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FAMILY
HEALTH GUIDE
This page is a
guide to some simple practical steps that can be taken to lessen the effects of
commonly occurring ailments. These easy to follow measures will help with the
vast majority of such illnesses.
Contents
Diarrhoea
& Vomiting
Sore
Throats
Ear
Ache
Coughs
Colds
Viruses & Flu
Fevers
& Temperatures
Anti-Biotics
DIARRHOEA
and VOMITING
Stomach
upsets are usually caused by viruses or by something you have eaten. Measures
that will help include:
·
Do not
eat any food and do not drink anything milky, because doing either of these will
just make things worse
·
Drink
frequent small amounts of clear fluids, e.g. water, flat lemonade or flat
coke. Infants can use cooled boiled water or a solution of Dioralyte®.
·
Continue
with clear fluids until the symptoms have settled. Only restart eating a light
diet (e.g. boiled rice) when you have been symptom free for at least 12 hours.
·
Tablets
or medication to stop the diarrhoea / vomiting are often unhelpful
·
For any
discomfort or fever take a regular dose of Paracetamol up to four times a day.
For children use a syrup form such as Calpol®
or Medinol®.
Refer to the packaging for full dosage instructions.
·
Contact
the surgery if:
o
there is
blood in the vomit or diarrhoea
o
there is
a continuing high fever which does not settle with Paracetamol
o
the
vomiting continues for more than 24 hours, or the diarrhoea continues for more
than 3 days
or
if you pass little or no urine within a 12 hour period (six hours for a baby).
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SORE
THROATS
Sore
throats are usually caused by viruses. Antibiotics are not effective against
viruses.
The symptoms
will normally settle over 4 or 5 days with the following measures:
·
Drink
plenty of fluids.
·
Take a
regular dose of Paracetamol up to four times a day. For children use a syrup
form such as Calpol® or Medinol®.
Refer to the packaging for full dosage instructions.
·
Gargle
four times a day - add half a teaspoon of salt to a cup of warm water and gargle
with this. Smaller children will probably not be able to gargle.
·
You may
wish to try one of the available lozenges such as Strepsils®
– discuss this with the pharmacist and read the instructions carefully.
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EARACHE
Earache
can be due to a number of problems including:
ear infections, a sore throat, wax in the ear and dental problems.
If there is an infection in the ear you usually feel feverish and have a
temperature. The following help:
·
Take a
regular dose of Paracetamol up to four times a day. For children use a syrup
form such as Calpol® or Medinol®.
Refer to the packaging for full dosage instructions.
·
Antibiotics
are often initially not required and
the majority of infections will settle after a few days.
·
Do not
poke anything in the ear.
Make
an appointment if the pain is not easing after 24 hours of regular Paracetamol
or if there is a lot of non-waxy discharge.
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COUGHS
By
far the majority of coughs are caused by some form of virus and will usually
settle within two or three weeks. In
otherwise fit people antibiotics are not required. Try
the following measures:
·
If there is mucus to cough up it is better to actually bring it up.
·
If the cough is dry or hacking try sucking a boiled sweet
- (do not give boiled sweets to small children)
·
Cough mixtures may help - the chemist will advise you as to the best one
and there are some available for children.
·
Avoid smoking and avoid all smoky rooms – this is especially
important for babies and children. Anybody who smokes should do so outside, well
away from the affected person
·
If there is any associated fever take a regular dose of Paracetamol up to four
times a day. For children use a syrup form such as Calpol®
or Medinol®.
Refer to the packaging for full dosage instructions.
·
If you are asthmatic it is important to continue taking your regular
inhalers and your doctor may well have instructed you to increase the frequency
of inhaler use during a cold.
·
Make an appointment to see the doctor if you are coughing blood or are
significantly breathless. You should also be seen at the surgery if you have
heart disease or a chronic chest problem and are
coughing up increasing amounts of yellow sputum over the course of 2-3 days.
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COLDS,
VIRUSES AND FLU
Symptoms
you can expect include fever, runny nose, red eyes, sore throat, sneezing,
cough, headache, and general
muscular aches and pains. Symptoms
usually last up to a week but can be longer. An annoying cough and tiredness
can continue for 2-3 weeks. If you have flu the symptoms will tend to be
more severe. Things you can do
include:
·
Take a
cough medicine - the chemist will advise you.
·
You may
not feel like eating, but drink plenty of fluids so you do not become
dehydrated.
·
Take a
regular dose of Paracetamol up to four times a day. For children use a syrup
form such as Calpol® or Medinol®.
Refer to the packaging for full dosage instructions.
·
Follow
the other instructions below in “Treatment of a fever”.
·
For
adults and older children, sinus and nasal congestion can be helped by using a
steam inhalation (take care not to scald yourself!), sweets such as Tunes, or a
decongestant from the chemist.
N.B.
If you are 65 years old or over, or suffer from heart disease, chest problems,
asthma or diabetes you should get vaccinated yearly against Flu.
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TREATMENT
OF A FEVER
·
Take a
regular dose of Paracetamol up to four times a day. For children use a syrup
form such as Calpol® or Medinol®.
Refer to the packaging for full dosage instructions.
·
Strip off clothing or excessive bedding - keeping somebody wrapped up
warm will only make them even hotter!
·
Regular tepid sponging will help - take a bowl with tepid water (the
temperature somewhere between cool and warm) and regularly sponge the
forehead/head with a wetted flannel or sponge. Don’t dry the wetted area off -
let it dry by evaporation.
·
Fanning somebody with, e.g. a magazine or newspaper, will also help, as
will slightly opening a window if the room is hot.
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THE
USE OF ANTIBIOTICS
In
otherwise fit people the conditions listed above do not normally require
antibiotics. If you are given antibiotics you should take the full course.
They take approximately 48 hours to start working and it is not uncommon for
symptoms, such as a cough, to continue for a while after the course has
finished.
If
you develop a similar problem in the future you should, unless otherwise
instructed, firstly try the measures in this leaflet. You do not necessarily
need to have another course of antibiotics and, in fact, too many courses can be
harmful and lead to ‘resistant super-bugs’.
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