OUR BABIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 December 1940, Page 8

OUR BABIES

Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." TROUBLESOME TONSILS. Naturally the best place for healthy tonsils or adenoids is where nature installed them. They are one of the body’s lines of defence. If, however, this first line becomes so seriously overworked as to break down and become the stronghold of poisons, we are up against a new problem, writes Nurse McKay, in the “Woman’s Pictorial.”

In the living body, just as soon as the hostile forces invade it, defenders, usually in the Corm of white blood cells, spring to life, and a battle royal ensues. This is what happens as various irritants, from gases and bacteria in. the air, and so on, reach the tonsils, and any inflamation or growth is, in the first place, a healthy symptom. But if the attack comes again and again the poor tonsils grow and grow’ until not only do they become in a diseased state themselves, very often, but they cannot fail to obstruct both the nasal passages and the tube leading to the ear. Discharges from them may even find their way down to the middle ear, With serious results. When, then, are the tonsils an ally, and when a danger to the body? There comes a time when anyone can recognise the child whose tonsils have reached the-danger mark —which, of course, is only another way of saying that the damage is of such- standing and so deep-seated that it is likely to be permanent. But, obviously, it is not common sense to wait until the in-expert can make a diagnosis before seeking the help of the expert. Every part of the body is inter-re-lated, and you cannot have trouble in one part without it affecting the whole. Therefore, mothers should never think it a small matter if their little one has frequent colds, a habit of mouth breathing, or tends to snore at nights. Such symptoms point to the need of having throat and nose carefully examined, not-only for enlarged tonsils, .but also for the possibility of other forms of nasal obstruction. One of the chief causes of the latter is a narrow floor to the nose, and this occurs when, for any reason, the roof of the mouth is poorly developed. The best way mothers can insure against this is to provide, first of all, hard suckling exercise at the breast followed by hard biting and chewing on food as the teeth appear. Secondly, by avoiding the use of the dummy and checking thumb sucking—fol’ this means that the roof of the mouth :s pressed upward, and thus contracted. A great deal can be done to prevent the constant infection of the tonsils by seeing that the child breathes pure air (a visit to the seaside is splendid for this purpose), by seeing that no cold, unfiltered air reaches the tonsils direct, as would be the case where mouthbreathing is allowed; and by keeping the child away from stuffy rooms where contact with others infected is inevitable. If, however, the tonsils are inflamed and unhealthy, then a doctor must be consulted at once.

With a laissez-faire attitude —hoping | the child will grow out of trouble, the i risks run are of deafness, inflamation of the ears, pigeon chest, shallow breathing, and all its attendant .ills, dental decay, anaemia and general debility. The child has a dull unattractive appearance with his mouth open, pinched nostrils, and somewhat stupid, heavy look. If action is taken, there is only a minor operation to face, which is performed successfully and often. The middle course, local treatment under expert guidance, will often prove so beneficial that the trouble will subside and the tissues become normal. The mother, then, will be wise to seek ihe opinion of one who has specialised in nose and throat treatment without operation in the first instance; attention to nasal hygiene so that poisons do not enter the) system is of the greatest importance. Where an operation has been successfully performed, remember that the after-care is important, so that a mouth-breathing habit is broken, which is even more to be deplored when the body's first line of defence has been removed. It will take a good deal of patience and watchfulness, but, with the aid of the play spirit and a little ingenuity, the child will happily co-operate, and the doors to the little lane remain firmly closed day and night. Probably all catarrhal troubles are like rickets, “deficiency” diseases, and when the expectant mother’s blood is more freely enriched with vitamins A and D and sunshine, we shall find that we are not nearly so subject to coughs and colds.