Pain is an indication that there is something wrong with the body that should receive attention. Some boys are more sensitive to pain than others, particularly boys of a highly strung, delicate, nervous nature. Most people, however, think too much of their pains. Most pains to which boys fall heir are due to trouble in the stomach or intestines, or to fevers. Many pains that boys feel mean very little. They are often due to a sore or strained muscle or nerve. A hot application or massage will often bring relief.
Sharply localized pain, except as the result of external injury, is not common among healthy boys, and, if found, particularly in the well-known appendix area, and if accompanied by other disquieting signs (temperature, pulse, etc.), should receive medical attention.
In a general way, any abdominal pain that does not yield in 24 hours to rest in bed with application of external heat, should call for the advice of a physician. Any severe attack of vomiting or diarrhea, accompanied by temperature, and not immediately traceable to some indiscretion in diet, is cause for study, and if improvement does not soon show itself, a physician should be called.
Pains in the extremities, particularly joints, if not clearly showing signs of improvement in two or three days, should also be the object of a physician's visit, as a fracture near a joint, if not correctly treated early, may result in permanent deformity.
The camp physician, or director, if he himself assumes the medical responsibilities, should enforce the rule that all boys who do not have a daily movement of the bowels see him, and he should always be ready to receive such cases and give them the necessary treatment.
The drawings by Albert G. Wegener illustrate in a general way what the trouble is when one feels a distinct, persistent pain.
Among healthy boys, in camp, thoracic pains, other than those due to muscular strain, are uncommon, but when severe, especially if accompanied by a rise of temperature (over 99.5 degrees) and not readily succumbing to rest in bed, should be investigated by a physician.
[Illustration: Sites of Pain.]
PAIN
The accompanying diagrams indicate what ailment may be looked for if there is a persistent pain. (Adapted from Butler; Diagnosis.)