Measles which generally affects children is a highly contagious disease. It is a respiratory infection which can occasionally affect adults also.
A virus called paramyxo causes measles. The virus spreads through sneezing by the affected person stays in air and can infect other children. Therefore the affected person should be kept in isolation to avoid other children getting it.
The only way to prevent measles is vaccination. If your child has already got measles then the child develops immunity to measles and never gets it again.
Home remedies for measles are focused on the precautionary measures to avoid complications. If you do not take proper care then there may be a lot of complications arising for measles. These complications include pneumonia, bronchitis, ear abscess, blindness and in some extreme cases death.
Symptoms
There are no immediate symptoms after getting exposure to the virus, but within 7 to 14 days after the exposure you begin to feel feverish and cold, eyes start watering and you get dry cough. Within the next 3-5 days you will begin to see rashes with rounded spots and reddened skin in between. The rashes usually appear first on the face and the neck and then gradually spread to all over the body.
Home Remedies for measles
Since measles is a contagious disease, keep the affected child away from other children until measles are cured. Make sure that the other children are not allowed to come near the affected child. Main objective is to control the fever and manage the pain and rashes and home remedies can achieve both these objectives very well. However, it is important that you remain in contact with a doctor who monitors the condition until it is cured.
1. Eye Protection
Since eye tissues become very weak during measles, direct exposure to sunlight has to be avoided. It may damage the eye leading to blindness. Subdued sunlight in the house is fine. Wearing dark glasses will also help
2. Appetite Boosters
People lose appetite when they have measles. Give them fresh juices which can be taken in easily. Orange, tangerine, pineapple and lemon juices are our best suited juices as they will boost appetite also.
Let the child be on the juice/ liquid diet for a couple of days. Gradually move from liquid diet to solid diet. Begin with adding fruits after a couple days of juice diet as appetite improves. Then add other food items gradually. Objective should be to get back to the normal balanced diet as soon as possible.
3. Fever Control
The high body temperatures have to be brought down. Your doctor would have recommended paracetamol or other pills for fever. Take them as suggested. Apply mud pack on abdomen and chest twice a day. This will not only reduce temperatures but also remove toxins. Take a hot water bath to remove the mud pack.
4. Cough Removal
Cough is a very big problem during measles. Barley water helps in reducing cough during measles. Drink barley water whenever you can. Since appetite is generally lost you may not feel like taking anything. So sip a little barley water at a time. You have to push yourself to consume liquids any way to remain hydrated.
Licorice also has been found useful to deal with coughing. You can mix licorice root powder with honey and give it to a child 3 times a day.
Since you lose minerals during perspiration due to fever you must replenish the lost minerals. Rock salt contains many different minerals including the essentials such as potassium, magnesium and sodium. You can take rock salt as under:
- Squeeze juice of half a lemon and add it to a glass of room temperature water
- Add one quarter teaspoon of rock salt into the water
- Add one tablespoon of honey and stir it well.
This will not only recover lost minerals but will also help in reducing coughing.
5. Take complete Rest
Taking rest is absolutely necessary during measles. This will help in speedy recovery.
Avoid milk during measles as it increases cough.