Part 22 (1/2)

Do not blow the nose. Hold a wet handkerchief at the back of the neck and wash the face in hot water, or place a wad of paper under the upper lip, or crowd some fine gauze or cotton into the nostrils and make a plug.

To Check Bleeding

Raise the injured part as high as you can above the heart, press very firmly with sterile pad under thumb or fingers on or into the wound. Blood from a vein will be dark red or purplish and will flow in a steady stream.

Press upon the vein below the wound. Put on a clean pad and bind it upon the wound firmly enough to stop bleeding. Blood from an artery will be bright red and will probably spurt in jets. Press very hard above the wound. Tie a strong bandage (handkerchief, belt, suspenders, rope, strip of clothing) around the wounded member, and between the wound and the heart. Under it and directly over the artery place a smooth pebble, piece of stick, or other hard lump. Then thrust a stout stick under the bandage and twist until the wound stops bleeding. A tourniquet should not remain over twenty-four hours.

Blisters

Wash blistered feet in hot water and then in alcohol or in cold water with a little baking powder or soda added. Wipe them dry and then rub them with a tallow candle or some fat.

Bruises

Apply compresses of hot or cold water to keep down swelling and discoloration. Also apply witch hazel.

Burns

Use vaseline, baking soda, bread, the white of an egg, flour and water, b.u.t.ter, grease, or fat; or mix flour and soda with fat, or soap with sugar and make into a paste, or put a teaspoonful of baking powder into a pint of warm water and pour it on a piece of gauze and put this on the burn or scald, covering it with cotton and a bandage. Never let a burn be exposed to the air, but cover it at once if the pain is intense.

Chills

Mix a good dash of pepper with a little ginger in sweetened hot water and drink it. Get into bed at once. Cover with blankets and put hot water bottle at feet.

Choking

Force yourself to swallow pieces of dry bread or drink some water. Let some one slap the back.

Colds

Pour boiling water over two heads of elder blossoms, brew for twenty minutes, and drink a small cup hot on going to bed. Or drink hot lemonade or hot ginger tea. In any case, keep warm and out of a draft.

Constipation

Use cathartic pills, or castor oil. Eat plenty of prunes or fruit. Drink plenty of water.

Cuts

Always clean thoroughly all open wounds to prevent infection, and accelerate healing. Carbolic, left on a wound for any time at all may result in carbolic poisoning or in gangrene. Use pure alcohol (not wood or denatured, as both are poisonous), or a teaspoonful of sulphur-naphthol to a basin of water, or 1:1000 corrosive sublimate solution (wad with flexible collodion). Do not use vaseline or any other substance on a freshly abrased surface. After a scab has formed, vaseline may be applied to keep this scab soft. Never close a wound with court plaster[1]. The only legitimate uses for sticking or adhesive plaster are to hold dressings in place where bandaging is difficult, or in case of a cut to keep edges closed without sewing the skin.

[Transcriber's Footnote 1: Cloth coated with adhesive substance to cover cuts or scratches on the skin.]

Earache

Take the heart of an onion, heat it in an oven, and put it in the ear when hot, but not so hot as to burn the ear. This not only relieves the earache, but helps to send the sufferer to sleep. Hold hot water bag to ear.

Inflamed Eye

Wring a towel in water hot as the hands will bear; lay on the eyes and change frequently. Bathe with saturated solution of boric acid crystals.

Great relief is felt by opening the eyes in tepid or very warm boracic solution. Even if it is strong enough to smart, no harm will result.