseases of the vulva and vagina, especially for the horrible itching of pruritis. Its use renders innocuous the irritating discharges, and its sedative and alterative action restrains and stops the morbid process. It has a curative value in skin diseases, and in general it may be used in the various cases where carbolic acid is usually prescribed. Other medicine may be dissolved in it.
SALT WATER.
Salt is a promoter of health and longevity, and people generally who like salt, vinegar, &c., should be allowed to gratify their taste. If the blood is too rich, salt may restore it to a normal condition; and may restore to it the needed elements if the blood is impoverished. One of the best remedies for SPITTING OF BLOOD is to drink a little salt water.
For persistent bleeding from the nose, cut a piece of raw fat salt pork, about four inches long, and near half an inch thick and over half an inch wide, wedge shaped at the ends, and force it through the nostril clear back to the pharynx.
A teaspoonful of salt taken just before a fit of the ague may effectually break up an intermittent fever, and prevent a recurrence of the chills.
A spoonful of vinegar with salt in it is an excellent remedy for dysentery.
CARBONATE OF SODA AND WATER.
Probably the anesthetic, antiseptic, and disinfectant property of bicarbonate of soda is due to the ready disengagement of carbonic acid from it. For BURNS AND SCALDS where the skin is not broken, powdered bicarbonate of soda may be strewn over the burned parts. If the burns are deep and attended with much suppuration, linen rags sprinkled with a solution of the soda (1 to 50) should be laid on, and as soon as these rags become dry, they should be replaced by others, or be moistened again in the solution. But for most burns the rags should be kept on constantly, and moistened by pouring the solution over them, as changing the compresses would cause more suppuration and delay the healing process.
If a hand or foot is burned, and soda, &c., is not obtainable, it may be kept immersed for a considerable time in cold water with a salutary effect.
A teaspoonful of baking soda taken each day, dissolved in a pint of water, is a good remedy for habitual constipation.
HONEY AND TAR.
“For the BITES OF REPTILES (rattlesnakes, moccasins, &c.), give the patient about a gill of strained honey every ten or fifteen minutes until vomiting is produced.”
A table spoonful of powdered charcoal mixed with honey, milk, or cold water, and taken every morning will tend to cure any one who is troubled with either constipation or diarrhœa.
OIL.
The application of OIL to the whole surface of the body is a simple method of treatment of such infantile complaints as ATROPHY, BRONCHITIS, CONVULSIONS, DIARRHŒA, and FEBRILE DISTURBANCE generally. Smear SALAD OIL all over, from the crown of the head to the toes, three or four times a day.
For PRURITIS ANI rub on linseed oil freely at bedtime each night.
SPIRITS NITRE.
For RHUS POISONING (poison oak) apply sweet SPIRITS OF NITRE. Where the discharge of urine is attended with heat and pain, pound a handful of melon or pumpkin seed with a lump of white sugar, add a quart of boiling water, then add half an ounce of spirits of nitre and rub them together. A teacupful may be taken every two hours by adults.
OTHER REMEDIES, REGIMEN, &C.
For STRANGURY use bee tea made by pouring a pint of boiling water on fifteen or twenty honey bees.
For ERYSIPELAS apply cranberries locally, either cooked or uncooked. Another good local application for erysipelas is ELDERFLOWER TEA. Linen cloths wet with the cold infusion should be applied, and before they are dry should be wrung out of clean water, then dipped in the infusion and reapplied. The patient should also drink some of the elder flower tea. (F. 177.)
For BEE and WASP STINGS apply the tincture of arnica, or sweet oil.
LEAN FRESH MEAT is the best absorbant substance to apply to relieve the pain of a WASP STING.
“To give relief to a child that has the EARACHE close the mouth and blow into the nose.”
Children suffering from whooping cough should inhale the vapor of turpentine. Place this on plates and allow these to stand in the room.
Where there are suppurative DISCHARGES FROM THE EAR, the dry dressing with ABSORBENT COTTON, after dry cleansing with the same, protects the wound from the air, and attracts the discharge from the middle ear. It is mildly stimulant and conduces to healing.
For SOFT CORNS wear loose shoes, and every morning place a little ABSORBANT COTTON between the toes.
For mosquito bites apply a mixture of carbolic acid and glycerine in the proportion of one of the former to twenty of the latter.
For the vomiting which often complicates cases of CONSUMPTION and chronic BRONCHITIS, give three or four grains of alum in a little ginger tea every three or four hours.
INHALATIONS OF STEAM are useful in quinsy; and all affections of the throat that are painful, are much relieved by inhaling steam impregnated with the oil of peppermint.
TEA AND COFFEE are of some value in nervous headaches produced by cerebral congestion, and are indicated when the face is flushed.
A weak solution of COMMON SALT snuffed up into the nose daily, is a remedy for CHRONIC CATARRH; if a decoction of GREEN TEA is snuffed up immediately afterward the remedy is more effectual.
Cold tea is a good mild astringent application to sore eyes.
Patients who suffer at night from cramps may find relief by having the head of the bed raised. Cause the head of the bed to be raised the thickness of two bricks.
Those persons who are troubled with dizziness after smoking early in the morning, may avoid it generally by not smoking until after eating.
To remove needles, nails, &c., from the extremities, make a small incision at the place of entrance through the skin, and with an obtuse pointed stick, and the stronger solution of carbolic acid on the end of it, by a boring action penetrate to the necessary depth, occasionally making search with a metalic probe to learn of its whereabouts. When reached remove with small forceps.
For PRURITIS PUDENDI, NEURALGIA, TOOTHACHE, SICKNESS and vomiting, when these are due to the pregnant state, apply a blister to the back, over the fourth and fifth dorsal vertebra.
Children who are exceedingly SHORT SIGHTED, may by WEARING GLASSES be benefitted, not only physically but mentally; becoming more active and lively and less reserved and taciturn. A child may be thought a dullard, and to have no aptitude for observation or learning, because his misfortune is to have bad sight; and such a character may be fastened upon him for life, because in his young days he was cut off from the enjoyment of the visible world which his fellows were favored with.
Oculists say that when with the arrival of middle life the focusing power of the eye declines so far that at the usual distance for reading, a sufficient adjusting force no longer exists, it is the preferable thing to put on WEAK MAGNIFYING GLASSES, to take off strain, rather than to postpone their use as long as possible. My own opinion is that when a man can, by sitting with his back to the window and holding a book in the light, at the usual distance from the eye, read the fine print of the newspapers, it is better to avoid wearing magnifying glasses. But we should always be careful to have the light shine on the paper, and not on our eyes when we are reading.
Many invalids, especially those who suffer from uterine disease, are distressed to find that they begin to fail to command the services of their eyes. When persons are recovering from any severe illness such as fever, or from protracted exhaustion, or after prolonged lactation, or watching with invalids, or great loss of sleep; where there has been much grief and weeping, or a severe mental strain, or loss of blood, or in severe or chronic dyspepsia, impaired eye power is pretty sure to appear. The essential condition to recovery lies in restoration to vigor, and sound health, and habits.
They can probably develop and recover their ocular energy by the graduated use of their eyes, beginning with short periods and advancing by small additions.
Ladies that suffer from painful menstruation should not read in bed at the time of the menstrual flow. Weakly persons should not read while lying down; and to them umbrellas, and parasols, and colored glasses become needful as protection from the sun and wind. For such it is hurtful to read in railway cars or in carriages; and to them an atmosphere of smoke, or the air of an ill ventilated, crowded, or brightly lighted room is injurious.
For SLEEPLESSNESS the best remedy is to so REGULATE THE BREATHING that it shall induce the right circulation in the brain, and the repose of the faculties. In breathing have the inspirations and expirations of equal length, and it will at least conduce to the repose of the brain.
For a SLIGHT ILLNESS all that you need to do very often is to breathe full, so as to make deep inspirations for half an hour; and you can rear healthy children if you can secure to them good round chests. To do this, first measure each of them with a tape; then teach them to practice forced inspiration through the nostrils several times a day; offer a prize for the first inch gained in circumference. Flat chested children will soon grow round and full, and the breathing space large. The result will be good health of the children.
A child not more than four years old is sometimes afflicted with DIABETIS; this is usually due to farinaceous food, and the child should be debarred from starchy food and sugar.
One important means to arrest BLEEDING FROM THE NOSE is to put a tight ligature on a finger or on a larger limb. An attempt may also be made to check the hemorrhage by firmly grasping the nose with the finger and thumb, so as to prevent any air from passing through the cavity.
A GARGLE of strong BLACK PEPPER TEA used freely will sometimes be an effectual remedy for APHONIA, when the patient is not able to speak louder than a whisper.