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Show HEALTH A Medical Marvel in Your Kitchen the Ice Cube! It deadens pain, retards bleeding and infection; it's safe and inexpensive something you should learn to use in common household emergencies IF By JACK B. KEMMERER Suppose someone told you exciting new drug which kills pain almost instantly, helps control bleeding, is completely safe, pre- vents infection and costs practically nothing. You would demand to know the name of this exciting new wonder drug. Yet, without a doubt, you have plenty of it in your home at this moment. The new wonder drug? An ice cube! Medical authorities say that ice is such a powerful anesthetic that surgeons have used it in performing some types of major surgery with patients fully conscious. In the majority of these cases, the patients sit up in bed immediately after the operation, request food, and then call friends on the telephone. There are no aftereffects or drowsiness because they had no anesthetic by inhalation or by injection. These are extreme cases, but there are many everyday conditions where ice can be used as a pain reliever. e remedies used ice Many or cold water as a basic part of their treatment, but the renewed interest in therapy probably stems from a recent report made by doctors at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Over a period, the Army medics prescribed ice to approximately 5,000 soldiers who complained of various aches and pains when answering sick call. After instructions, most of the men were sent back to their barracks to apply the ice themselves. According to the report, the results were "striking." With the latest medical advice being "cool it," you might ask, "Does it really work?" Mrs. Vernon Irby, a Silver Spring, Md., housewife, thinks old-tim- ice-cu- be two-ye- ar so. "It was fantastic," she says. "Two ice applications on an aching back had me up and around." Two years ago a similar attack took 10 heat treatments at a hospital to get the same results, she says. Doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., prescribed the home treatment for Mrs. Irby. "They told me to freeze water in orange juice cans and rub the cans on my back," Mrs. Irby said. Have you ever attempted to remove a small sliver from the tip of your finger? It's easy. All you have to do is sterilize the point of a needle in a match flame, then place the tip of the finger on an ice cube until it becomes numb. Now, the sliver can be lifted out without pain. At a doctor's office in Los Angeles, the children will only allow one of his several nurses to give them their immunization shots. Why this favorite nurse? Simple. Before each shot, she places an ice cube over the area for about 15 seconds, quickly dries it with tissue, swabs the skin with fcleohol, and puts the needle in while the spot is still numb from the ice. The children don't feel a thing. Sports fans will remember that Sandy Kouf ax, the Los Angeles Dodgers' great pitcher, alsoaked his aching arm in an ways for at least an hour after each game he pitched. According to Koufax, it worked perfectly. You would think that the effects of heat would be directly opposite to those of ice. Ironically, however, ice is being used in innumerable cases where heat was once prescribed. Doctors agree that both cold and heat penetrate muscles and soothe aches, but the ice advocates claim that cold penetrates deeper than heat and thus brings relief from pain much quicker. They say that ice application in these cases must be coupled with exercises, left-hand- ice-ba- th ed and they agree that the application of ice is usually more uncomfortable than the application of heat. Massive pain quite often accompanies a heart attack, and sometimes the doctor has to inject morphine to prevent severe shock to the patient. But until the doctor comes, almost instant relief can be gained by rubbing an ice cube gently on the chest over the painful area. After ice treatment in this situation, morphine may not even be necessary when the doctor arrives. It should be stressed, however, that the ice treatment merely eases the pain it does nothing whatsoever for what caused the pain in the first place. If you burn your finger, you probably have been told to rub butter or some other oily substance on the burn. Instinctively, however, you probably will pop your finger into your mouth to cool it. And your instincts are right, for, ideally, the finger should be soaked immediately in a container of cold water in which ice has been placed. Or, if you prefer, the ice cube can be rubbed gently over the burn until the pain is no longer felt. While the relief from pain is prompt, more important is the fact that there will be very little swelling, and blisters won't form. Consequently, the burn will heal much more rapidly. e treatment also helps prevent infection, as any part of the body that is refrigerated is not likely to become infected, even if contaminated with dirt. While being applied, the temperature keeps germs dormant and unable to multiply. Ice has another medical virtue. It aids greatly in stopping bleeding, not only surface bleeding but that which occurs under the skin as when an eye is bruised or a shin scuffed. The discoloration is ugly Ice-cub- ice-co-ld black-and-bl- caused by the leakage of blood from torn blood vessels. An ice cube placed over the bruised area constricts the blood vessels, thereby greatly reducing leakage until clotting takes place. Itching is just one of the many skin conditions that can be relieved by ice. When the skin itches, it is natural for a person to rub or scratch, but the relief is very brief. The itching not only returns but is far more intense. The application of ice often retards the itching. If the area to be treated is large, crack the ice cubes into small pieces, put them into a large bath towel, and fold over to form a pack which can then be adjusted to the shape of the affected part. Leave the pack in place until the ice melts; the ice can be replaced as often as is necessary. The pack is particularly good for such places as the shoulder, in the case of bursitis, or for sprains. Does this application to the bare skin ever cause frostHte which can be dangerous? No not if applied carefully. Ice, as long as it is mixed with water, is not dangerous because it does not freeze the tissues, it refrigerates them. The difference is slight, but is large enough to be a good margin of safety. Never add salt to an ice bath or bag. Salted ice does hasten chilling, but it can also cause frostbite. How big a doso of ice can a patient take? Dr. John Mennell, associate professor of physical medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, recommends a rub with one ice cube. One word of caution: doctors say that while ice massage relieves many types of pain including the after-pai- n of a heart attack it doesn't necessarily clear up the problem. Ice should never be used without proper diagnosis or knowing what's causing the trouble. ice-tow- el Family Weekly, November 9, 1969 |