How to Cure Tetanus (Lock jaw)

Tetanus (Lock jaw)
Tetanus is a serious bacterial disease that affects your nervous system, leading to painful muscles contractions particularly of your jaw and neck muscles .Tetanus can interfere with your ability to breathe and hence endanger your life.

Tetanus is common known as Lockjaw because muscles spasms in your jaw make it hard to open your mouth

Note: There is no cure for tetanus, treatments involves managing the complications until the effects of tetanus toxin is resolved.

Causes
Bacteria that cause tetanus are called clostridium tetani, they are found in soil, dust and animal feces.
When they enter the fresh wound spores grows into bacteria and produces a powerful toxin, tetanospasmin which impairs the nerves that control your muscles (motor neurons)

The toxins can cause muscles stiffness and spasms – the major signs of tetanus

Nearly all cases of tetanus occur in people who have never been vaccinated or adults who haven’t kept up with their 10 year booster shots. You can’t catch tetanus from person who has it .

Symptoms
Symptoms appear anytime from few days to several weeks after tetanus bacteria enter your body through wound. The average incubation period is 10 days.

The following below are the common symptoms

• Spasms and stiffness in your jaw muscles (Trismus).
• Stiffness of your neck muscles.
• Difficulty in swallowing .
• Stiffness of your abdominal muscles .
• Painful body spasms lasting for several minutes, typically triggered by minor occurrences such as a draft, loud noise, physical touch or light. Other possible symptoms include fever,sweating, elevated blood pressure and rapid heart rate.

Treatments
Since tetanus has no cure, tetanus treatment consists of wound care medications to ease symptoms and supportive care

Wound care –Involves cleaning the wound to prevent growth of tetanus spores, this involves removing dirt, foreign objects and dead tissues from the object 

Medications

• Antitoxin – Doctor may give you antitoxin like tetanus immune globulin, however the antitoxin can neutralize only toxin that hasn’t yet bonded to nerve tissues 
• Antibiotics – Doctor may also give the antibiotics either orally or by injection to fight tetanus bacteria.
• Vaccine – People with tetanus should receive the tetanus vaccine as soon as they are diagnosed with condition.
• Sedatives - Doctors generally use powerful sedatives to control muscle spasms.
• Other drugs – Medications such as magnesium sulfate and certain beta blockers can be used to regulate involuntary muscle activities such as heartbeats and breathing 
• Morphine might be used for the purpose as well as sedation.

Supportive therapy - Severe tetanus infection often requires along stay in an intensive care setting, since sedatives can inhibit breathing, you may temporarily need a ventilator.

Preventing tetanus
Tetanus can be prevented by taking all of recommended immunization (shots), there are three different combination immunizations that includes vaccines for tetanus

• DTap (Diphtheria,tetanus and pertussis) – Given in series of 5 shots beginning at age 2 months and ending at ages 4 to 6 years. 
• Tdap(tetanus Diphtheria and pertussis) - This is the first booster shot for tetanus and is recommended at the age of 11 or 12,it’s also recommended for all teens and adults who never had the Tdap shot, and all pregnant women need a Tdap during each pregnancy. 
• Td(tetanus and diphtheria) – Is given as a booster shot every 10 years 

If you never had tetanus shots as a child, or if you are not sure if you had them, you will need to get tetanus shots in about a 1 – year time span. After that 1 booster shot every 10 years will work for you.

Get a tetanus shot as soon as possible if you have dirty cut or wound and 5 or more years have passed since your last tetanus shot. Some people may need tetanus immunoglobulin is usually only needed if you have not (or do not know whether you have) completed the tetanus shot series.

Tweet