infantum HOME CARE Treatment for bronchitis is similar to that for the common cold. Limited activity is recommended during the fever stage and the time when the cough is the worst. Encourage your child to drink liquids to avoid dehydration (serious loss of body fluids). Give acetaminophen for fever and body aches. Phenylephrine or oxymetazoline nose drops may be used. If the cough is exhausting or keeps the child from sleeping, cough medicine might help. A humidifier or vaporizer may make breathing easier. Be sure to keep it meticulously clean, however. Otherwise, it can actually become a source of infection if microorganisms are allowed to grow in it. PRECAUTIONS • See your doctor if any unusual symptoms occur, such as pain on the side of the chest or blood in the sputum. • See your doctor if bronchitis occurs more than once a year • See your doctor if the condition worsens after three to four days. • Do not use oral decongestants, which may aggravate a dry cough. MEDICAL TREATMENT Your doctor will perform a physical examination, with special attention to the chest. Throat or sputum cultures, a chest xray examination, and blood studies may be necessary. If bronchitis occurs frequently, the doctor will investigate the possibility of an allergy, a foreign body in the bronchial tubes, or a lowered resistance to infection. The usefulness of antibiotics and some types of cough medicines is debatable. Antibiotics usually are not helpful for most types of bronchitis (those caused by viruses), and some cough medicines can aggravate the condition. If a child has repeated attacks of bronchitis, your doctor may give epinephrine by injection to determine if the child has an allergy: it epinephrine relieves the symptoms, it is likely that the attacks are caused by an allergy. RELATED TOPICS: Bronchiolitis; Chest pain; Common cold: Coughs; Cystic fibrosis; Frequent illnesses; Viral infections gaick Reference Bruises SYMPTOM • Discolored areas of the skin (black, blue, purple, red, yellow, or green) HOME CARE • Immediately after an injury, apply cold, to decrease bleeding and bruising. • Twentyfour hours or more after an injury, apply warmth to help the body absorb the bruise. PRECAUTIONS • If bruises suddenly appear without injury, see your doctor. • The appearance of petechiae (small, dark red or maroon bruises) scattered over the body may indicate an emergency. If there is also fever or collapse, get medical treatment immediately. bruising У aSter an inJury apply cold to decrease bleeding and Bruises are made up of blood that has escaped from capillaries (tiny blood vessels) or larger blood vessels and can be seen through the skin They vary from pinheadsize to several inches across. Bruises usually are black and blue in color. If they are near the skin's surface, they appear maroon or purple. Bruises of the whites of the eyeballs are always bloodred. As blood in a bruise moves back into the bloodstream, a bruise often becomes yellow or green. three day