Appendicitis Treatment Diet

Diet for Appendicitis

The patient should be put to bed immediately at the first signs of severe pain, vomiting and fever.



Rest is of utmost importance in the treatment of this disease. The patient should resort to fasting, which is the only real cure for appendicitis. Absolutely no food should be given. Nothing except water should enter the system. Low enemas, containing about one pint (1/2litre) of warm water should be administered every day for the first three days to cleanse the lower bowel. Hot compresses may be placed over the painful area several times daily. Ab¬dominal packs, made of a strip of wet sheet covered by a dry flannel cloth bound tightly around the abdomen, should be applied continuously until all acute symptoms subside.

When the acute symptoms subside by about the third day the patient should be given a full enema containing about three pints of warm water and this should be repeated daily until all inflammation and pain have subsid¬ed.



The patient can be given fruit juices from the third day onwards. This simple treatment sensibly applied will overcome an appendicitis attack.

After spending three days on fruit juices the patient may adopt 'an all-fruit diet for a further four or five days. During this period he should have three meals a day of fresh juicy fruits. Thereafter he should adopt a well balanced diet based on three basic food groups namely seeds nuts and grains vegetables and fruits.

Chronic Appendicitis:

In case of chronic appendicitis a short fast should be followed by a full milk diet for two to three weeks. In this regimen a glass of milk should be taken every two hours from 8 a.m. To 8 p.m. On the first day a glass every.



Hour and a half the next day and a glass every hour the third day. Then the quantity of milk should be gradually in¬creased so as to take n glass every half an hour if such a quantity can be tolerated comfortably. After the full milk diet the patient should gradually embark upon a well balanced diet with emphasis on fresh fruits and green leafy vegetables.

Certain vegetable juices especially carrot juice in combination with the juices of beets and cucumbers have been found valuable in the treatment of appen¬dicitis. Regular use of tea made from fenugreek seeds has also proved helpful. In preventing the appendix from becoming a dumping ground for excess mucous and in¬testinal waste.

The patient of appendicitis should adopt all measures to eradicate constipation if it is habitual. Much relief can be obtained by the application of hot fomentation and ab¬dominal packs every morning and night. Abdominal massage is also beneficial. Once the waste matter in the caecum has moved into the colon and thence eliminated the irritation and inflammation in the appendix will subside and surgical removal of the appendix will not be necessary. The surgical operation should be resorted to only in rare cases, when the appendix has become septic.

Treatment chart for chronic appendicitis:

A - DIET

I. An all-fruit diet for 2 or 3 days, with three meals a day of fresh juicy fruits at five-hourly intervals.

II. Fruit and milk diet for further 3 days. In this regimen, milk may be added to each fruit meal.

III. Therefore, adopt a well-balanced diet on the following lines:

1. Upon arising: A glass of lukewarm water with half a freshly squeezed lime and a teaspoon of honey.

2. Breakfast: Fruits and milk, followed by nuts, if desired.

3. Lunch: Steamed vegetables, 2 or 3 whole-wheat wheat tortilla and a glass of buttermilk.

4. Mid-afternoon: A glass of fresh fruit or vegetable juice or sugarcane juice.

5. Dinner: A bowl of fresh green vegetable salad, with limejuice dressing, sprouted seeds and fresh homemade cottage cheese or a glass of buttermilk.

6. Bedtime: A glass of fresh milk or an apple.

Avoid:

Meat, fried foods, condiments, spices, white sugar, white flour and products made from white flour, sugar, tea, coffee, refined cereals and tinned and canned foods.

B - OTHER MEASURES

1. Abdominal packs for 2 or 3 times for duration of one hour each.

2. Massage to abdomen.

3. Adequate rest.

4. Hot fomentation to painful area several times daily.