NASAL ACTION

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1938, Page 6

NASAL ACTION

"Doctor's Orders"

S'OME people tHink that noses ' were made to be punched; others that they were made to smell with; but the realise of the nose is to breathe through. Curious that few folk know how to breathe.

Sinking masters will tell you that their first task is to teach their pupils how to breathe deep and full. This comes a« such a shock to the pupils that they turn giddy and feel faint. But soon they acquire the habit of Ailing the lungs in quite the profesaional manner; they can sustain a note for twice the time, and not Oiily their voices but their general health ia improved. Children will not breathe through their mouths if they are taught. The passage of nir through the mouth dries tlA> mouth and makes the gums and tcclli unhealthy. Bad breath owes it* unpleasant odour to the habit of mouth breathing. Handkerchief Drill for Children Oiildren have to be taught handkerchief drill; they do not know how to blow their none* and keep the air-way clcitr. it in a disgrace to parents that hainlkeri-bipf drill ha# to be conducted in schools; it i« hard, up hill work to per«""de mothers to provide their offspring With handkerchiefs. The mothers will earn in time, of course; we must not be impatient. Let the love of children, the sweetest note In Christian harmonv, be advocated for a few more centuries, and then we may hope that preventable disease* will be prevented. I always wax indignant over the question of noses. It IS indeed tragic when an adolescent girl with ft narrow cheat ami a chronic cou«h says to her mother: "I « m old enough now to understand that you neglected my health when T was a child." A mother 1« not supposed to be a phvsirian. learned in anatomy and physiologv, but I do complain that I see daily in the schools little children snoring and coughing because their nneea are stuffed up with dried muens. which couM he removed with the help of a handkerchief.

The nose i* a filter; it oaWics flying duat and dangerous germs which, if taken down to the lung*, will set lip inflammation. If after walking in a fnjr for an hour von iwe your handkerchief, roil will *e how many blacks have been caught in the no#e. The faeea of little children are nearer the ground and get more dust, and the Alter action

By A Family Doctor

of the nose become* more imperative. The nose warms the air. The tliront and lungs are not built to stand cold air. The blood circulating through the lining of the nose acts like water in the pipes of a hot-house; bv the time the air reaches the throat it w warmed to exact body temperature if it flrat passes through the nose. The back of the nose, the throat, and the ear/* are all connected by open passages, and inflammation travels freely along. Hence, an unhealthy nose leads to deafness. Many mouth-breathers are deaf.

A otooplng of the shoulders i« often seen In children who breathe through their mouthe. If this stoop i* acquired when the bones of the »pin<» are young and soft a permanent curvature of the spine results. There is hardly any limit

r to thp o\ i 1 k that follow in tlie train <«f incorrect breatliinir. Must of u* have p\ | periencpd the fpciintf of muddlc-headcd-noss wlipti we liavo a cold. 'Die iniml *eenis to be in a foj:; mental calcula--1 tions are impossible or are done incorI rectly. It i« an undoubted faet that stuffy nosps impair niPntnl activity. The ] child at the bottom of the class is not to be blamed if his nose i« blocked up; lie would brighten up after lie had lippii tnupht to breathe properly. A doctor would know in a minute if an olwtruption was present that could be removed by a small operation. Parents cannot be told too often what, an important fluty it is to ensure healthy conditions in the Tinges of their children.

A simple catarrh tliat blocks up flip nose may Ik l treated by simple remedies. Hut n iilorkinjr of the no<>e by some irregularity in the bone* or by a tumour must, be remedied by an operation. Tlie covering of the bones on the inside of the nose is called the nincou* membrane. Sometimes, when cohl has followed cold every winter for years, thi* membrane may be so swollen a* to cause a form of jiolypus. No lotions and 110 vijforoiw u«e of the handkerchief will remove such a condition; the superabundant, tissues imiftt be taken iiwny by operation.

An ordinary na»al polypus i« aenerallv more or leaa pear-shaped; it has

a narrow Ma]k. and it can bo removed l'\ cutting Ihroiiuh tlio pit h 1 k l>v means of h loop of wire passed over the polypus nii,l drawn tipht. It is a {Treat reliel to have a l>ulsring polypus renun ed. Polypi sometimes prow again, and for that reason a periodica! t ion ni iln> nose i- necessary. Another fonn of ol>~t rlift ion is the result of injury. Mo-t men liave had a puneh on 1 lie no«e at some time or otlu-r. It niav have been on sonic forgotten oee isiofl in hoy hood's happy days. The pa"tv-wall between I lie two sides of the iiwc should hp straight: a punch on the nose buckles it : it bulges towards one side and may completely block if. r l his condition, api in, can be remedied In only one war. The Seat of Catarrh The naso pharynx is the name jriven to the part situated at the junction of the none and throat. Tt is just behind the little soft curtain that hangs down at the back of the throat. Jt is alh important part of Ihc body, because it is so often the seat of catarrh. This catarrh cannot be treated by tnontlt washes or gargles. as they do not reach the nasopharynx: it is trio far hack. JTence it is that the catarrh goes on for months and nioifihs, and nothing seems to cure it because it is so difficult to get at. The only way the trouble can he reached is through the nose; if a probe were to he passed through the nostril and pushed in for about three inches its point would then be the nrfso-pharvnx. The real, importance of treating the nasopharynx is sometimes overlooked, for instance, tin* unhealthy mucus from tin- back of the nose may fall down into the throat and Voice-box. giving rise to hoarseness, and then (he proper way to treat the hoarseness i* jo Apply remedies to the back of the nose, and not to the throat, because if you pat} c*tfr# <he nose you eure the lionr«t>re*9.