TREATMENT OF BOILS

Hutt News, Volume 19, Issue 13, 29 August 1945, Page 9

TREATMENT OF BOILS

$ (13y the Department oi : Health) Boils come from a common germ that lives everywhere, including on our skins. Should we get below par, or not wash enough, we let the genu multiply on our skin. Some germs get rubbed in round a hair l'ollicle. Up comes a crop of pustules or a single hard boil. Common sites are the buttocks, under the arms, the back of the neck, or the scalp. Friction helps to rub the germs into these favourite spots. If the boil is some days old before you treat it, simple fomentations are indicated. But be careful not to allow the pus to drain on to the surrounding skin or a crop of little boils will result. Wipe the surrounding skin every now and then with an antiseptic solution. Don't go squeezing a boil to get cue core out—the less handling the better. And this gives the cue to the best treatment. As soon as you realise you're getting a boil, paint it with methylated spirits, and as soon as dry cover it with elastoplast or zinc plaster. Cut a circular piece a little bigger than the boil —usually about halfpenny size—and stretch it to cover the boil. Next a bigger circle of plaster—say penny size-—is put on over the top of the first. If the boil discharges cut a small hole in the centre of the first plaster and change as soiled. If there's no discharge, leave the plaster on for 10 days or more. The pain is eased and the boil gets better. For recurrent crops of boils, visit a doctor. Ask him to have a vaccine made of your own boil. This stops them. Take extra Vitamin B —such as yeast daily and feature dairy products, liver, green and yellow vegetables, and fruit in your diet.