Content

• Steps
• Advice

Mumps is a disease caused by a virus in the salivary glands and is very contagious. If you do not get the mumps vaccine, the disease can be spread through contact with an infected person's nose or saliva when they sneeze or cough. There is currently no treatment for this virus. Instead, treatment mainly focuses on treating the symptoms until the immune system is strong enough to fight the disease. But you should seek medical attention as soon as you suspect you have mumps. Whenever you get mumps, you must notify your school or workplace so they can take steps to prevent the spread.

Steps

Part 1 of 4: Recognize the symptoms

1. 

   Remember that disease can be contagious before symptoms appear. Mumps symptoms usually develop 14 to 25 days after you become infected with the virus. People with the virus are most contagious about 3 days before their face becomes noticeably swollen.
   • In addition, you should know that about 1 case in 3 cases will not show any significant symptoms.

2. 

   
   
   Look for signs of swelling of the salivary glands. Swollen parotid glands are the most common symptom of mumps and cause facial deformity. The parotid gland is a pair of glands that produce saliva. They are located on both sides of the face, just in front of the ears and above the jawbone.
   • Usually both glands will swell, but sometimes only one will be.
   • You may feel pain or pain when you feel around the face, the area near the ear, or the jawbone. Also you experience dry mouth and difficulty swallowing.

3. 

   
   
   Watch for other symptoms. Before the parotid glands swell, there are some other symptoms you may notice:
   • Headache
   • Joint pain and soreness
   • Nausea and a feeling of difficulty in staying
   • Ear pain while chewing
   • Mild stomach pain
   • Loss of appetite
   • Fever 38 ° C or higher

4. 

   Check for swelling in the testicles or breasts. If you are a man over 13 years old, your testicles may swell, and if you are a woman over 13, your breasts may swell.
   • Women with mumps also have swollen ovaries.
   • The swelling usually causes pain whether you are male or female, but it rarely leads to infertility or the inability to have a baby.

5. 

   
   
   See your doctor to diagnose the disease. Swollen parotid glands and the above mentioned symptoms are obvious signs that you have mumps. However, there are some other viruses (such as influenza virus) that also cause swelling of the parotid gland, even with only one side. Rarely, swollen ears are caused by bacterial infection or obstruction of the salivary glands. Your doctor is someone who can determine if you have mumps virus through these symptoms and will perform blood or urine tests to confirm the diagnosis.
   • You should also report mumps to your local health station so they can take general precautions in the community. This helps prevent the disease from spreading to many others. For example, in the Midwestern United States, there was a recent mumps outbreak among college students and caused the US Department of Public Health to raise awareness about the disease.
   • Although mumps is not dangerous, it has symptoms similar to some other serious illnesses, such as adenocarcinoma and tonsillitis. Therefore, you should see a doctor if you suspect you have mumps.
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Part 2 of 4: Home treatment for mumps

1. 

   Mumps usually clears up on its own within one to two weeks, with children 10-12 days healing. It takes about 1 week for each side of the parotid gland to clear the swelling.
   • The average time of cure for adults is 16-18 days.
   • If your symptoms don't get better after 7 days of self-treatment or even get worse, see your doctor.

2. 

   Isolate yourself and rest. Take a break from work and stay home for at least five days, which is not only good for you but also keeps people from getting sick.
   • After the glands begin to swell, you should not send your child to school or daycare for at least five days.
   • In Canada, all mumps cases must be reported to the Department of Public Health.
   • In the United States, all doctors are responsible for reporting mumps cases to the Department of Public Health.

3. 

   Take an over-the-counter pain reliever. The drug ibuprofen (Mofen-400) can relieve pain around the face, ears, and jaw.
   • For children, you should ask your pediatrician about safe pain relief. Never give aspirin to a child under 18 years of age.

4. 

   Use a warm or cold compress to reduce swelling and pain in the glands.

5. 

   Drink a lot of water. You need to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids throughout the day.
   • Avoid acidic drinks such as fruit juices, as they may irritate the glands even more. Water is the best drink during mumps.
   • Avoid sour foods like citrus fruits to avoid making the swollen glands worse.

6. 

   Choose foods that do not require much chewing. Eat soups, oats, mashed potatoes, and scrambled eggs.

7. 

   Wear sports underwear to relieve groin pain. You can also apply an ice pack or a bag of frozen peas to the groin area to relieve pain and swelling.
   • If you have swollen breasts or stomach pain, you should apply cold compresses to these areas to ease the pain.
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Part 3 of 4: Finding medical interventions

1. 

   Seek treatment as soon as severe symptoms appear. Go to the nearest hospital or call the emergency number if you have signs of neck stiffness, convulsions, persistent vomiting, loss of energy or numbness, semi-conscious, or unconscious. It could be a sign of a brain infection like meningitis or encephalitis.
   • Mumps patients who develop meningitis will need additional treatment for the condition.
   • If left untreated, encephalitis causes nerve problems and is potentially life-threatening.

2. 

   Contact your doctor right away if you have severe stomach upset and vomiting as this could be a sign of pancreatitis.

3. 

   Watch carefully for children with mumps. Take your child to the doctor when he or she develops seizures, malnutrition or dehydration, as he may have a more serious illness or condition.

4. 

   Tell your doctor if you got mumps while pregnant. Having mumps during pregnancy can be dangerous, and you have a higher risk of miscarriage in the first 12-16 weeks.

5. 

   Seek medical attention if hearing impairment. In rare cases mumps causes hearing loss in one or both ears, so let your doctor know if you find that you cannot hear in any of the ears. They may suggest a referral to an audiologist. advertisement

Part 4 of 4: Mumps prevention

1. 

   Get two full doses of MMR vaccine. The MMR vaccine is a combination vaccinated measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Each injection contains the safest and most effective vaccine for each disease. Your body is considered immune to mumps if you have had it in the past, or have been vaccinated with the MMR vaccine. But just one dose of MMR vaccine won't keep you safe during an outbreak, so make sure you have received two doses of the vaccine.
   • A second dose was not recommended until the late 1980s and early 1990s, so many young people today are still not getting two doses of the vaccine. If you are an adult, tell your doctor about the number of doses of mumps vaccine you have received to make sure you are getting two.
   • It is recommended that children get two full doses of MMR vaccine prior to entering grade 1. The first dose should be given between 12 and 15 months of age. The second dose should be given when the child is between the ages of 4 and 6.
   • Although the first injection is a bit painful, most people do not see any significant side effects, in fact, less than one in a million injections causes a serious allergy.
   • There are some rumors circulating on the internet, but the MMR vaccine is not the cause of autism.

2. 

   Recognize situations in which you do not need MMR vaccine. If the doctor has a blood test and concludes that you are immune to measles, mumps and rubella, then you won't need to get that vaccine. Also, you do not need to be re-vaccinated once you have received two full doses of this vaccine in the past.
   • In the event of a very large outbreak of mumps, your doctor may recommend a third dose to "boost" your immunity.
   • The MMR vaccine is not recommended for women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant within the next four weeks.
   • People with severe allergies to gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin should also not get MMR.
   • Consult your doctor before getting vaccinated if you have cancer, blood disease or HIV / AIDS. You should also let your doctor know if you are taking steroids or other immune-stimulating drugs.

3. 

   Practice good hygiene habits like washing your hands and using a tissue. Whenever you sneeze or cough, use a tissue to wipe your nose and cover your mouth. Throw away the used tissue so that it cannot be reached by others. You should also wash your hands often to keep germs from spreading, such as the virus that causes mumps.
   • To prevent mumps from spreading to others, it is imperative that you stay home for at least five days after you are diagnosed with the disease.
   • You can get mumps when you come into contact with contaminated surfaces, so don't share bowls, cups with sick people, and remember to clean shared surfaces (countertops, light switches , doorknob, etc.) with disinfectant rinse.
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Advice

• There are many homemade remedies that are thought to relieve the symptoms of mumps such as a mixture of asparagus seeds and fenugreek, linden leaf, ginger combined with Indian aloe and turmeric or rasaut (a mixture is obtained from the roots and branches of the Indian prickly tree). Consult your doctor before trying any of these natural remedies for pain relief.
• You can use ginger to treat mumps because it has anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties, and ginger also helps relieve pain, which is very convenient for you to use at home. Make this mixture by drying and crushing the ginger root into a powder, and then applying it to the sore or swelling area to reduce inflammation quickly. Another way is to include ginger in your diet.