Pain
and fever Control Without Aspirin
We
have become known as the chemical society. Many of our prominent diseases are
intimately associated, often in a way that we do not realize, with our exposure
to chemicals of various kinds from kitchen detergents and exhaust fumes to
powerful drugs like cortisone.
Our
exposure to chemicals is so common that we do not recognize that a number of
these chemicals are giving us injury. We become so accustomed to contact with
chemicals and drugs that we have idiomatic expressions in our language such as
"harmless as aspirin" using a common chemical as a prototype of
harmless things.
We
should not regard any exposure a chemical that is not native to the body or the
natural environment as being harmless or to be used safely without restraint.
Aspirin is particularly harmful, and should be looked on with strong suspicion.
About 10,000 Americans each year lose their lives because of taking
aspirin. These deaths are entirely
separate from accidental overdose in children. Aspirin is the trade name for
acetylsalicylic acid.
The
two most common uses of aspirin are pain relief
and fever reduction. Approximately
17,500 tons of aspirin each year are used in these ways, to the tune of $600
million a year. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is used similarly, but contrary to
earlier advertising, it appears to be even more toxic than aspirin. I agree with
the many physicians who feel that aspirin should be a strictly controlled
prescription item, not an over-the-counter drug.
Approximately
5% of persons taking aspirin will have heartburn after a single dose. Bleeding
in the stomach and ulceration may follow in susceptible individuals, and is the
affliction with results in most of the deaths from aspirin. Nearly 70% of
persons taking aspirin daily show a daily blood loss of 1/2 to 11/2 teaspoons,
and 10% of patients lose as much as 2 teaspoons of blood daily. Aspirin may
double the time necessary for human blood to clot, increasing the likelihood of
hemorrhage.
By
far, the most disabling of the adverse reactions to aspirin is that of asthma.
Attacks of asthma are often caused by very small amounts of the drug, and may be
accompanied by swelling of the larynx, abdominal pain, and shock. In an
occasional case, death may occur within minutes. Fortunately, this type of
sensitivity is unusual, occurring in less than 0.2% of the general population.
Aspirin
is a major cause of death in children up to 6 years of age, accounting for more
than 500 deaths from overdoses each year. One should never consider any drug,
whether over-the counter or prescription to be totally safe. No one, and
especially not children, should be exposed unnecessarily to any drug. And never
expose the unborn baby to drugs, no matter how mild, including antacids, choose
for heartburn, antihistamines for motion sickness, or any other drug or
chemical. This point cannot be emphasized too strongly, as many infants are
marked for life because of a small exposure to a chemical which the mother took
while she was pregnant. Often the defect in the child is of a biochemical nature
rather than a structural abnormality. Perhaps the baby will not be able to make
a certain enzyme needed to digest a particular nutrient, or make an essential
blood component.
Most
pain and fever can be easily controlled without aspirin or Tylenol.
To control pain use heat or cold, or alternating applications of both,
applying the heat or cold by a variety of different routes--heating pad, hot
water bottle, ice cap, an ordinary fruit jar filled with ice or hot water and
wrapped in a towel. Other methods include a hot tub bath, a hot shower, a
"short cold bath" (30-120 seconds in cold bath water of 50-65
degrees). Usually, hot water applied directly to the part, if practicable, is
the most effective, the temperature of the water being from 105-110 degrees,
depending on the health of the individual and the part to be treated, but the
easiest method should be tried first. Generally, the hot applications should be
as hot as can be tolerated and the cold applications should be as cold as you
can get them. Alternating hot and cold packs may be applied to the chest, to the
abdomen, or to any part for aches and pains. Wring a towel from hot water and
place it on the painful part for 3-6 minutes. Replace the hot compress with an
ice-cold compress for 30-60 seconds. Alternate in this fashion for 3-5 changes.
If
headache relief is needed, put the feet in hot water for 30 minutes. The
headache will dissolve into the footbath! Of course, if one is a severe diabetic
on insulin, or has known blockage of arteries to the legs, this treatment should
not be used, for even ordinary temperatures can sometimes cause blisters in
these persons.
Common
fevers can easily be treated by sitting in a hot tub bath from 105 to 110
degrees until the skin is quite red, and profuse sweating occurs. After the
first five minutes, keep an ice cold cloth to the forehead, or from the
beginning if the fever starts out over 101 degrees. Take a cup of hot water or
hot herb tea when sweating begins. When the skin is red and sweating profusely,
after 10-20 minutes, then finish off the remedy as follows: (1) work fast to
take a brief spray of cool water over the entire body from the chin downward;
(2) then a quick friction rubdown with a coarse towel; (3) wrap a bathrobe
around you, jump into bed and sweat for half an hour; (4) arise, take a brief,
normal shower if needed to cleanse the skin and relieve a sense of chilliness
after sweating, and (5) re-dress.
At
all times that the body temperature goes above 101 degrees or when one begins
sweating while taking any kind of hot bath, a cold cloth should be kept on the
face, forehead or throat. When one finishes the hot soaking bath, if the
treatment has been a good one, a sensation of weakness may develop after a
minute or so of standing, because of the transfer of blood from the interior of
the body to the exterior, much as in sunburn. This is normal, because of
extensive reddening of the skin.
Disclaimer: The above counseling sheet
is provided courtesy of the Uchee Pines
Health Institute. The Uchee Pines Institute was started almost 30 years ago
by Calvin Thrash, M.D., specialist in Internal Medicine, and his wife, Agatha
Thrash, M.D., board specialist in pathology. It is a non-profit, health
educational and treatment facility located in the country near Seale, Alabama,
15 miles from Columbus, Georgia. (Address: Uchee Pines Institute, 30
Uchee Pines Road
Seale, Alabama 36875-5702. Phone: (334) 855-4764. Fax: (334)
855-4780. Email: ucheepines@msn.com.
Location Map: Click Here).
The information contained in the counseling sheets is presented as a general
educational and information guide. The counseling sheets are not intended to be
used for instruction in medical treatment. The author cannot assume the medical
or legal responsibility of having this information misinterpreted and considered
as a prescription for any condition or any person.