Wednesday 18 February 2015

Cold compress..Every mum must know how to make and use cold compress

When your baby takes a first step  its a very exciting moment. But it is the time you should be ready and alert to treat your little ones bumped injuries.Yes! our little angels are so determine to walk that they do not give up no matter how many times they fell over or bumped into things.
Every time they bumped into things they hurt themselves and you need to use cold compress to make sure they do not get bruised or swell.What is cold compress? here is the definition.

Cold compression therapy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Cold Compression Therapy combines two of the principles of R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) to reduce pain and swelling from a sports or activity injury to soft tissues and recommended by orthopedic surgeons following surgery. The therapy is especially useful for sprains, strains, pulled muscles and pulled ligaments.

A cold compress is used to cool an injured area, which protects body tissue by slowing metabolic rate and reducing swelling around the injury. A cold compress can range from a cloth dipped in cold water to a commercially available pad or pouch that is made cold through freezing or chemical action. Cold compresses are an important part of treating soft tissue injuries such as strains, sprains, bruises, and toothaches.
http://www.wikihow.com/Apply-a-Cold-Compres

How to cold compress your little one:

At home when your toddler bumped into some things and cry.First thing when you pick your child you should search where is the injury? Is  it on the forehead or back of head or nose etc. 
  1. If there is a bruise appeared ,you should not wait longer you should straight away put a cold compress on the injured area and hold it for good three minutes with out gap. Then check the injured area how much is the bruise? If your child has hurt themselves hard then there will be a visible bruise , you should place the cold compress back on the injured area. During this time your toddler will cry because they do not like to be held in one position. But you should be strong and firm. If they cries badly give a minute gap to calm them down offer them something to distract and put cold compress back on the injured area until bruise goes down. It will maximum take 5 to 10 minutes only. But your baby will have no more pain after that and there will not be any bruise or swelling left.
  2. If your child has cut their lip or hit their mouth and its bleeding you should offer them cold water  And do apply cold compress if you can but if injury is inside mouth or lips you can offer them any ice lolly. Toddlers usually loves ice lolly and keep it in their mouth in this way you can cold compress them. But if bleeding does not stop you should consult doctor.
  3. If you are not sure what to do you can ring your health visitor or ring NHS direct advice line(UK residents)
  4. There is a possibility that when your little one got hurt you could not find cold compress. Dont worry you should check in your freezer you would have ice cubes or frozen vegetables or frozen package food,  wrap them in cotton cloth and use it as a cold compress. 
  5. One thing is very important NEVER use home made cold compress direct to the injured skin It will cause frostbite. Use any cloth barrier between compress and injured skin.
  6. Make sure that cold compress completely cover the injured area.