Do not go out in the cold air directly after using a hot gargle.
Use at least six separate mouthfuls each time you gargle, and hold long enough at the back of the throat for the gargle to reach every part.
A spray should not be used for the nose without a special order from the doctor. The liquid sometimes gets into the passage leading to the ear and causes earache.
Always wipe the nozzle of the atomizer before using. It should be cleaned after each use and boiled, if another patient is to use it. Always boil the nozzle and clean out the bottle when the atomizer is to be put away. Keep it in a box where dust will not reach it.
Inhalations are useful to relieve difficult breathing and for loss of voice or hoarseness. Fill a pitcher, bowl, or basin, two-thirds full of boiling water. Wrap with a towel to prevent burning if it should touch a patient. Usually drugs such as peppermint spirits, oil of eucalyptus, or tincture of benzoin, in dose of a teaspoonful to the hot water contained in the receptacle, is enough. If no drug is at hand, the steam itself may be depended upon to do some good. Pin one end of a bath towel around the face below the eyes and spread the other over the pitcher inhaling the steam as it rises. It may not be possible to induce a child to do this, in which case make a tent of an open umbrella with a sheet thrown over it at the head of the bed, leaving the front a little open. Place the pitcher so that the child will get the steam and hold the pitcher carefully all the time. Do not let the pitcher touch the patient.
Another means of inhalation is to hold a funnel, made of a piece of folded paper in the nose of a kettle of very hot water, near the patient so that the steam can be inhaled. Be very careful not to scald the patient. After a steam inhalation one should not go out in the cold air nor have the windows opened for an hour or more.
Common Medicines and Other Remedies
It is a very safe rule never to take medicines oneself without a doctor's orders. Above all, never advise others, even when you know from experience that certain medicines have helped yourself and others. Medicines should be taken upon prescription from the physician, should be measured accurately, and given at the exact hour ordered.
Read carefully the label or box from which you take the medicine before and after opening or uncorking, and read the name again when putting back in its place. Many people have been poisoned by not reading the label. Have all glasses and spoons, etc., thoroughly cleansed before and after using.
Accuracy, attention, cleanliness, regularity should be watchwords.