FRACTURE OF THIGH BONE
Fractures of the neck of the thigh bone (femur) at the hip joint are common in the elderly women, whose bones become more brittle after menopause. A fracture of the shaft of the femur develops due to severe force e.g. road accidents, or falls from heights.
Continue reading First-Aid: Fracture of the Thigh Bone Knee Joint. Knee Cap and Leg Bones
FRACTURE OF SPINE
The spine (vertebral column) is made up of a number of small bones called a vertebrae arranged one above another. The spine is supported by many strong ligaments and the muscles of the trunk. It protects the spinal cord contained within it. The spinal cord is delicate and if damaged, loss of sensation or power can occur in parts of the body below the injured area, e.g. upper limbs, lower limbs. Permanent damage will result if the cord is partially or completely transected.
DISLOCATION
This is a more severe injury than a sprain. It occurs when a strong force acts directly or indirectly on a joint pulling a bone into an abnormal position. It can occur as a result of sudden muscular contraction too. There is displacement of one or more bones at a joint. There is also tearing of ligaments, joint capsule, and tissues around the joint. Shoulder and hip joints are commonly involved in adults, while elbow, finger, and lower jaw joints are more commonly involved in children. The condition is diagnosed by the following features.
□ FRACTURE OF THE BONES OF THE FOOT
This is due to direct crushing by heavy objects. The condition is diagnosed by the following features.
Continue reading First-Aid: Fracture of Bones of the Foot, Injuries of the Joints and Sprains
This section is particularly useful for the person at home who may not have a handy first-aid kit and wants to give immediate succor and help to a person in distress, since medical aid is not always within reach. To begin with the basic. The first requirement is clean water, whether for drinking, cooking or other domestic purposes. In villages, and often in city homes too, the water we get is not always clean or chlorinated, or at times is downright muddy. The age-old remedy for purifying water was to collect it in a clean container, filtering it through a muslin cloth. The container was often and still is of a particular shape — the ghara.
FOREIGN BODIES IN THE SKIN
Small foreign bodies like shards of glass and wood splinters usually cause small puncture wounds with little or no bleeding. But they are quite painful. Hence they have to be removed early. If a portion of the foreign body is found to be sticking out of the skin, it can be grasped with nails or a small forceps and pulled out. If it is deeply embedded in a wound, attempts at its removal may drive it deeper into the tissues. Such patients should be sent to a doctor. Foreign bodies are often contaminated with dirt and can cause infections including tetanus.
Continue reading First-Aid: Foreign Bodies in the Skin, Ear, Eye and in the Nose
□ ARTHRITIS
• Fresh celery : A cup of juice a day is good for arthritis. Celery soups and salads also have a beneficial effect.
• Foods : Celery, parsley, bitter gourd, beetroot, asparagus, yeast, wheat germs.
• Fruits : Banana, pecan, grapes, raisins, cherry, strawberry, guava and musk melon.
□ ULCERS IN THE MOUTH
• Local application of glycerine on ulcers causes intense salivation and gives relief from pain.
• Gargles with alum water (2-3 grams to a cup of water) removes soreness.
• Catechu or katha powder found in Indian homes as an ingredient for paan or betel leaf preparation — a paste made with a few drops of water and applied locally soothes the ulcer.
• If there is a banyan tree in your garden, grind a little piece of the bark with few drops of water or break a leaf/stem and apply a drop of the sap and then gargle with fresh water. It relieves the pain.
□ WORM INFESTATIONS
When a person has worms, the doctor prescribe a deworming dose. However, in practice it is often seen that a child/person does not get rid of worm infestations with one deworming dose. Repeated doses have their own hazards.
SCABIES
• If there is a localized scabies infection, dry and powder neem leaves. Half a teaspoon of this powder can be taken as a morning drink in a glass of hot water with sugar added to taste for ten days.
• A decoction made from neem leaves, neem tree bark can be used to wash the effected area.
• A paste of neem leaves with an equal amount of turmeric powder mixed with a little mustard oil can be applied over the area. Leave it for 45 minutes to an hour. Wash the area. Continue the process for a week.
• Alternatively, the bark of the neem tree dried and burnt to make washes, mixed with a little coconut oil to make paste and applied on the affected area after a bath, morning and evening, gets rid of the condition.