Post by strop2 on Sept 19, 2014 15:02:36 GMT 8
Obviously, it is wise not to put off the Doctor/Dentist visit - when will SHTF?
Being prepared, means being capable of assisting others in their medical needs. There are some good medical videos on the Internet but anything produced by the Military or by paramedics is a great resource.
Whenever possible I have practiced simple Medical procedures on myself. I have always initially conducted these procedures when I had access to Medical Clinics or Hospitals, just in case I made a mistake that needed to be quickly rectified.
I realize that if SHTF - Doctors may be in short supply, difficult to locate, or very busy.
On a trip to Cambodia, almost 7 yrs ago, my Father-in-Law said his foot was hurting. I then asked questions and discovered his foot was hurt planting rice when he stood on something and it had been painful for 3 yrs. I discovered an obvious hard 1cmx1cmx2cm callus under his foot which protruded and caused pain whenever his foot touched the ground. I took out the cloves and scalpel from my med kit. It took 20 min to slowly cut the callus away to where there was an indentation in the foot that was 1cmx2cm deep. There was no blood, there was no pain, he was able to run straight away, and he has not had any problem with the foot since. Or I could have taken him to see a Doctor if one could be found. Why didn't he have it seen to, sooner???
Over the last few years, I have practiced with Wartner - a freezing technology but there are other Brand Names on the market that work as good or better. It is just a matter of following directions on the pack, however, I have never had warts and use the Wartner to kill off basic skin cancer, and skin tags.
Skin Tags - which I had on the side of the chest and rubbed when swinging the arm. I froze a couple of these off but one enlarged and instead of waiting for it to rub off, I decided to dull any pain by icing, pull it with a pair of tweezers and cut it off with a pair of scissors - this worked well and I only needed a little iodine and a band aid to finish.
In Grown Toe Nails - I had one of these removed permanently three times, it grew back twice. Another one was OK but I had to remove a section of the nail every 3 months. Now that I don't wear boots everyday, I removed a section of toe nail after 12 months and experimented by using a different tool. The photos below explain what I did.
Photo 1. I used an Engraver to cut through the nail. This was much easier than using scissors and was painless. Just take it slow when cutting through.
Photo 2. Still use a pair of scissors to finish off, also painless.
Photo 3. Raise the cut section for removal with tweezers or pliers. It is easier to remove if attached skin is scrapped or cut with a scalpel or small box cutter. The pliers are wriggled side to side and slowly pull away from the in grown site. Go slow, less trauma - less pain, less blood, and quicker recover. Iodine and small bandage or iodine and open wound recovery.
I would never advocate doing your own procedures, however, you could do the basics, it's called first aid. With any Medical condition, during SHTF, you may have to think outside the box to become self sufficient.
