Good Fer What Ails Ya- RIGHT NOW!

Ah good idea about the moisturiser/bandaid! I'll do that before going to class.

And, gloves for bed will begin this evening. It's a royal pain in the  at the moment.

And, gloves for bed will begin this evening. It's a royal pain in the  th_ao at the moment.

You're doing it wrong!

Thanks for pointing that out, George. I was wondering why it wasn't working   

Well, I went to the hospital and got a doctor's opinion (notice I did not say a professional opinion).

I went at lunchtime after teaching because it was throbbing so much last night that I could not sleep. 

Firstly I got a lecture for not coming in that morning. I explained that I had class,  but that was not OK. Next we went into a room marked 'surgery' and I began to worry. She opened the blinds to let some light in - causing a small audience to gather, including some of my students. They were on their way to see a sick classmate, so they came inside and into the surgery room for support.

I sat down on a stool and the doctor pulled a rubbish bin next to me. She opened a sack containing clearly not sterile bits and pieces and selected a pair of scissors. She pulled a cotton ball out of some yellow liquid and swabbed the area.

She asked me not to look. I declined her kind offer.

Then she attempted to cut the side of my finger open. The scissors did not have a sharp enough point, so this hurt a lot. Next she got another tool and squeezed pus from my finger into the rubbish bin. Ouch.

After more swabbing, squeezing and grimacing (from both the doc and I) she deemed it clean. She squeezed some junk on to gauze and taped it to my finger. She gave me a prescription for some medicine and a bill for 5Y. I paid the bill and got my medicines. I doubt I will take them.

I need to return tomorrow to have the dressing changed. Same for Thursday.

After this was finished I went back into the doctor's room to get my gloves/hat/scarf. She noticed that my broken finger also was a little infected. She wanted to cut that one open too, but there was no way I was letting her blunt scissors anywhere near my busted up finger. That one is nearly healed, anyway.

I don't really want to go back to get more of this oozy stuff and gauze. I think I will tea tree oil it and then put some vaseline on top and a bandaid. The less contact I have with that hospital the better.

I sorta agree not about going back to the hospital but not too sure you shouldn't take the medicine.  Depends what it is of course.  If the infection gets septic you could end up with blood poisoning which can at worst be fatal.    You probably should be on antibiotics - sorry about that - I normally refuse to take them myself, but this is a bit more than a little 'ouch'  much more in fact.  Of course you could get gangrene and the fingers turn black and fall off but.....

If you see a red streak running up your arm from the infection - you have blood poisoning.

Phone Mom, have her phone your Dr, get his opinion on what medicine to take.   Swabbing with Hydrogen peroxide will help, soaking in a salt water bath will draw out the puss etc.  I agree about the dull scissors and less than antiseptic medical treatment.  

  

I think you're right, DS. I usually avoid doctors like the plague, but this time I may have to do something.  

My doc in Australia is very kind. He is also Chinese, but trained in medicine in Australia. Last time I was unsure I photographed the packaging, sent the picture home and he confirmed whether I should take it or not. That time it was not.

I'll take some pictures tonight and see if Mum can run them up to the doctor tomorrow. Thank Mum  

Ok, I relented and took the medicine. The finger was looking icky this morning, so I figured it was a better idea. I had the names checked out and my doctor said to take them, albeit at a different dosage. Good to have a Chinese doctor 

Did the hands improve with the cream and gloves?

They do seem to be much less dry, that's for sure. I think that should keep this under control. The combination of draining and antibiotics seems to have worked wonders. 

Good.  Fingers don't seem important until you hurt them - then they are always getting bumped, and the simplest things become so difficult.

So my roommate got sick, and as a result got me sick.

When he got sick the Chinese staff in our school, wanting to act all motherly, took him to a pharmacy where he walked out with hundreds of kuai worth of medicine (Two liquid things, 4 things of pills, etc...)

I have a small cough and a runny nose, enough to make my day worse but definitely not enough to warrant buying out an entire pharmacy.

A Chinese friend in back in the States told me about something called Black and White (Baijiahei) for small colds like I have, but I'm open to other advice.

Telling the staff at my school would result in me getting the 15 thing my roommate ended up buying, so I'm avoiding that at all costs.

I'd just sit it out. A bit of hot water with lemon, honey, ginger and garlic will make you feel a bit better until it passes.

Golden Throat lozenges (Jinsangzi Houpian 金嗓子喉片) can help the cough.

Baihei is like the "Day and NIght' tablets you can get at home.  I use them and they work pretty well.

Loads of water, lemon tea and sleep work pretty well too.

I liked the "day and night" cold pills, too. I used the Bufferin brand, and they were fine.

For colds, ginger tea- which I think is also described somewhere above- is good stuff. You just peel and chop a big ginger root, and boil the pieces with either some Sichuan red chilis or a stiff dose of white pepper. When the water has boiled down a bit, strain off the tea, mix it with large dollops of honey and lemon juice, and drink hot. It makes you feel better right away, and helps you fight the cold off faster.

I also encountered a miracle for night coughs. Long ago I had a cold with a bad night cough. My girlfriend at the time bought some fresh pears and some Chinese rock candy (big-crystal sugar, sold at snack shops everywhere)...she peeled the pears, cut them into sections, and put the sections into a small bowl. She then poured a couple of handfuls of rock candy over them, and placed the bowl in the steamer over the rice cooker. After they'd steamed a while, she brought me the bowl and said it would cure my cough. I was laughing and teasing her about it, but I ate the pears to humor her (and they tasted damn good, much like canned pears in syrup back home...).

I didn't cough once all night. This Chinese Hoodoo actually works!