Antidepressants Blog

Care of your thermometer

After each use, the thermometer should be shaken down below “normal” and washed with soap and cold water. Sterilize the thermometer by soaking it in a solution of rubbing alcohol before storing it in its case. Place it back in the medicine cabinet where it will be handy the next time you need it. Do not let children treat the thermometer as a toy.

Treatment of fever

The most reliable medications for lowering fever are aspirin and paracetamol, a non-aspirin pain reliever found in some over-the-counter preparations. You can give one children’s aspirin or the equivalent amount of paracetamol for every 7 kilos of weight. This dose can be repeated every four hours. Other basic guidelines for administering aspirin or paracetamol include:

1. Do not awaken the child to give aspirin or paracetamol.

2. Do not mix aspirin and paracetamol or alternate between the two.

3. Call the doctor if fever persists longer than 48 hours or if other signs of illness are present.

Keep a feverish child lightly clothed or covered to allow the body heat to escape. This, too, will help lower a fever.

Other methods of reducing a fever include placing the child in a lukewarm bath or encasing the naked child in a wet sheet. A child with a consistently high temperature should be under the care of a doctor.

Although giving the child aspirin has long been the accepted home treatment for lowering a fever, aspirin should not be used if the child has chicken pox or influenza. A condition called Reye’s syndrome has been possibly linked to the use of aspirin in the treatment of chicken pox or influenza. Reye’s syndrome is a relatively rare type of encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, accompanied by changes in the liver, and it usually starts after the child has begun to recover from chicken pox or influenza.

It has not been proven that aspirin causes or promotes Reye’s syndrome, but it is recommended that aspirin not be given to children with chicken pox or influenza. Instead, sponge baths and aspirin substitutes such as paracetamol – which has not been linked to Reye’s syndrome – should be used to manage the fever and other symptoms.

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Home care

Wash the wound with soap and water, then examine it for any embedded dirt or other foreign matter. Inspect the wound carefully under good light, if necessary with a magnifying glass. To stop the bleeding, place a square of sterile gauze over the abrasion and apply gentle pressure directly to the wound.

If there is no dirt in the wound, apply a non-stinging antiseptic, cover the abrasion with a sterile bandage, and keep it covered until it heals completely and the scab falls off by itself. If the abrasion is in an area that is moved constantly (at a joint, for example), swab the scab periodically with an antibiotic or antiseptic ointment to keep it flexible and to avoid cracking.

If dirt is embedded in the wound, scrub gently. Sometimes, dirt will work its way out of the wound if you keep the abrasion covered and apply liberal amounts of antibiotic ointment twice a day.

Precautions

•     Do not treat an abrasion that involves the full thickness of the skin. Have the doctor look at it.

•     Remove dirt from an abrasion, both to guard against infection and to prevent the dirt from being permanently sealed under the skin.

•     It is unlikely, but not impossible, that tetanus will follow an abrasion; since minor abrasions are seldom treated by a doctor, take the precaution of keeping the child’s tetanus boosters up to date.

•     Impetigo may begin at the site of an abrasion; if it occurs, refer to the section on Impetigo.

Medical treatment

If an abrasion is deep and badly soiled, your doctor may apply a local anesthetic to the region and scrub out the dirt with a brush or a substance that will dissolve the dirt.

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Is it true that all children have different hypo reaction symptoms?

It is true that different children feel differently when they are having a hypo, although some symptoms are very common and experienced by very many people. A child will probably feel much the same whenever he has a reaction, but with different sorts of insulin, it is not always so, particularly if the reaction is a more severe one. It is important to recognize at an early stage, if you have a reaction coming so that you can take sugar and prevent it becoming severe.

Is it all right to use ice-cream or lollies in an emergency instead of sugar for an insulin reaction?

Yes, in an emergency situation any food that contains sugar is suitable, provided that you take just the right amount. To take too much, though it may get you over an emergency, may lead to high blood glucose levels later on. Of course in general it is better to take too much than too little.

If I feel all right, what is the point of testing blood so often?

It is possible to feel well yet not have really perfect control of your diabetes. Although most people know when their blood glucose levels are very low or very high, few people can really tell moderate variations in blood glucose. Thus, how you feel may not be an adequate guide to good control and that is why we do blood tests. There are two main reasons. One is that blood will often give you an indication that things are going wrong even before you feel unwell, and thus you can take action to prevent yourself becoming sick. Prevention is better than cure. You and your doctor will also get important information from your tests about your diabetic state, and this will help you decide if the insulin type or dose, or the diet balance and other aspects of treatment are right for you.

Particularly because you are growing, treatment that is correct for you at one stage may not necessarily be correct for you later on. Blood testing may give an ‘early warning’ sign that adjustment is necessary, and at other times it may also help to reassure you that all is well.

The second reason may be harder for you as a child or youth to appreciate. There is reason to believe that efforts towards good control of your diabetes when you are young pays dividends in the long run, and will help keep you in good health through later life. Regular blood tests are the only effective way of checking on your diabetic control from day to day.

Is it necessary to test for ketones all the time?

No, although you doctor may ask you to do so for special reasons. It is generally only necessary to test for ketones if you are feeling ill or if your sugar tests are very high but it is a good idea to check routinely from time to time.

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