Dr D A Ware · Dr G V Price · Dr J A Crane · Dr G A Preest· Dr O Thomas

Many common aches and pains can be simply treated at home without need to consult a doctor.

Back pain
Back pain causes 13 million working days to be lost in Britain each year. The spine supports the whole weight of the upper body, so it is understandable that it sometimes goes wrong. Because of the complex nature of the spine, it is advisable to consult your doctor if back pain persists for longer than a few days. If, as usual, the pain has been caused by abuse i.e. lifting too heavy weights etc., be sensible and take things easy, but remain as active as you can. Take care to sit upright with a support for the small of the back. Take aspirin or paracetamol, which will not only relieve pain, but will also, help to relieve inflammation. There is now good evidence to show that inactivity tends to lead to more long-term problems. It seems that the most important thing you can do is to remain as active as you can - this will tend to speed your recovery, and it will lead to less long-term problems.

Burns
Apply large quantities of cold water to the affected area as soon as possible and maintain this for as long as 15 minutes. If the skin is unbroken but blistered, apply a loose, dry dressing. If the burn is larger than 4 or 5 inches across, or if the skin is broken, consult your doctor or go to Casualty.

ANTIBIOTICS DO NOT KILL THE VIRUSES THAT CAUSE COLDS AND ‘FLU

Go to bed and take plenty of fluids. If you have a headache or are feverish, take aspirin or paracetamol. We do not, at present, have a cure for the ‘flu or common cold. Remember that we can prevent infection for certain groups of susceptible individuals (i.e. the elderly) by immunisation.

Head lice
These creatures prefer clean hair and are, therefore, not a sign of poor personal hygiene! The safest way to remove them, without side effects, is to use a lice comb. Medicated lotion can be obtained from the chemist without prescription.

Chickenpox (the fancy name for this is Varicella Zoster)
The incubation period for this infection is between 10 and 21 days (usually 14 days). The incubation period is the time that it takes for the illness to develop after contact with an infected individual. On the first day, the rash appears as small red patches about 3-4mm across. Within a few hours of these developing, small blisters appear in the centre of these patches.

During the next 3-4 days, further patches will appear and the earlier ones will turn "crusty" and fall off.
There is no magic cure. Antihistamines (e.g. "Piriton") may relieve the intense itching and most are available over the counter at the Chemist. Drowsiness can be a side effect of "Piriton" - this may be a useful effect if the child is unable to sleep. Calamine lotion may be applied to soothe the often severe itching. Cool baths may help. It is said that a few teaspoons of sodium bicarbonate in the bath water can help to dry up the crusts. The most infectious period is from 2-3 days before the rash appears until the last of the blisters dries to a scab. Children may return to school after the last of the crusts fall off. If you're going to get chickenpox, it's better to get it as a child because the disease can be much more severe in adults. Avoid contact with women in the early or very late stages of pregnancy, during the infectious period - provided they are not already immune to the disease because of previous infection. Chickenpox can be very dangerous if you have never had it before and contract it whilst taking steroids - such patients should contact the doctor straight away.
Commonly asked question: "Can you catch shingles from chickenpox?" - No, but you can catch chickenpox from shingles! How? When you contract chickenpox, the virus never leaves your body. As the last of the blisters dries up to a scab, the virus isn't going - it migrates along the nerves back to the spinal column where it lies dormant for the rest of your life. At some point in the future (if you are run down, tired or if your immune system is impaired) a small colony of the virus might "wake up" and crawl along the nerves back to the skin's surface. It forms a rash on the surface which is laden with chickenpox virus. This rash is shingles and it tends to form a strip of painful blisters anywhere on the right or left hand sides of the body (it is usually unilateral). Thus shingles is your own previous chickenpox infection which has come back to life - so you can't "catch" shingles from someone else. However, because the shingles rash is full of chickenpox virus you can catch chickenpox from contact with the shingles rash.

Diarrhoea
Diarrhoea may be caused by viral or bacterial infections in the bowel. The most important thing you can do is to drink plenty of fluids, since most cases will settle with time. You can drink cooled, boiled water, flat coca-cola or one of the commercial rehydration drinks (e.g. "Dioralyte"). Be wary of using kaolin & morphine or other constipating agents to stop diarrhoea, because if infection is the cause, they may impair the body’s ability to rid itself of the bugs! Diarrhoea in very young children and babies needs careful attention. Most babies have loose bowel action during their first 6 months due to their predominantly liquid diet. Sudden bouts of unusually watery diarrhoea should be treated by taking the baby off milk or solids and giving them Dioralyte or a similar product. Young babies can become dehydrated very quickly and you should consult your doctor, particularly if vomiting, weakness or drowsiness accompanies the symptoms.

Sprains
Remember the word R.I.C.E.!
Rest the affected limb. Apply Ice to the area (or a bag of frozen peas!). Apply Compression with a bandage or support and Elevate the limb (this will help to reduce swelling).

Fever or high temperature
Fever or a high temperature can be a normal response to illness. Elevating the body temperature may be nature’s way of making our bodies’ environment unpleasant for the bugs that cause disease. Unfortunately, when our temperature rises, we feel unpleasant too!

There are several ways to lower a raised temperature:

If you are worried, contact your doctor for advice.

Insect bites and stings
Antihistamine tablets can be obtained from the Chemist without prescription and will usually relieve most symptoms.
Bee stings should be scraped away rather than "plucked" in order to avoid squeezing the contents of the venom sac into the wound.