TALKS ON HEALTH.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20455, 7 November 1934, Page 13

TALKS ON HEALTH.

Make an Examination of Your Child’s Back. (BY A FAMILY DOCTOR.) Do you ever examine your child’s back? Make him stand with his back towards 3’ou in a good light; heels together and in the position of attention. Compare the two sides; look to see if-- the two shoulder-blades are at the same level; whether the shoulders are the same height; whether there is any obvious curve in the spine. Remember that no ch,ild is born with a crooked back; it grows crooked for several reasons, all of which are preventable. The bones are made of soft gristle at birth, and gradually, as the child gets older, the soft gristle is displaced by hArd, solid bone. You can only mould the soft gristle; you cannot alter the hard bone when once it is formed. It is the old story of the potter’s clay; when it is soft it can be moulded to any shape; when the cla> r is baked hard its shape cannot be altered. You examine the child’s boots, you worry over the holes in the clothes-, and pay daily attention to the cleanliness of the doorstep, 3'ou clean the windows, and have the landlord round to attend to the cistern, and all the time >"our own child’s spine is growing crooked week by week and nobody knows and nobody cares. Care of Children’s Teeth. I frequently implore >-ou to keep 3'our children’s mouths clean and sweet; it is quite evident my poor little voice does not reach far. Oh, dear, I think I shall give it up in despair. The hy'giene of the mouth not only refers to the teeth but also to the gums, the tonsils and the space at the back of the nose where adenoids grow. You have all heard of appendicitis. This complaint is all a matter of germs, and can you not see that if germs are swallowed they will reach the appendix? You really must take care of your children’s mouths. Teeth and Appendicitis. You lost your little nephew last year from appendicitis; it was so sad, and

we were all so sorry for you and his parents. But do >"ou know where the germs came from that gave him the attack? Why, from his mouth; he had seven septic teeth, and > r ou took no notice because you said they were his first teeth and first teeth can be as filthy as possible and it does not matter; and he had swollen tonsils, and he always breathed through his mouth because of his adenoids, and the large tonsils and adenoids were in an unhealthy state., All day and every day, all night and every night, the little man was swallowing the discharge from teeth, tonsils, and adenoids. These . are \ r our children, not mine. Stiff Joints. The question of stiff joints is always cropping up in some form. I have given up saying that prevention is better than cure; it is an expression I never use now. However, if you get an injury to a joint, you must only hold it still for a short time; if you keep it still for week after week you will find the joint so stiff as to be almost immovable. Then you come round to me and ask for help and sympathy, and I do not give y'ou any because you ought to have come six weeks ago; the harm is done for ever at the end of a few weeks. If y’ou follow my advice, and, slowly and carefully", under the direction of y’our medical attendant, move the joint a little bit more each day from the first, .at the end of a few weeks yon will have the full use of the complete range of movement. Treatment and Exercise. But if the joint is very stiff without being hopeless, the treatment is to work the joint forcibly. There are two ways of doing this; one is for the doctor to give you gas, as though you were going to have a tooth out, and then wrench the joint while you are unconscious. This is often the best way; it causes a little pain for a few hours, but it loosens the joint and effects a cure. The other way is for the doctor to give the joint a series of massaging movements every day, and for the patient to supplement his treatment with exercises at home. The only thing needed is to see the movement is carried out through a larger and larger range every day". If once you slip back and move the arm through an insufficient range, you are done. In the case of the shoulder, for

instance, I am in the habit of making the patient put his hand on the wall as high as he can manage. A pencil mark is made at the spot, and the next day he must go one inch higher than the former mark. In due course the shoulder is cured.