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.
If inflammation is caused by a foreign substance, rub the other eye, in order to make both eyes water. If the speck can be seen, it can generally be taken out by twisting a small piece of gauze or cloth around a toothpick and drawing it over the speck, or by twisting up a piece of paper like a lamp lighter and, after wetting the tip of it, wiping it against the speck. If it is under the upper lid, pull the lid away from the eyeball, and push the under lid up underneath the upper one. In this way the eyelashes of the lower lid will generally clean the inside of the upper one. An eye-tweezers for removing a piece of grit from the eye is made by folding a piece of paper in two. With a sharp knife cut it to a point at an angle of 30 degrees and slightly moisten the point in clean water.
Feet
It is a good thing to dry-soap your feet and the inside of your socks before putting them on for a hike or tramp. This is an old army trick. If your feet perspire freely, powder them with boric acid powder, starch, and oxide of zinc in equal parts. Wash the feet every day, best on turning in at night.
To prevent the nail growing into the toe, take a bit of broken gla.s.s and sc.r.a.pe down the top of the nail until it is quite thin, and in time the corners begin to grow out, and no longer hurt the toe. Toenails should be cut square and not encouraged to grow in by side tr.i.m.m.i.n.g. A good plan is to make a "V" shape notch on the middle of the top of each toenail, which will close up naturally, and, in so doing, draw the sides up and inward.
Headache
Headache comes from indigestion or from the sun. A boy will overeat and then play under the hot sun--result, headache. Have the boy lie down and sleep, if possible, using cloths dipped in cold water to drive the blood away from the head. A remedy recommended by the great John Wesley is to lay very thin slices of lemon rind on either temple.
Hiccough
Take a deep breath and hold it as long as possible, or make yourself sneeze.
Ivy Poisoning
Mix some baking powder with water, or rub on wood ashes. Wash with alcohol. Be careful not to spread by scratching.
Rusty Nail
Better call a physician. Puncture with nails and such things, especially if rusty, should be squeezed and washed with sulphur-naphthol or hot water poured into the hole. If too small, this may be slightly enlarged.
Cauterize with carbolic acid, then with pure alcohol. Keep the wound open for a few days. Run no risk with a rusty nail wound. Attend to it immediately.
Sprains
Bathe a sprain in as hot water as you can bear, to which has been added a small quant.i.ty of vinegar and salt. Slight sprains (as of finger) may be painted with iodine.
Sunstroke
The first symptom is a headache followed by a heavy feeling in the pit of the stomach, dimmed eyesight, difficulty in breathing, and a fever. If insensibility follows, lay the person on his back in a cool, shady place, with his head slightly raised. Loosen his clothing, keep his head cold with wet cloths, and pour cold water on his face and chest, until the temperature of his body is lowered and the face becomes pale.
Sunburn
Get used to sun gradually. Use powdered boric acid or ointment. Cocoa b.u.t.ter is also a good preventive.
Sore Throat
Gargle the throat with warm water and some salt added, and then bind a woolen sock around it. Keep the sock on until the soreness is gone. Put teaspoonful of chlorate of potash in a cup of water and gargle. Diluted alkalol [sic] is also good for a gargle, or tincture of iron diluted. Fat bacon or pork may be tied around the neck with a dry sock. Swab the throat.
Stomachache
Caused by undigested food in the intestines. Put the boy on a diet, also give him plenty of warm water to drink, or a cup of hot ginger tea.
Toothache
Heat will always help to soothe the sufferer. A seeded raisin, toasted before the fire, makes a useful poultice for an aching tooth, pressed into the hollow. A bag of hot salt, pressed on the face, relieves pain.