Foot packs, that is, wet stockings, have a very favorable action upon headache, toothache and earache, and are best applied during the night. If they excite the patient too much, they may easily be taken off during the night; otherwise they should be followed by a cold ablution of the feet in the morning. Nervous patients are usually unable to stand the wet stockings, which only work well if the feet become warm quickly, which, as a rule, is not the case in feverish illnesses.
Patients who suffer from cold feet should take a steam foot bath before applying cold foot packs.
Since the legs and the feet develop less heat than the abdomen, leg and foot packs do not require as thick material as abdominal packs, and are changed less frequently. They are best applied when the fever is at its height, in the late afternoon and at night. In case leg packs are continued for a long while, the legs show decreasing inclination to grow sufficiently warm. Whenever this occurs, leg packs must be discontinued, or the packed legs must be warmed in an artificial manner.
The diverting wrist packs are of special value, especially in all acute diseases of the lungs (inflammations, bleedings, hemorrhages) and the heart.
NECK PACK (26)
This is made by folding a piece of linen fourfold, long enough to reach twice around the neck. It is dipped in the vinegar-water at from 59 degrees to 64 degrees, placed around the neck and some woollen material wound over it, covering well the moist linen.
The neck pack has its effect on the inside of the neck in case of tonsilitis, croup, etc.
If stiffness of the neck, headache or similar pains are felt after its use, the moist linen should not be extended to the back part of the neck but only the front and sides.
Where the effect is to be extended to the trachea and its branches, the bronchia and the tips of the lungs, especially in the case of cough, it is still better to apply the following: