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Post by mudlark on Apr 15, 2015 22:52:26 GMT
I am not sure where to post this. But would it be useful to have a thread about health, either child or adult. I mean coughs, colds, rashes, lumps bumps and bruises, bodily functions. That sort of health. Is the general board a good place for it?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2015 7:49:27 GMT
Yes
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Post by runmum on Apr 16, 2015 19:20:07 GMT
Yes to some extent - remember that Dr Google is not the same as your GP (elusive though that appointment may be) or your local pharmacist - variable quality I find but find a good one and it's pretty useful for eye infections, coughs, colds, diarrhoea, constipation, heartburn etc etc. NHS Choices is a pretty good source of information too - they have a great bit where they debunk myths and review newspaper health headlines and give the evidence based side in easy to understand language. However it's important to share personal experiences and we all do it in the playground so online is no different. We can help each other more where there is already a clear diagnosis and we have all tried different things but still every person is different and their medical history will dictate how well they respond to different things. Just giving a slightly cautious health professional view - I get people tell me all sorts of rubbish they have read online - some from dodgy websites some from well meaning people. As a healthcare professional I can't give individual advice without a full medical history it would not be ethical but I can point people in the right direction.
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Post by kstar on Apr 16, 2015 20:38:30 GMT
Would be great for simple but very annoying things like coughs and colds! Or even for the sort of placebo effect "magic cream" type things we all sometimes need when we can see that the minute paper cut isn't life threatening but in that moment it's the end of the world! (Or is it just Starlet who does that?)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2015 8:21:14 GMT
Well kstar, my mum had the magic step in our house. It was the bottom step of the stairs and if any of us complained of an upset tummy (usually just before school), she would tell us to sit on the 'magic step' which we did while she continued getting the 4 of us ready, making breakfast etc, and magically the upset tummy would disappear.  I think it was a distraction technique which did work, because, A) tummy pains (anxiety about school) would disappear and B). sometimes you would just get bored and completely forget why you were sitting there in the first place, so it was magic really.  |
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Post by mudlark on Apr 17, 2015 21:24:18 GMT
I use 'tummy medicne' as we are always having 'my tummy hurts' ..so its some elderflower cordial with warm water given on a teaspoon with loads of empathy...if it is anxiety it usually goes.
Not having had children before...it seems that my little ones are always 'hurting' in one way or another, and medicine even if made by me really seems to help..!
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Post by gilreth on Apr 20, 2015 7:24:02 GMT
I rarely need any help thankfully - having a pharmacist on tap (in my husband) is very useful. But yes 'magic cream' is used in our house for those small incidents - and 'kissing it better'. Thankfully Sqk is a pretty healthy child so rarely have much beyond bumps & bruises to deal with.
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Post by lilyofthevalley on Apr 20, 2015 21:36:35 GMT
Does anyone else have an allergic reaction to oil seed rape fields? I have a long history of allergies, especially hay fever, and fairly recently was diagnosed with asthma. The asthma hasn't bothered me for a while but recently I've been having symptoms again. I was wondering why and then it suddenly struck me that all the fields around where I live are in bloom with oil seed rape. When my AD was very ill with ME many years ago asthma was one of her multiple symptoms and she was badly affected by oil seed rape. However it did not grow near us. But if I saw a field in the distance as I was driving the car I would have to do a detour to avoid it as it made her asthma symptoms so bad. I think the growing of oil seed rape is extending over the countryside.
Lily x
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Post by corkwing on Apr 21, 2015 5:28:50 GMT
Lily, it sets off my hay fever.
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Post by gilreth on Apr 21, 2015 8:33:58 GMT
Lily - oil seed rape triggered my hayfever in the first place and is something I hate. Just lucky living in foothilsl of Pennines it is mainly pasture land round ehre so not too much arable (and hence oil-seed rape) around.
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Post by kstar on Apr 21, 2015 20:04:44 GMT
Me too, I rarely suffered until I moved here and now it's misery every spring! It not only gives me traditional hay fever symptoms but also horrid headaches bordering on migraines, sometimes even dizziness. It's yucky :-(
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Post by lolapola on May 5, 2015 19:11:10 GMT
I have two Mr Happy gel pad things that live in the door of the fridge - they barely get cold, but they work wonders for the smallest of bumps, bangs and scratches. Best of all, the boys are so delighted by the phrase 'would Mr Happy help?' that they dash to the fridge to get it themselves! I just have to make sure they make it back to the fridge for the next 'emergency'.
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Post by kstar on Sept 28, 2015 20:44:33 GMT
Starlet has a really high temp tonight. She was off school today with a fever, feeling generally run down but then tonight suddenly the fever spiralled out of control. She had fallen asleep on the sofa and when she woke up she was hallucinating and making no sense - mummy get all those people out of our house (we live in our own), I don't want to see these old people, telling me it was her god mothers fault she was ill because she brought a little boy to see her today (hasn't seen her for ten days) and then asked me why I was making her lie on the hard ground (she was in my bed). Eventually the Calpol kicked in and brought the temp down to 38.8 so she is now sleeping relatively peacefully. Scariest thing ever, especially as two years in I am still fairly new to this parenting lark...
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Post by flossie on Sept 28, 2015 21:15:38 GMT
Poor starlet and you x
Have you tried ibuprofen it's sometimes more effective at bringing down children's temperatures.
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Post by gilreth on Sept 28, 2015 22:16:14 GMT
And you can alternate calpol (paracetamol) and ibuprofen doses upto max allowed of each in a day. Done this with Sqk the few times he has had bad temperature. All on medical advice - DH provides minor ailments service at work & at home...
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Post by chotimonkey on Oct 7, 2015 18:27:35 GMT
Lst at, howler just had throat infection with c high temp and niggt hallucinations (she's never even woken up with a nightmare before)
She was convinced she could see jellyfish at the bottom of the bed and in our bed... Scary stuff
Yep you can tag team calpol/ ibuprofen so that they are getting a dose every two hours if they are really struggling with a fever...
But I generally check in with my gp cousins if it's anything more than 24 hours...
Also esp if more than one child is ill, I write down medicines and times so I know I'm not giving anyone too much or the wrong stuff, and if dh and I are both looking after then it helps to have it written down so I know who's done what
All the smalls are poorly/ recovering from throat infections, temp, can't eat, v lethargic and tired... They fall into three different age categories on different medicines that we have, so have to be quite vigilant about who's having what
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Post by lilyofthevalley on Apr 1, 2016 19:47:42 GMT
I am wondering what experiences people have had with eyetests and opticians. I am shortsighted and have worn glasses since I was a child. About five years ago I had my eyes tested and was told I needed new glasses - varifocals. I was horrified to find that the cost was £600. Previously I had found prices of £200 to be shocking. I was told to return a year later. At this time I was told that I needed new glasses again. I asked if I could pay by monthly instalments and was told 'no'. I said that in that case I would keep going with my current glasses. I then avoided eyetests for fear of the cost of new glasses but worried about it. Today, five years after I got my glasses, I went to Specsavers, thinking they might be cheaper and feeling that I could now afford to have new glasses. I was very impressed by the thoroughness of my eye examinations. I was there for about an hour. I was then astonished to be informed that my prescription had barely changed over the last five years and I did not need new glasses. I do not need to return for an eyetest for two years. So what am I to make of the first optician's? That they were falsely telling me that I needed new glasses when I didn't? That they were going to profit at my expense?
Lily
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Post by corkwing on Apr 1, 2016 20:01:14 GMT
Difficult to say, Lily. I've heard similar about some dentists.
Kermit has very weird eyes and her glasses are hundreds of pounds. We took her prescription to a cheapy place and got the glasses at about a third of the price with great customer service. I was very impressed!
Also, once we were looking for glasses for her. We found one pair of frames that were free. We found another that were identical except that they had a brand stuck on where the legs meet the frame. They were about £100. We queried it with the optician and they confirmed that they WERE identical, so basically we were getting charged £100 for the addition of someone's logo.
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Post by mudlark on Apr 1, 2016 21:12:27 GMT
Hi Lily, Not exactly an answer to you question but still may be useful.
I recently has my eyes tested at Boots I paid 25pds for an eye test as I am long sighted and need glasses for reading and computer work and I felt my eyes had become worse recently. Boots gave me the results of the eye test as a prescription. Had I then proceeded to buy the frames and lenses from boots it would have cost over 200pds and indeed nearly as much from spec savers.
However Mr M has found a provider on line where you give the details from your eye test and choose frames on line and they send you your glasses and customised lenses for about 40pds. My new glasses arrived today and I was dubious but they were perfect and the frames excellent quality and exactly as shown in the pictures. Mr M also has some glasses from the site, he is short sighted and needs them for driving and he is also very pleased with his 40pd glasses. I will post the details of the site if anyone is interested. Has saved us literally hundreds of pounds.
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Post by serrakunda on Apr 1, 2016 21:28:00 GMT
I've always used specsavers, get tested every year because of history of glaucoma in family, mine are varifocals so quite expensive prescription and they do two for the price of one. I stay away from 'designer' styles, as I don't want logos attached to the side of my face. But as my glasses are a permanent feature I am vain enough to want something reasonable. I usually end up with two pairs for about £400. But they do say if the prescription hasn't changed, so I replace on average every two years
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Post by gilreth on Apr 2, 2016 20:09:52 GMT
Wish I could use online providers but they will not do my prescription. However the fiance of one of our good friends (and one of my bridesmaids) is an dispensing optician for Vision Express so my last glasses cost me £150 for extra thin photo-chromatic glasses (50% discount handy). I nearly always have new glasses every 2 years as my eyes got steadily more short-sighted (-10 in left at worst) then as I have got older currently the long-sighted tendency is correcting my short-sightedness. Hoping to avoid varifocals for a while yet.
If I really want to save money I go to eye clinic at work as we have a degree in optometry (in other words the people who test eyes) and the college down the road trains dispensing opticians (the people who help you chose frames and then get them to fit you). Need time as 2-3 hours for an appointment but do get everything at cost price and my eye test is free as paid for by work (VDU user).
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Post by pingu on Apr 2, 2016 21:49:27 GMT
That is a good point from Gilreth. Those who use screens a lot at work are entitled to free eye tests, thouh I have noticed that some opticians offer free eye tests anyway,to draw folks in.
I always had good eyesight and finally got my firstt pair of glasses for reading with, this year. I still forget to use them a lot of the time and of course with tablets having enlargable screens, and me doing a lot of ebook and online reading these days, its going to take me a while to get used to using glasses.!
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Post by lilyofthevalley on Jul 19, 2016 19:26:33 GMT
Over the years I have had problems with wax in my ears. I used occasionally to have them syringed at my GP surgery. However many surgeries no longer do this. I think this is in response to cases where damage has been caused as a result of the process and litigation has followed. So for a few years I knew I wasn't hearing perfectly but thought it was because of the wax problem. Then recently I discovered that there was a different procedure available called 'ear suction' but that you have to pay for this privately. It's not cheap. I paid £100 to have it done at our local private hospital. I told the specialist about my problems and he advised me to have my hearing tested. I went to Specsavers after my good experience with them with regard to my glasses. The audiologist was very thorough. I was rather shocked though to be told that I had been assessed as having mild to moderate hearing loss. It is age related. The only answer is to wear hearing aids. It seems that people on average take up to 10 years to seek help for hearing problems. It is not advisable to do nothing about the hearing loss. The part of the brain associated with hearing starts to atrophy if it continues to be unstimulated and an association has been shown between untreated hearing loss and dementia. So I have my new hearing aids - very expensive but they do make a difference. I hear my daughter much better on the phone, I hear train announcements clearly, I could hear the play very well at the theatre when I clicked onto the loop system. However they do not work for playing the piano as they make the piano sound tinny and mechanical. Yesterday I was in a cafe quietly reading my book and did not notice someone come over to speak to me. He spoke loudly very close to the hearing aid and I nearly jumped out of my skin, I was so startled! He apologised for frightening me! I also had to remove them on the train as I was standing in the corridor at the end of the carriage and the noise of the metal links between the carriages was unbearable.
Lily
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