HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 August 1942, Page 4

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

DON’T BLOW TOO HARD. CLEARING THE NOSE. (By the Health Department) Commonplace though it is these days, the simple operation of clearing the nose when you’ve a cold in the head can produce complications frequently unpleasant. If. the nose is blown violently with both the nostrils pressed tightly into the handkerchief, the air pressure forces the highly infectious mucus into the eustachian tubes, which lead to the sensitive middle ear. How often do you feel a sort of “snap” in the eardrum when the nose is blown too hard? If the infectious mucus reaches the middle ear, severe inflammation can result, and the important eustachian tube itself might become inflamed and closed when the sensitive walls swell. Pus in the middle ear chamber, and the resultant pressure on the eardrums can cause intense pain. The eardrum may abscess and break, though it is infinitely preferable to have a doctor lance the drum to relieve the pressure, as the lanced drum, heals much belter than one that has broken.

To obviate this dangerous development, always remember to blow the nose gently, without closing both nostrils at the one time. Hold the handkerchief loosely over the nose and blow very easily. In the case of children particular care should be taken in blowing the nose, as infection of the middle ear is much more likely than in the case of an adult.