Health Care for Fun and Profit July 16, 2011

2011, July 16

Primitive medical diagnoses. A guide to health care for independent, self-sufficient, (poor) persons.

Case One:

M has had a productive cough for a month, more or less. It feels as if the exudate comes from the upper part of the chest, ie. trachea or lungs. However, experience has taught M that most productive coughs are byproducts of sinus drainage. The mucus from irritated or infected sinuses drains, often unnoticed, into the upper trachea. There is is felt as irritant and stimulates a cough.

A: How to determine if the resulting slimy glob originated in the sinuses or in the lungs.

1. Sleep with your body above your head, head hanging upside down. Thus, the snot will drain out your nose or mouth and not into your trachea. If this happens, and as a result the morning cough produces nothing, the sinuses are the culprit.
2. However, a side effect of this method is that by morning one's face will be swollen, his head may ache, his ears may feel full and his breathing will be disturbed by his blocked nose, ears and mouth.
3. As an aside, he may drown in his own snot or choke to death during sleep.
4. If M is willing to go to the trouble to arrange his sleep position thus, and is willing to take the chance mentioned in number 3 above, he may locate the seat of his problem

B: Probably cause and treatment if the source of the drainage is in the sinuses.

1. If the diagnosis is allergies, a simple remedy is available. There are over-the-counter drugs to minimize the reaction to allergies in humans. Ask you local pharmacist.
2. Irrigating one's sinuses with a product called a Neti pot will help to thin the secretions and clear the sinuses. This will wash out the trapped bacteria and lessen the inflammation, thus allowing the body to heal itself.
3. This can take some time, months perhaps, and the daily cleansing must be continued to achieve the desired result, a cough free life.
4. Be advised that any, all, some, many of the above, or simply nothing, can cause ear infection, strangulation, headache, nausea, vomiting—with resulting aspiration and pneumonia leading to death. Proceed with care and consider you options fully.

C: Another day we will deal with what to do if the exudate is, in fact, originating in the lungs or trachea, including the roll of tobacco in physical illness.

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