MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10908, 12 November 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

THE TRUE PREVENTIVE FOR SUNSTROKE. Sunstroke, or heat-apoplexy, as doctors prefer to call it, is of two sorts. Cardiac, or heart sunstroke, is quick and deadly, but is little known in England. The common kind is cerebro-spinal; it affects, that is, the back brain or cerebellum and the spinal cord, hence the reason of wearing in the tropics, or in hot weather in the temperate zone, puggarees, flaps for the back of the head, wide-brimmed hats, or what not, and also at once something thick and loose to fall down the middle of tho back. It is too frequently overlooked, however, the protection for the back of the head and for the back, and even keeping out of the hottest sunshine, are of little avail to avoid heat - apoplexy if a man goes too thickly or too tightly clothed, and if a woman is too tightly corseted. Light clothing, properly shaded, and avoidance of toe.: direct rays of the sun, are tolerably sure' preventives of sunstroke, but even under these conditions many have been known to succumb, and the only true preventive of heat - apoplexy when tie heat is great is to ■ sit or lie still out of tho sun. INGROWING TOE-NAILS. This is a very common and troublesome affection, and most usually occurs by the side of the big toe. The surrounding Boft parts first become swelled and inflamed by constant pressure against the edge of the nail from the use of tight shoes. If this is allowed to continue, an ulcer is farmed in which the edge of the nail is imbedded. The pain from this, in some instances, is sufficiently severe to prevent walking. When this condition is arrived at. a doctor's treatment becomes necessary. The first object is to remove the cause, tie tight shoe, then proceed to lessen the irritation and reduce the swelling. After soaking in hot water, the nail should be thinned by scraping, and, if very painful, a linseed poultice will give relief. When the irritation has thoroughly subsided, soft cotton should be pressed between the flesh and the nail, and then, if the skin is not broken, it should be slightly saturated with tincture of iodine.' Repeat the treatment for several days, after which the tenderness will disappear. LOCK-JAW AND SOIL-CONTAMINA-TION OF WOUNDS. An interesting case inquired into by one of the Suffolk coroners suggests the advisability of a wider recognition on the part of the community of the dangers of the soilcontamination of wounds. In the particular instance referred to, a lad of 15 took off his shoes and socks to wade j in a shallow river, where he cut his j foot with a piece of broken glass. A fortnight later he developed tetanus and died. Doubtless, the wound was contaminated by exposure to the soil at the time of the accident, as modern bacteriology has definitely concluded that the bacillus of tetanus flourishes in earth. With this fact in view it is clear that all wounds which have been exposed to soil-contamination should be rigorously laid open and irrigated with antiseptics, so as to wash away infecting organism so far as may be. This practical point cannot be too . widely recognised by parents, and indeed by everyone who is exposed to outdoor injuries. . . In all cases where earth can by any possibility have infected a surface wound, however slight the latter may appear, it is a bounden duty to call skilled medical advice at the earliest possible moment.