TREATMENT OF CHILBLAINS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 23 June 1928, Page 19

TREATMENT OF CHILBLAINS.

That children who come from wellwarmed nurseries .should suffer Hour chilblains might be thought an imposibility. Yet we all ot us know some poor little, martyr to whom v. inter means a time of suffering. The child who suffers from chilblains is usually one who is found to have abnormal Jy ©old feet. Such, a child should be put into wollen socks quite early in the winter, before the cold weather sets in.

If he get his feet wet, or even Camp, before putting on dry stockings' bat lie his feet in warm water and dry very carefully. Rubbing the: feet gently with camphorated oil is good.

Skipping, especially .before breakfast, is a splendid preventive. of hilblaius i«r normal, healthy ch.i'clren. And although chilblains are a sign of pooi circulation, children who are normally healthy otherwise often suffer !rom them. With the greatest care, ho we am, iirr.it hers, aiv?. always able to prevent their children from getting chilblains, so the. next step is the joeai' treatment of cbifibhiins. I have found that the: treatment that answers with some children does not answer until others, say« an English writer, so I will give! various remedies that have been found to allay the painful irritation of unbroken chilblains. It must be understood that none of these applications is to be used when the chilblains are broken or even cracked.

Paint the skin with tincture of lori.ne or with collodion.

Mix vaseline and turpentine and apprs to the, ' hi’.bJains.

Pub the chilblains gently (veiy gently; with methylated spirit. If, iu spite of all your care, the chilblains break, the very best plan when chilblains on tlie foot are broken is to keep the child in bed, applying dressings of horacic lint in the same wav a.s for any ulcerated wound.

Two or three days' in bi?d will usually lie sufficient to effect a cure. The child not ill, and so can amuse himself with, his toys and other occupations, but it is necessary to keep the foot up •tn.fl in an even temperature. If the broken chilblains are. on the fingers thev must he bound up with a dressing’ of horacic line or zinc ointment.

Needless to say, the child’s diet wil l require attention. He probably suffers from a deficiencv of fat. and nowadays that is remedied by giving him cream.