8 First Aid Myths that Can Seriously Damage your Health
1. Applying Warmth to a Sprain
This is one of the most common first aid mistakes that you need to steer clear of. The thing is, using a warm cloth on your sprained muscles will aggravate blood flow and cause more swelling. Your best bet is to apply a cold cloth to the injury — this will reduce the pain and inflammation.
2. Applying Ice to a Bruise
For starters, ice is actually great for bruises, but applying an ice pack directly to your skin won’t do you any good. In fact, it will make matters worse as you’ll end up getting a cold burn.
Instead, try putting a cloth between your skin and the ice — this should work great. Just apply for 20 minutes, remove the ice and wait for an extra 20 minutes before reapplying. Be sure to do it several times for best results.
3. Setting a Dislocated Joint on your Own
There’s no point setting a bone on your own as it may only aggravate the condition and lead to more injuries. It’s better to immobilize the injured limb and rush the victim to the hospital.
4. Pulling Out Objects from Serious Wounds
Now it’s pretty normal to pull small glass shard from your hand or a splinter from your finger, but don’t think if doing the same for serious wounds.
Doing this will cause serious bleeding which may even lead to death. The best thing you can do for a person with a knife in the leg is to rush him or her to the ER — never pull the object out!
5. Rubbing Alcohol or Vinegar on a Person Down with Fever
The very first thing you should know is that alcohol and vinegar can be easily absorbed into the blood and that’s bad. Rubbing alcohol may lead to intoxication and vinegar is very likely to raise acidity.
It’s even worse when you use it on children. It’s in your best interest to see a doctor in such cases so the situation can be addressed once and for all. This is especially true in cases of high fever.
6. Dealing with a Foreign Object in the Eye
The first thing most people do in this case is to rub the eyes, but this will result in injuries. The right thing to do is to cover the eye with a gauze and call a doctor.
You can also wink your eyes several times to induce tears — this might help bring out the foreign object. Also, you should immediately wash the eye with water if it’s a chemical burn.
7. Lifting up an Unconscious Individual
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone faints? Pretty sure you try to lift them up or sprinkle cold water on them — this is wrong!
Such things will only worsen the spasm. Instead, try to lift the person’s leg up and unbutton tight clothing. Also, try not to make the person stand after he or she regains consciousness.
8. Rubbing Ointments on Wounds
Don’t do this! A wound heals better and faster in fresh air. Ointments only create unwanted moisture which could make matters worse.
In such a case, your best bet is to clean the wound with soap and cool water. Then dress it with a dry clean bandage — that should do the trick!
So there you go! Eight first aid myths successfully debunked! Now you know the right things to do when you or someone needs first aid help. Welcome to the new world!
Subscribe for more! https://goo.gl/nJ8d6r
Royalty free Pictures from
www.pixabay.com
Royalty Free Music from
Audio Library – No Copyright Music