Tip 24. Diet, not surgery, for kidney stones

A majority of patients suffering from kidney stones can be treated successfully by proper dietary regulations. These regulations will also prevent a recurrence of the symptoms. Only a few cases
require surgery.

The patient should avoid foods which irritate the kidneys, to control acidity or alkalinity of the urine and to ensure adequate intake of fluids to prevent the urine from becoming concentrated.

The foods considered irritants to the kidneys are alcoholic beverages, condiments, pickles, certain vegetables like cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, spinach, rhubarb, water-cress and those with strong aroma such as asparagus, onions, beans, cabbage and cauliflower, meat, gravies, and carbonated waters.

Tip 23: Avoid medications for sleeplessness.

Sleeping pills are no remedy for sleeplessness. They are habit forming and become less effective when taken continuously. They lower the I.Q., dull the brain and can prove fatal if taken in excess or before or after alcohol. The side-effects of sleeping pills include indigestion, skinrashes, lowered resistance to infection, circulatory and respiratory problems, poor appetite, highblood pressure, kidney and liver problems and mental confusion.

To overcome the problem, one should adhere to a regular sleeping schedule, going to bed at a fixed time each night and getting up at a fixed time each morning. Early to bed and early to rise is a good rule. Two hours of sleep before midnight are more beneficial than four after. It is sheer folly for students, at examination times, to keep awake until long after midnight, drinking one cup of tea after another, as that is only apt to cause blackness and inability to concentrate in the examination hall.

Tip 22. Remove morbid matter from the surface of the skin with the hot steam bath.

The steam bath is helpful in all forms of chronic toxaemias. It relieves rheumatism, gout, uric acid problems, and obesity. It also relieves neuralgias, chronic nephritis, infections, tetanus and migraine.

Steam bath is one of the most important time-tested water treatments which induces perspiration in a most natural way. The patient, clad in minimum loin cloth or underwear, is made to sit on a stool inside a specially designed cabinet. Before entering the cabinet, the patient should drink one or two glasses of cold water and protect the head with a cold towel. The duration of the steam bath is generally 10 to 20 minutes or until perspiration takes place. A cold shower should be taken immediately after the bath.

Very weak patients, pregnant women, cardiac patients and those suffering from high blood pressure should avoid this bath. If the patient feels giddy or uneasy during the steam bath, he or she should be immediately taken out and given a glass of cold water and the face washed with cold water.

Tip 21. Control and channel sexual desire with the neutral hipbath.

The quenching of unrequited sexual desire is accomplished through the neutral hipbath.

The neutral hipbath helps to relieve all acute and sub-acute inflammatory conditions such as acute catarrh of the bladder and urethra and sub-acute inflammations in the uterus, ovaries and tubes. It also relieves neuralgia of the fallopian tubes or testicles, painful spasms of the vagina and prorates of the anus and vulva. Besides, it is a sedative treatment for erotomania in both sexes.

The temperature of the water should be 32º C to 36º C. Here too, friction to the abdomen should

be avoided. This bath is generally taken for 20 minutes to an hour.

Tip 20. Enhance beauty with the mudpack.

The nature cure practitioners at present are making increasing use of mud packs of moistened earth in the treatment of diseases. The use of mud packs has been found highly beneficial and effective in the treatment of chronic inflammation caused by internal diseases, bruises, sprains, boils and wounds. Mud packs have been found to be a valuable treatment of diseases relating to general weakness or nervous disorders. It can also bring down fever and is beneficial in the treatment of scarlet fever, measles and influenza. The mud pack is prescribed for swellings, eye and ear troubles, gout, rheumatism, stomach troubles, kidney and liver malfunctions, diphtheria, neuralgia, sexual disorders, headache, toothache and general aches and pains. This mode of treatment is normally adopted in conjunction with a proper scheme of dietary and other natural therapies.

The advantage of mud treatment is that it is able to retain moisture and coolness for longer periods than cold water packs or compresses. The cold moisture in the mud packs relaxes the pores of the skin, draws the blood into the surface, relieves inner congestion and pain, promotes heat radiation and elimination of morbid matter.

A mud pack is prepared with clay obtained from about ten cm below the surface of the earth, after ensuring that it does not contain any impurities such as compost or pebbles. The clay is then made into a smooth paste with warm water. This is allowed to cool and then spread on a strip of cloth, the size of which may vary according to requirements. The dimensions of the pack meant for application on the abdomen are generally 20 cm x 10 cm x 2.5 cm for adults. The mud bandage, after being placed on the body, should be covered with flannel or other protective material. The pack is applied for 10 to 30 minutes.

Hot and cold applications are useful in relieving chronic pains, intestinal cramps and lumbago.Alternate application helps to relieve discomfort caused by flatulence and intestinal obstructions.
It is also helpful in amoebiasis, colitis, enteritis and other inflammatory conditions of bacterialorigin.

Tip 19. Use the mud bath to remove impurities.

The mud or clay bath is another mode of the nature cure. It is applied in the same way as mud packs, but only on a larger scale on the entire body.

In this, mud or clay is first ground and sifted to remove all impurities, and then made into a smooth paste mixed with hot water. The paste is then spread on a sheet that in turn is wrapped round the body. One or two blankets are then wrapped over this, depending on the temperature of the room and that of the pack. A mud bath is followed with a cleansing warm water bath and a short cold shower.

The mud bath is found to tone up the skin by increasing the circulation and energising the skin tissues. Frequent mud baths help to improve the complexion, clear spots and patches on the skin following skin disorders or due to smallpox. It is very beneficial in the treatment of skin diseases like psoriasis, leucoderma and every leprosy. This bath is also valuable in getting relief from rheumatic pain or pain in the joints caused by injuries.
The duration of the bath should be from 30 minutes to one hour. Care should also be taken to avoid the patient catching a chill during the bath. Mud applications also form a vital part of natural beauty treatment.

Tip 18. The hot immersion bath is a valuable treatment in chronic rheumatism and obesity

It gives immediate relief when there is pain due to stones in the gall bladder and the kidneys. This bath also relieves capillary bronchitis and bronchial pneumonia in children. It relieves congestion of the lungs and activates the blood vessels of the skin muscles.

This bath can be taken from two to 15 minutes at a temperature from 36.6º C to 40º C. Generally this bath is started at 37ºC and the temperature is then gradually raised to the required level by adding hot water.

Before entering the bath, the patient should drink cold water and also wet the head, neck and shoulders with cold water. A cold compress should be applied throughout the treatment. This bath can be advantageously employed in dropsy when there is excessive loss of tone of the heart and blood. The bath should be terminated as soon as the skin becomes red.

In pneumonia and suppressed menstruation, the bath should be administered at 37.7º C to 40º C