Factors to be taken into consideration when seeking medical treatment

1. Medication should not be taken for trivial sicknesses. Such sicknesses could be treated by changing one's diet, walking about, change in environment, etc. For example, if you have a headache on account of being in hot air, sit in a place where there is a cool breeze. If your stomach is feeling heavy on account of eating, skip one or two meals. If your head is paining on account of lack of sleep, then sleep. If you are feeling lazy on account of excessive sleep, then sleep less. If you engaged in excessive mental work and this resulted in dryness in your brain, reduce your work load and give the brain a rest. When such measures do not help, opt for medication.

2. Do not be distraught irrespective of how serious the sickness may be. By becoming distraught, the entire treatment is affected. Treatment should be sought with great tranquillity and peace of mind.

3. Do not get into the habit of taking laxatives, vomiting, and in cupping the blood. In other words, do not get into the habit of doing these things every year without any real need to do so. If you are in the habit of taking laxatives, try stopping this habit in the following way: when the time of taking the laxatives approaches, reduce your food intake and engage in more exercises. Take some medication that would loosen your stool slightly (provided it is not a laxative). Even if you do not feel good during the days when you normally take the laxatives, do not worry about it and delay in taking the laxative. In this way, you will abandon this habit.

4. Do not take very strong medication without any real need to do so. The disadvantage of such medicines is that if they are not suited to you, they will cause great harm as well. Do not take haraam and impure medicines, nor should you apply them to your body.

5. If you have to take a particular medicine over a period of time, then occasionally try and skip taking it for one-two days. Alternatively, change it for some other medicine. This is because once you get into the habit of taking a particular medicine, it will no longer have any effect on you.

6. As long as a certain type of food is sufficient, do not opt for any medication.

7. Be extremely cautious when taking any medicine. Ensure that you take it exactly as it has been prescribed. Do not increase or decrease the dose on your own.

8. If you purchase any medicine, show it to the doctor first. If he says that it would be harmful for you, exchange it.

9. When it comes to medication for the heart, kidneys, brain, lungs, eyes, and other delicate organs, do not use medicines that are very strong, that have cold properties, which are assimilated very quickly, or which are poisonous. However, if there is a dire need to use such medicines, there is no alternative but to use them.

10. When seeking treatment, ensure that you go to a doctor who is knowledgeable, experienced, makes a thorough examination, and does not prescribe any medicine without pondering and thinking over the matter. Furthermore, he does not rush into prescribing laxatives. Do not be deluded into going to a particular doctor merely because he is very famous.

11. When ill, consider prevention (or abstinence) to be better than medication. However, if you are absolutely healthy, do not be abstinent. Eat whatever you wish in accordance with the season. However, do not eat more than you can. If your stomach feels "heavy", skip a few meals.

12. Seeking medical treatment is necessary for every sickness. However, there are certain sicknesses which need special care. This is specifically so with children. Such sicknesses are: colds, coughs, pain in the eyes, pleurisy, indigestion, diarrhoea, colic pains, hernia, a lack or increase of menstruation, a fever that is continuous or which is experienced after a meal, being bitten by an animal or human, consuming a poisonous substance, palpitation of the heart, dizziness, palpitation of the body in different places, paralysis or numbness of the entire body, feeling extremely hungry very often, not feeling any hunger at all, feeling very sleepy very often, insomnia, perspiring profusely, not perspiring at all, or the occurrence of any other thing which is contrary to one's normal life. When this happens, the person should immediately understand that some sickness or the other is approaching. He should therefore go to the doctor and seek the necessary treatment. He should not allow any disorder in his diet.

13. When getting your pulse checked, ensure that your stomach is not too full nor too empty. When the stomach is empty, one feels restless (thereby causing a change in the pulse rate). Furthermore, one should not be very sad nor very happy. One should not check one's pulse immediately after waking up from one's sleep, after being awake for a very long period, after engaging in physical work or after having walked a long distance. Have your pulse checked while being in any of the following postures: in the squatting position, while lying down, sitting on a stool, or sitting on the edge of a bed with your legs dangling. Do not sit in such a position whereby you put a strain on a certain part of your body. Do not support yourself on any of your hands, nor should you place a pillow under you. Do not hold anything with the hand that you have offered to be checked. Do not extend that hand completely, nor fold it completely. Instead, the hand should touch your ribs and be slightly loose (not stiff). Do not hold your breath. Do not fear the doctor as this causes a difference in the pulse rate. If you wish to have your pulse checked while lying down, do not lie on your side. Instead, lie flat on your back.

14. When having your urine tested, bear the following factors in mind: it must be tested when you have slept and awoken according to your norm and that you have not eaten or drunk anything as yet. By eating green esculent vegetables, one's urine becomes greenish. By eating saffron, it becomes yellowish. By applying henna, it becomes reddish. It becomes yellowish or reddish due to the following factors: fasting, lack of sleep, exhaustion, extreme hunger and holding back one's urine. At times it turns white on account of remaining awake for long hours. By drinking excessive water, it becomes light in colour. A urine test is of no use after having taken purgatives or laxatives. A urine test will be most effective if it is taken twelve hours after a meal. If the urine is to be tested in the morning, do not eat to your stomach's full the previous night. The urine test of a woman who has recently given birth is of no use. If a person has passed urine several times at night, a urine test the following morning is of no use. If a person urinates and keeps that urine for more than six hours before it can be tested, it will be of no use. At times, such urine is rendered useless even before six hours. In other words, once you notice a change in its colour or smell, there is no use in having it checked.

15. Do not change doctors unnecessarily. Keep the doctor happy by carrying out whatever he orders. If you do not gain any benefit from him, do not accuse him. If you give him anything in return for his treatment (either in cash or kind), do not consider yourself to have done him a great favour.

16. Do not be too strict on the sick person. Accommodate his harshness and hot temper. Do not mention things that would cause him to lose hope irrespective of how serious his condition may be. Continue consoling him.