A hot bath temperature is from 100 to 112 degrees F. or higher.
A warm bath temperature is from 90 to 100 degrees F.
A tepid bath temperature is from 70 to 90 degrees F.
A cool bath temperature is from 65 to 70 degrees F.
A cold bath temperature is from 33 to 65 degrees F.
The entire bath should not last longer, when given in bed, than fifteen or
twenty minutes. A few drops of water of ammonia or a little borax will
help much in getting the patient clean and disguise the bad odor of the
perspiration. A little alcohol or Eau de Cologne will be found refreshing.
Cold damp towels should never be employed here. The water should be
pleasantly warm and changed a few times during the bath. A glass of hot
milk can be taken after the bath is given, if the patient feels exhausted,
and if the feet are cool a hot fruit can is applied.
Foot Baths in Bed.--The patient should lie on her back, with the knees
bent and place her feet in the tub, which is placed lengthwise in the bed
on a rubber sheet spread across the lower part of the bed for protection.
A mustard foot bath can be given the same way except that the knees and
foot bath are enclosed in a blanket. These are often given for severe
colds, with head symptoms (headaches), when it is desired to draw the
blood from the head. Hot water alone will do this, but the mustard hastens
the action. The mustard should be mixed with a small amount of water
before being added to the bath. The amount will depend upon the
sensitiveness of the patient. The feet may remain in the bath for fifteen
to twenty minutes, the water kept at the same temperature or made warmer
by adding more hot water from time to time. They are wiped gently
afterward and tucked snugly in blankets.
[630 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
Hot Bath, Hot Air, Vapor, and Steam Bath.--Given for sweating purposes.
Fill the tub half full of water at 100 degrees F. and draw it to the
bedside if necessary. Lift the patient into the tub and gradually increase
the temperature by the thermometer to 110 degrees and 112 degrees F.
Maintain it at this point for twelve or fifteen minutes. After this the
patient is lifted out into a prepared bed on which a long rubber is spread
with three or four hot blankets over it; these are wrapped all around the
patient, tucked in closely about the neck and watched continually to see
that no air enters. Give plenty of water to drink, as it promotes
perspiration and helps in that way to cast off the impurities. Keep this
up for an hour if possible, and then the patient is gradually uncovered,
sponged under a blanket with alcohol and water and the wet blankets
removed. Cloths wrung out of cold water are applied to the head during
this bath. The pulse should be closely watched for any indication of
faintness, when the patient should be put to bed, immediately. This bath
should not be given during menstruation or pregnancy.
Warm Baths (90 degrees to 100 degrees F.) are frequently given to children
for convulsions. They should be placed in the tub and cold applied to the
head, while the body is washed and rubbed.
Local baths and packs.--For sprains, a foot bath. For menstrual pain, a
sitz bath. The patient sits in the bath with only the thighs and part of
the body immersed, while the upper part of the body and the feet are
protected with blankets. Sitting on a cane-seated chair over a steaming
pail with a blanket around the neck and body gives a good bath for pain
during menstruation.
Salt-water bath. Tonic action.--Nine to fourteen pounds of sea salt to
fifty gallons of water will redden the skin and give an exhilarating
effect.
Dry Salt Bath sent us with Mothers' Remedies.--"To a basin of water put a
big handful of salt, take a Turkish towel and soak it in the salt water,
wring out and let dry. The salt will adhere to the towel. Use to rub the
body. A tepid bath should be taken next day to remove the salt."
Starch bath.--Add eight ounces of laundry starch to each gallon of water.
This allays skin irritation.
Bran bath.--Put the bran in a bag and allow this to soak in warm water for
an hour before being used; or it may be boiled for an hour and then the
fluid drained and added to the bath water.
Sponge bath.--Water and soap should be ready. Clothes to be put on, well
aired and at hand. Then remove the patient's clothes and wrap him in an
old blanket, expose only the part being washed at a time, wash and dry
this part. Begin with the face and neck, then the chest, abdomen, arms and
back, and lastly the lower extremities. Warm the water at least twice.
Then put on his clean, well aired clothes and into a clean bed, and the
patient will bless you.
[NURSING DEPARTMENT 631]
Alcohol sponge bath.--This is given the same way, only sixty per cent
alcohol is used and the parts are allowed to dry themselves.
Tub bath (common).--Prepare everything as to heat, etc. Then carry the
patient or assist him to the tub. Soap him all over and pour water over
him from a large pitcher. The temperature of the water depends upon the
disease. One person should continually rub the patient in typhoid fever to
keep up the circulation while the water is being poured over him. A hot
drink is given before and after these baths and the patient is wrapped
immediately in warm flannel.
Patients are frequently put into a tub with a water temperature of 85 to
90 degrees, and then the water temperature decreased by adding cold water.
This bath must be carefully given.
The cold pack.--It is used to reduce fever, delirium and extreme
nervousness and to induce sleep. Cover the bed with a rubber sheet or
oilcloth, and over this a blanket. Wring a sheet out of cold water and
place this over the blanket. Lay the patient on this sheet and wrap it
around him so that every surface has the wet sheet next to it. Tuck the
sheet in well at the neck and feet. Fold the outer blanket over the
patient and tuck it in. Lay a wet towel over the head, or he can be
enveloped loosely in blankets and allowed to remain twenty minutes to an
hour, only ten to fifteen minutes by the tucked-in method and then dried
and put to bed.
The hot pack.--This is given in the same manner except that the patient is
wrapped first in a blanket wrung out of boiling water. More covering is
put over the patient than in a cold pack, and something cold is applied to
the head.