TALKS ON HEALTH.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 228, 15 March 1928, Page 2

TALKS ON HEALTH.

THE SOLACE OF WARMTH. The application of heat in. some form is often grateful and comforting when some part of the body is inflamed or : painful; the aching of pleurisy, the stabbing pain of pleuro-pneumonia, , colic of the bowels, and many other kinds of pain are often assuaged by heat. I advocate the india-rubbr hotwater bottles; they are not always to nevertheless, they aie very useful things to have in the house. Hot flannels are also a sensible method of ap- ' plying heat, and I think it is better to i warm them in the dry oven instead of wringing them out of hot water; the wet compressed so soon get cold, and then they arc very uncomfortable and may even do harm by giving the poor patient a second chill. A wet clammy flannel is a most unsatisfactory bedfellow. The Hot-Water Bottle. Poultices, too, arc old friends, but still they do not come up to my particular pal, the hot-water bottle. First of all, poultices are a nuisance to make; then they need frequent ehang- < ing if they are to be any good; they, are clumsy and floppy, and cannot always be applied neatly to the painful area. Now, the hot-water bottle will retain its heat flor many hours, which is a great blessing to the unfortunate , nurse who may have to do duty night and day. The hot-water bottle is a well-meaning, good natured, reliable instrument of healing. In my kindness of heart I once provided one of these india-rubber blessings for some old women, hoping that I should be able to hand it from one to the other as occasion required. But the first old ladv steadily refused to give it up when once she had got hold of it, and I believe she is hugging it to this day. The naked rubber may be too hot; nice smart red jackets are provided to mitigate the fierceness of their heat. It is really a kindness to provide one of these india-rubber charms for the poor who can not afford to buy one. 1 Poultices Should Be Light. Talking about poultices, it is important that they should be made verv light; I have often seen a little child with bronchitis half smothered under an enormous poultice weighing several ounces I was going to say “tons. ,J rsow a child with a gasping, heaving chest wants to have frceplay and a weight on the chest merely adds to its distress; it is bad enough to have to breathe at all when you have bronchopneumonia and have to work your . chest at the rate of thirty or forty to the minute, but with a poultice sitting on your chest life is not worth living at all. And alhough a poultice should be hot. let there, be moderation in all things. I have seen sears on little children’s chests from scalding poultices. It is true the poultice may be followed by recovery; but, you know, sometimes patients recover in spite of what is done for them. A Bottle In Bed.

I see no reason why you should suffer from cold feet in bed; you have mv permission to use a hot-water bottle if you like. If you can get your feet warm by running about, or by wearing socks in bed. do so by all means It IS a good plan to let children have a good-night romp to warm their feet. But rather than let you suffer from loss Ot Sleep in conseqcncc of cold feet. I would encourage you to have a warm bottle at the foot of the bed. Need I warn you to have the bottle, if it is a stone °ne. carefully covered with flannel? If an ordinary person puts

Ms foot against a bottle that is too hot. he promptly takes it off; but in the ease of invalids, who may be aged and helpless, or paralysed, or under the efteets of chloroform after an operation, or de.inous—in all these eases it is most important to avoid the burns that »iay result from contact with a verv hot surface. This warning i s „ot superfluous; every doctor has seen vert 8 «° f !T rns from hot bottles, and cry troublesome cases they are.

Bandy Babies. Prevention of Rickets.

Can I care a rickety deformity No Can I prevent a rickety deformityf \cs every time. As a mere question tent 3 ’ 1 ' t 3 . SI1 ’ would Phy ns to prevent rickets; it is easily preventable with good food and fresh air. But poverty stretches out its cruel hand, and inflicts a life-long deformity on a baby girl. And then we have to spend ten times as much money on the baby girl when she is grown to be a mother m order to deal with her ease in the HospAal for Women. It i s not true that a child walks too soon; the bend!Dg of a Child’s logs and the curvature ot its spine are the results of sheer brutal ignorance and neglect. If I had m .y " a y 1 would.make rickets a punishable offence. A town that can afford tens of thousands of pounds on luxuries can well afford some fresh food and milk to prevent rickets. Do you know that the word Metropolis means Mother City? A nice sort of mother that has its nospltats filled with children deformed by a preventable disease.