PEDIATRICS Vol. 63 No. 4 April 1979, pp. 527
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THE VALUE OF A SALT PORK COMPRESS IN THE TREATMENT OF A CHILD WITH SORE THROAT

Amie M. Hale M.D. and T. E. C. Jr. M.D.

Amie M. Hale, M.D., in 1880 wrote a popular book for American mothers entitled The Management of Children in Sickness and in Health.1 She treated sore throat as follows:

External applications [for sore throat] do great good oftentimes. An old-fashioned but an excellent remedy is a slice of fat pork, cut very thin, stitched to a bit of muslin, and applied by means of a flannel bandage. It may first be sprinkled with salt or powdered camphor to make it act more quickly.

The value of these simple remedies depends largely upon skill in preparing and employing them. After the bandage is ready, the pork being nicely stitched upon it, warm it slowly until it becomes soft, flexible, and oily on the surface. Then, if the soreness is high up under the angle of the jaw, the ends of the bandage should be brought up on the head and carefully pinned, not so tightly as to be uncomfortable, but so as to keep the slice of pork in close contact with the skin. If the soreness is lower down, the bandage may be simply fastened around the neck. This must be kept on for some time. After twenty-four hours, a slight eruption will appear under the bandage, when it may be left off for a little while and afterwards reapplied. But in twenty-four hours we should expect a simple sore-throat to be very much improved.