10:00:00 AM
Coryza-cute
Nasal Catarrh
Q. What is the best treatment for one who on taking
cold suffers for a day or two with excessive running of watery mucus from the
nose?
A. Coryza, or
cold in the head, is one of the most common of all affections. It is due to an
infection of the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity. Colds are catching, like
diphtheria and small-pox. The treatment consists of rest, dietetic regulation, and training of
the skin. A vapor
bath, sitz bath, short hot tub bath, fomentations to the forehead and face
give relief. This treatment should be taken at night just before retiring. If
taken in the daytime the patient should not go
outdoors or expose himself to drafts for some
hours afterward.
The inhalation of steam with
an electric vapor thermophore is the best means of combating the
local pain and inflammation.
The susceptipility to cold is best relieved by a
course of treatment to harden the skin. The most efficient measure is the
frequent use of cooling baths, such as a cool spray, cool sponge bath, or cold
mitten friction. A cold bath is best taken immediately on rising in the
morning. The popular idea that a cold is a
matter of small consequence and needs little attention, as the patient will recover without treatment, is an erroneous
one. Colds, when left to themselves, nearly always leave the affected parts in
a more or less diseased condition. Out-of-door life and open-air sleeping are the best
preventives against cold. Persons whose bowels move three times a day seldom take cold because they have high resistance.