HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 195, 19 July 1941, Page 8

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

COMMON COMPLAINTS. ; NO. 1: SORE THROAT. , (Prepared and issued by the Health i Department.; I Do not treat a sore throat lightly. ; H might lead to all kinds ot uh- •; pleasantness. Diphtheria in children is . I one of its most tearsome complications. s The first real danger signal with a ; sore throat is a rising temperature. ■ As soon as a fever starts, make for ■ bed without delay. Keep warm. Direct ■ application of warmth to the neck is very comforting, and a hot compress applied to the outside of the neck and covered by a large pad of cotton wool gives relief. A hot-water bottle covered with flannel is excellent; and a warm olive oil compress is effective, too. As for the throat itself, the frequent application of a good throat paint is advised. Your chemist will have one. Gargles are frequently used, but they are not really satisfactory, and, with a bad throat, they can cause more pain than they do good. Ten grains of aspirin (an adult dose) three times a day will relieve the pain, and, in addition, there is a drug in aspirin that helps ward off any rheumatic fever that may result from a sore throat. The patient should drink as much fluid as possible, and naturally the state of the throat and difficulty in swallowing demand a diet of soft foods — junket, baked custard, icecream, soups, meat jellies, and so on. A sore throat is inflammation of the tonsils, and is known as tonsillitis. If this inflammation leads to an abscess round the tonsil, quinsy is the result. And that can be very painful. An acute sore throat as a rule develops quickly. The temperature rises rapidly, and sometimes alarmingly; there are pains in the back and limbs; a headache comes on; the tonsils are swollen and inflamed, and may have turned septic; and the breath is unpleasant. In fact, the patient is feeling pretty miserable. This condition is beyond ordinary home treatment. Call a doctor. He will know what is wrong, and His intervention at this juncture might prevent a whole lot of trouble. He can, if necessary, prescribe one of the new wonder-working sulphonamide drugs. Doctors themselves take a serious view of a sore throat. The important 1 thing is not to neglect it, however slight, and if there is the least doubt at all, don’t hesitate to get medical advice. (Next week: B urns.) I (