Because of the recent uproar about using the caja (The Costa Rican Department of Social Security – CCSS) I have included some terms that may assist non- Spanish speakers (angloparlantes) with Costa Rica’s medical maze.

Ahogarse or atragantarse – to choke
Amígdalas – tonsils
Amigdalitis – tonsilitis
Andadera – a walker or device you hold onto in order to walk.
Automedicarse – to self-administer medicine
Bastón – a cane for walking
Cicatriz – scar
Conteo – a count like a blood count, etc.
Conmoción- a concussion
Contusion – a blow to the head
Costra – scab
Débil – weak
Defensas or el sistema inmunológico –
Dengue – an illness and fever that comes from an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus.
Desfibrilador – defibrilator
Diagnóstico – diagnosis
Discapacitado or minuválido – handicapped or disabled
Envenenamiento – poisioning
Enyesar – to put a cast on someone
Espasmo – spasm
Estornudar – to sneeze
Hernia – heria Un disco herniado is a herniated disk. The verb herniarse is to get a hernia.
Hueso – bone
Insolación- sunstroke
Laboratorio – lab
Me siento mejor/peor – I feel better/worse
Mordedura – bite from a dog or snake
Muletas – crutches
Neumonía or pulmonía
Paperas – mumps
Picadura – an insect bite
Plaquetas – blood platelet
Prueba or examen – test
Ronchas or sapullido – a rash
Sarampion – measles
Silla de ruedas – wheelchair
SIDA – AIDS
Suero oral – is an electrolyte solution that replaces fluids and minerals lost during excessive perspiration, vomiting and/or diarrhea.
Tiña – a fungal skin infection or ringworm
Tocer – to cough
Torcedura – a sprain
Torcerse – is to sprain something
Varicela – chicken pox
VIH – virus de inmunodeficiencia humana or HIV
Yeso – cast

To be continued next week

Tico expressions:

• Ser como la iglesia de Puriscal, no tener cura – when there is no cure for someone. The word for “cure” and priest is the same except la cura is the cure and el cura is the priest. The church in Puriscal doesn’t have a priest or cure because it is in ruins due to a series of earthquakes. It has been closed for years.
• Ser justamente lo que el médico recetó – To be just what the doctor ordered Venirle como agua de mayo means the same thing.
• S.I.D.A. – AIDS. Although this illness is nothing to joke about the locals say that SIDA stands for Solamente Intenté Darte mi Amor. I just wanted to give you my love. They also say that it is the abbreviation of San Ignacio de Acosta.