For diseases of the throat and pain in the neck, compresses are often used. This healing dressing can be dry and wet, cold or hot. The compress (on the neck or on any other part of the body) consists of several layers. Usually use gauze, bandage or clean cloth, as well as cellophane. How does this tool work and how to use it correctly?
How does a compress work and why
Most often, the compress is used in pathologies of the upper respiratory tract not in the acute stage. Also, the procedure will be effective for tonsillitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis during the period of subsidence of signs of the disease. Compresses are especially useful for voice loss due to excessive tension of the vocal cords. A similar treatment is also prescribed for chronic lymphadenitis, a residual phenomenon after throat diseases.
The result of the procedure is provided by local and reflex action of heat, which contributes to a rush of blood, improvement of microcirculation, activation of metabolic processes, and reduction of discomfort. In addition, the compress is a great distraction. With lymphadenitis, the bandage helps to eliminate edema, relieve inflammation.
What is interesting: for sore throats due to acute tonsillitis, acute respiratory viral infections, and flu, cold compresses are sometimes more effective. This dressing helps stimulate the immune system, activates the defenses. Under the influence of cold, an outflow of blood occurs, the vessels cool and narrow, and this helps to reduce pain, since the sensitivity of the nerve roots is significantly weakened.
Contraindications to the procedure
A strict contraindication for the use of a warming compress is an increased body temperature. In the acute period of any disease caused by bacteria, it is also forbidden to use this type of dressing, as this will lead to the multiplication of pathogenic microorganisms.
Also compresses are contraindicated in:
- cardiovascular disease;
- increased risk of bleeding;
- skin pathologies, as well as with any damage to the skin;
- oncological diseases;
- tuberculosis.
Warming dressings are not used in the treatment of children under one year old; alcohol compresses on the neck are contraindicated for up to three years. Dimexide and turpentine as part of compresses cannot be used in the treatment of children, weakened patients, women bearing a baby.
Cold dressings should also be used with caution, otherwise you can only aggravate the condition as a result of hypothermia. It is better for patients with angina to use dry compresses, in which case they will be most useful.
Proper use of compresses
For the procedure to be effective, you need to know how to make a compress on the neck correctly:
- for the dressing, take a thin cotton cloth folded in half (you can replace it with gauze, which is folded four times);
- use liquid that has room temperature;
- wring out the bandage and attach it to clean skin, covering it with polyethylene, compression paper;
- wrap your neck with a warm cloth or scarf;
- make sure that the area of the thyroid gland remains open;
- keep the warming dressing from 3 to 8 hours, in case of unpleasant sensations, itching, rash immediately remove (for a hot or cold compress, half an hour is enough);
- it is better to stay in bed with a compress; 1-2 procedures can be performed daily, using a new or washed fabric each time;
- duration of treatment - until recovery;
- after the bandage is removed, put a thin cloth on the throat; go out into the street is not worth it.
Types of compresses
If you suffer from a sore throat and your body temperature is elevated, use cold compresses with a resolving and immunostimulating effect. Such a procedure will help reduce temperature, eliminate inflammation and pain.
Cold packs
Dressings will be effective:
- Alcohol Such a bandage activates blood circulation, starting the processes of self-regulation of the body. How to make a compress of alcohol on the neck? For dressing, use a clean, dense fabric, which is moistened with vodka or diluted alcohol. The fabric is covered with polyethylene and wrapped around the neck with a scarf or warm scarf. An alcohol compress is not placed on the neck during purulent processes.
- Potato For the procedure, you need to take two potatoes, grate, squeeze the juice. Put the mass, which turned out, onto the fabric. Then proceed as indicated in the previous paragraph.
- Curd cheese. This is an effective and safe compress on the neck of the child. The product perfectly eliminates swelling, relieves pain. A pound of cottage cheese is distributed over the fabric, covered with another layer of fabric. A slightly heated bandage is applied to the neck, secured with a towel. Remove the compress when the curd dries.
Warming compresses
The following recipes are most effective:
- Chopped boiled potatoes (4 pcs.) To a pulp state. Put it on the fabric, folding it in the form of a roller, wrap it around the neck. You can use a scarf for fixing. Remove the compress when the mass has cooled.
- Fill the fabric bag with warm ash, attach to the neck, securing with a scarf. Remove after 8 hours, best done at night.
- If the lymph nodes are enlarged, the use of a compress with dimexide on the neck is recommended. It is necessary to dilute dimexide with water, according to the instructions, add furatsilin (2 tablets per 100 ml of the obtained liquid). Compress on the lymph nodes on the neck put no more than 20 minutes. Therapy lasts about a week.
- Rub the Zvezdochka balm into the throat area, then cover the skin with a soft cloth and wrap it with a warm scarf. The duration of the procedure is 3 hours.
- Knead the dough using equal parts and flour and mustard powder. Put the product on the fabric, attach to the sore throat, leave until the skin reddening.
- Heat sunflower oil in a water bath. Dampen the tissue in it, attach it to the sore throat, cover with a film and wrap it with a scarf.
Compresses for neck pain
Many of us were negatively affected by cold air. After such an impact, we are tormented by pain in the neck, turns of the head cause sharp pain. This condition can also be eliminated with compresses.
Cold dressings for neck pain
Cold compresses will help to alleviate the condition, which contribute to local cooling and further expansion of blood vessels, which leads to increased circulation.
Dampen a thick cloth with cold water. Depressing carefully, apply to a sore spot. When the dressing has dried, replace it with a new one. Hold the compress for about 40 minutes.
Warming compresses for discomfort
With osteochondrosis, which is accompanied by pain in the neck, use such compresses:
- From oatmeal and water. The components are mixed to form a cake, which must then be baked in the oven. In the form of heat, the cake is applied to the painful area, after cooling it will be removed. The procedure is performed before the cure.
- From hop cones and pork fat. The components are mixed, the mass is applied to the neck, covered with wax paper and wrapped. The tool eliminates even severe pain.
- From grated potatoes with honey. Components mixed in equal proportions are applied to the neck, covered with plastic wrap and wrapped.
Anti-aging compresses for the neck
The age of a woman is easy to determine by looking at her neck. After 40 years, the skin in this area becomes less elastic and resilient. You can correct the situation with the help of anti-aging compresses.
Water compress
This dressing is applied after cleansing procedures. It is necessary to make both cold and hot compress. Apply them alternately for 2-3 minutes. Three approaches need to be done.
For the compress, ordinary water or herbal infusions are used.
Almond oil compress
Almond oil has excellent anti-aging properties. For the compress, you need to take a clean cloth soaked with this product, attach it to the neck, cover it with parchment paper, cotton, and fix it with a bandage. The procedure lasts at least a quarter of an hour.
Honey Anti-Aging Compress
Honey is also an excellent anti-aging agent. To make a compress on the neck, a teaspoon of honey is mixed with one egg and a teaspoon of butter. The resulting mixture must be laid out on the fabric and applied to the neck area, secured with a food film and a bandage. The duration of the procedure is 20 minutes, after which the composition is washed off with warm water.
Lemon juice dressing
Perfectly rejuvenates the skin of the neck with lemon juice. In it, you need to moisten the fabric and apply a compress to the neck, fixing it with a bandage. Keep the bandage for at least half an hour. Lemon juice can dry the skin, so the procedure must be completed by applying a nourishing cream.
Compresses on the neck are an excellent tool to help cope with various diseases and improve skin condition. However, one should not forget that compresses for ENT pathologies should not be the only means of therapy - they are used comprehensively, as part of a healing program recommended by a doctor. You should also consider individual contraindications to the procedure, so as not to aggravate the situation and not harm yourself.