Section
4
|
SORE THROAT
SYMPTOMS—The throat becomes sore and scratchy. This is often the first sign of an infection.
CAUSES—A variety of bacterial or virus infections can cause sore throat. Those which are of Streptococcus Group A origin tend to produce a higher fever than viral sources (upper respiratory infections, cold viruses, flu, etc.).
Anything irritating to the throat can initiate the problem (such as chronic coughing and loud talking). Other irritants include smoke, dust, fumes, very hot foods or drinks, abrasions, tooth and gum infections, loud talking, or chronic coughing.
Smoking is a major cause of sore throats.
Bacteria on toothbrushes can cause sore throats. Buy a new toothbrush or boil the old one at least once a month. Between uses, store the toothbrush in hydrogen peroxide—but rinse it well before using.
If a sore throat continues or recurs, it might be the onset of mononucleosis (especially if the sore throat lasts more than 2 weeks). Do not dally; go to bed and get well. A sore throat can be the first sign of something more serious: a cold; the flu; mononucleosis; herpes simplex; Epstein-Barr virus; or several childhood diseases, such as chickenpox or the measles. Sometimes a sore throat can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome, gingivitis, epiglottitis, diphtheria, laryngeal cancer, or an abscess around the tonsils.
A continual throat tickle could be an indication of a food allergy.
TREATMENT—
• Sip liquid vitamin C. Let it drip down the throat slowly (all the while trying to keep the acid C off the teeth, so it will not melt them). Coat the throat with raw honey mixed with lemon juice. Gargle with salty water (½ tsp. sea salt in a cup of water).
• Drink plenty of fluids—fruit and vegetable juices and lots of water. Go to bed, rest, trust in God, and get well.
• Use a mixture of raw honey and lemon juice, to coat and soothe the throat.
• Gargle alternately with chlorophyll liquid and sea salt (one half tsp. in a glass of warm water) every few hours.
• Enemas are very helpful.
• Herbs include eucalyptus, flaxseed, garden sage, German chamomile, and myrtle. Both goldenseal and echinacea fight bacterial and viral infection. (But do not take goldenseal over a week at a time, or during pregnancy.) Gargling with fenugreek tea will help relieve a sore throat. Marshmallow root tea soothes a scratchy, itchy throat. Hot mullein poultices soothe sore throats.
• An old herb doctor makes these suggestions: Gargle the throat with cayenne pepper tea, a half tsp. to a cup. Put an onion poultice on the neck over night, for 2-3 nights. Rub kerosene on the outside of the neck and cover it with warm flannel.
HYDRO—The following is from the author's Water Therapy Manual (see order sheet):
The Heating Throat Compress is an application of a cold cloth, covered with flannel, which then heats up and results in improved circulation and a better flow of healing blood into, and out of, the afflicted area. Wring the cotton cloth from cold water and place it around the neck. This should be about 2-3 thicknesses about the neck. Cover it well with flannel (singly or doubly, depending on the thickness). Fit the flannel snugly but not so tightly that it will be uncomfortable. Pin it securely. Remove it the next morning. It should be entirely dry (pp. 51-53).
Give a Hot Foot Bath (p. 116).
A Steam Bath is very helpful (pp. 131-135).
ENCOURAGEMENT—With the trusting faith of a little child, come to your heavenly Father. Tell Him all your needs. He is always ready to pardon and help. He can give you the guidance you need. He can give you strength to resist sin and obey His law.
LARYNGITIS—1 (Hoarseness; Aphonia)
SYMPTOMS—A tickling, raw, throat is the initial symptom. The voice becomes hoarse and weak, or it is lost entirely for a time (aphonia). The voice loss is frequently all that happens, and no fever or infection accompanies it.
CAUSES—"Hoarseness" is when it is with difficulty that you can speak; "aphonia" is when you have totally lost your voice. The cause of either is generally too much loud speaking, yelling, or the onset of a cold or upper respiratory tract infection.
TREATMENT—
• Do not talk. Try to avoid any speaking for a day or two. Do not even whisper. Just write notes.
Go on a short fruit and vegetable juice fast. This will help remove excess mucous.
• Drink lots of liquids, 8-10 glasses a day, but do not drink cold drinks or anything with ice in it.
• Breathe through your nose. This increases the humidity in your throat. Air in an airliner is very dry (because it is pressurized), so do not breath through your mouth if you are on a plane.
• Put your head over a hot bowl of water for 5 minutes, twice a day.
• Do not smoke.
• Helpful herbs include the following: slippery elm plus lemon and honey, which is very soft and soothing on the throat. This is an outstanding help.
• The "singer's plant" is hedge mustard (sisymbrium officinale). Take it as a liquid extract.
• Make a syrup out of wild cherry bark and take a little at a time.
• Drink 1 cup of eyebright tea, 3-4 times a day.
• Gargle with goldenseal tea, and drink some.
• Mix 2 tbsp. flaxseed and 1 tbsp. horehound. Boil in 1 pint of water for 10 minutes and strain. Squeeze 1 lemon into the tea, add a pinch of ginger. Take 1 tbsp. every half hour.
• Do not take aspirin. It increases clotting time, which can slow the healing process.
• Learn to avoid loud speaking. Train yourself to speak more softly. If you have something worth hearing, they will listen to you.
• When you feel the slightest indication of hoarseness coming on, cancel your speaking engagements.
• Eating mucous-forming foods, such as dairy products, meat, candy, and wheat can produce hoarseness. Talking in a tense voice can also. Drinking liquids with a meal tends to do it also.
• Learn to breathe and speak more correctly, without straining. Stop losing your temper. Gargle a quart of cold water every day.
• Drink and gargle with herb teas of wild cherry bark, mullein, and/or vervain.
—See "Laryngitis—2."
ENCOURAGEMENT—There is no safeguard against evil except surrender to Christ, studying the Bible, obeying it, and living to help others.
LARYNGITIS—2 (J.H. Kellogg, M.D., Formulas)
(1) ACUTE FORM —
GENERAL CARE—See "Nasal Catarrh, Part 1: Catarrh, Acute." Steam Inhalation, for 10 minutes, hourly; Heating Compress to throat without plastic covering; avoid use of voice while very hoarse.
(2) CHRONIC FORM —
INCREASE GENERAL VITAL RESISTANCE AND INVIGORATE THE SKIN—Graduated Cold Baths; sweating baths or prolonged Neutral Bath at night, 2-3 times a week. Follow sweating procedure by any suitable cold application.
TO RELIEVE LOCAL CONGESTION—Steam Inhalation for 10 minutes, every 4 hours; Fomentation at night, followed by well-protected Cold Compress to the neck, to be worn during the night.
COUGH—See under "Croup."
—See "Laryngitis—1."
PHARYNGITIS (J.H. Kellogg, M.D., Formulas)
(1) ACUTE FORM —
DIETARY FACTORS—Rest in bed, keep room at a uniform temperature. Eat a spare diet, consisting chiefly of fruits. Avoid meats of all sorts. Copious water drinking.
GENERAL CARE—Hot Blanket Pack; sweating Wet Sheet Pack; Steam Bath; Radiant Heat Bath; Hot Full Bath, followed by Dry Pack or other sweating procedures once daily, followed by Cold Mitten Friction, Cold Wet Sheet Rub, or Cold Douche. Fomentation to the throat 3 times daily; Cold Compress between, changed every 15-30 minutes. Enema, if bowels are inactive. Hot gargle every few minutes if throat is very sensitive. Ice Bag to throat if inflammation is intense. Inhalation of soothing vapors; use of steam inhaler for 10-14 minutes, hourly or almost continuously. If the tonsil suppurates (it oozes pus), it should be lanced. See your doctor.
(2) CHRONIC FORM —
CLERGYMAN'S SORE THROAT DIETARY AND LIFESTYLE—Aseptic dietary; out-of-door life; open-air gymnastics; swimming.
GENERAL CARE—Fomentations to the throat at bedtime, followed by throat pack (Cold Compress) during the night; hot gargle, 3 times a day. Radiant Heat Bath; sweating Wet Sheet Pack; Steam Bath or other sweating bath, 3 times weekly, followed by suitable cold application. Daily Cold Bath on rising. Moist Abdominal Bandage to be worn during the night. If necessary, remove tonsils and vegetations in throat or postnasal region.
SNORING
SYMPTOMS—Wheezing, sighing noises made through the mouth while a person is sleeping. It drives everyone else to distraction, except the one making the noise. The tissue in the upper airway in the back of the throat relaxes during sleep, and breathing in causes it to vibrate.
CAUSES—Snoring generally occurs while sleeping on the back. The mouth falls open and the singing begins.
Men snore much more often (71% of men) than women (51% of women). Most snorers are middle-aged, overweight men.
TREATMENT—
• Sleep on your side; not on your back. One method which works fine is to sew a tennis ball into the middle of the back of your pajamas. When you roll onto it in your sleep, you will quickly roll off again—and there will be no snoring.
• Pillows tend to elevate your head and increase snoring.
• Put blocks under the front legs of your bed, and elevate the entire upper part of your body. This will reduce snoring.
• Losing weight tends to lessen the snoring. The more overweight a person is, the more likely he or she will snore.
• Alcoholic drinkers and smokers tend to snore more than other people. Sleeping pills also increase it.
• Snoring can develop as a result of allergies, during or following hay fever time, or after colds.
• Tell your spouse to shake you when you snore. That will wake you enough that you will stop.
• Buy your spouse ear plugs to wear at night.
ENCOURAGEMENT—If you will come to Jesus just as you are, weak, helpless, and despairing, He will meet you a great way off, and will enable you to fully obey His Father's commandments.
The 4th
update of this encyclopedia is bigger and better than ever!