TALKS ON HEALTH

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 September 1934, Page 4

TALKS ON HEALTH

RHEUMATISM OR OLD AGE (By a Family Doctor.) The changes which naturally occur in the joints as age advances are frequently misnamed rheumatism. Old age is not a disease. That is what you must remember. There is no cure for old age except putting the clock back. You waste good money in seeking the cure of some defect which is not the' result of disease, but merely of old age. If you asked the shopman for a bottle of medicine for old age, he would not sell you one. But you call it rheumatism, hand over your hard-earned money, and down goes the bottle of medicine into your long-suffering stomach. Muscular pains in the arm and shoulder of an old man are probably due to muscular weakness. It might be removed by rubbing, by doing a few exercises that work the muscles in the affected region, and by the sufferer making up his mind that the pain will go. If the pain is watched for and expected it will never go. A LESSON LN ANATOMY Here is a little anatomy that 1 am going to teach you. A muscle is fastened tight on to a bone as a piece of seaweed is stuck on to a rock. The main portion of the muscle is made of flesh. The ordinary joints of the dinner-table are all muscle. At (he lower end of the fleshy' part is a strong, fibrous tendon; it is very strong, much thinner than the muscle proper, and it ends by being attached to another bone. These tendons or leaders can best be seen on the back of the hand, but they exist all over the body. These long, thin tendons work up and down in the various movements of the limbs, and in order to make their working smooth they are covered by sheaths that are well oiled on the inside. If the muscle is used'too much the tendon-sheath may be inflamed, and then it becomes red and swollen, and every movement is painful. This not infrequently occurs around the wrist. A creaking can be felt where all should be smoothness. The treatment is to give the tendon a chance to recover by resting the part affected. It may take a few days, perhaps a whole week, but rest is the one great thing to insist on.

THE SORE FINGER Suppuration or gathering under the nail should be met first of all by soaking the finger in hot water, by applying poultices of boracic lint, and by carefully washing the whole hand with soap and water and cleaning the nails to pievent dirt getting into the infected nail. If matter continues to form and the pain and swelling to increase, it is better to adopt the bold course of having the nail removed. This must be done under gas. When the nail is off the matter finds free exit and comes out on to the dressing instead of striking down to the bone of tho finger-point. You must all have seen festered fingers that prevent the unfortunate owner from working for many weeks. It is always the same story; the gathering began as a small spot and gradually got worse, and they did not go to the doctor because Aunt Martha was putting on lovely poultices of hartshorn, suet, honey, and cobwebs. WHAT WILL IT BECOME? You all know the picture entitled “The Boy: What Will He Become?” In the upper row of portraits the boy at different ages you see how he progi esses and improves until, at mature age, he looks beautiful, benevolent, and intellectual enough to be a doctor. In the lower series the horrified eye of the beholder is shocked by the portrait of a gin-soaked old reprobate. Well, in order to instruct, I am having a somewhat similar picture executed, entitled “The Sore Finger. What Will It. Become?” In the upper row, with the help of a. surgical knife, it is restored to the normal by rapid stages; in the lower series of pictures the finger becomes more swollen and ugly, until it has to be amputated.

3 RED EYELIDS AND STYES a 1 For red eyelids and styes the treat- • ment is to bathe them with warm • boracic lotion until all the crusts are > removed from the eyelashes. If the crusts are left on, no good will result, for they prevent the lotion reaching the bases of the hairs where the mischief lies. At night some borj acic ointment or golden ointment should be applied. In the morn--3 ing the old ointment must be wiped off and the eyes bathed again. If the 1 slight inflammation around the eyelashes is the only defect present, then .- the simple treatment described above 3 will be sufficient. 1 OUT OF FOCUS If one eye is of norma,! vision and the other is short-sighted the eyes will be constantly irritated. The eyes should work together in harmony, but . this is impossible when they are t differently focused. If you look t through a. pair of field-glasses and deliberately put. one glass out of foe- , us while you keep the other correct. . you will soon find that it is fidgeting • to the eye, and they will begin to I blink, to ache, and to water. You will clearly understand that it is use- , less to smear the ointment on the lids - if the fault lies in the lens of the eye. » WOUNDS OF THE HAND When dealing with fairly large wounds of the hand or foot it is a good plan to soak them in a bath of ' mild antiseptic: this is efficacious when the wound is discharging and when the dressing has to be frequent ly changed. The lotion should be hoi at first, as it soon gets cool, the band age should be removed, and then the whole hand with the old dressing is plunged in, so as to soak the dressing off gradually instead of pulling it off. T he dirty dressing should be burnt The wounded part may be kept in the lotion for half an hour. If the discharge is very profuse and offensive ( ♦ he lotion may be changed once or twice. Gentle pressure may be applied around the wound to expel any matter that may have collected in the deep parts of the wound. The hand, when re-dressed, need not always be held up with the elbow bent; it may bo allowed to rest on a pillow by the side, or to hang down if it is not uncomfortable in that position. The object is to encourage the matter to '

drain out of a wound and not to run up the arm. CUTTING A CORN It is dangerous to make a corn bleed when you cut it; it should be pared very carefully. There is always a chance of getting some infection in the small wound if blood is drawn. The foot must always be washed first, and the knife that is used should be surgically clean. It must not be the knife that you use for cutting wood. HINTS TOWARDS HEALTH 1 told you of the cannibals who ate up the missionary because he gave them too much good advice. But I feel that 1 must give you advice; the longing comes over me. Migratory birds cannot help migrating, and 1 can’t help doling out a weekly supply of good advice. So here is a solid meal of wise law’s for you this week. If you will promise to read them through I w’ill willingly go into the cauldron to-morrow. Do not buy aperient pills to cure headaches arising from the heed of spectacles. Do not wait until the poison has spread up your arm before going to the doctor to have your festering finger opened. Do not go to the alter with the determination not to have children when you are married; later on, when you wish to have them, you may find that it is too late, and that you have done yourself harm.