Part 6 (1/2)

Simple hot water applied to inflamed eyes for hours together, allowing short intervals between the applications, will often cure most painful cases.

_Never apply cold_ to inflamed eyes. It always aggravates. When the inflammation is in a scrofulous person, especially in infants, it a.s.sumes a purulent character, and may leave the cornea in clouded (nebulous) condition, and the sight more or less obliterated. For this condition use _Conium_ first, and apply it _in tinct._, half water, to the eyes every four hours.

Wounds and Bruises.

On this subject, I must necessarily be very brief. When a wound is inflicted, the first and most important thing to be done is to _arrest the flow of blood_. Every one should know how to do this. The bleeding is to be stopped, and the wounded vessels to be secured, so that no further flow can take place.

First, then, to stop the bleeding, _pressure_ is to be made upon the artery leading to the wound. If the wound is in the leg or foot, pressure is to be made, either on the vessel above and near the wound, or, where that cannot be easily found and compressed, make firm pressure with the thumb or some hard substance, in the groin, about two and a half inches at one side of the center of the pelvis, (wounded side) just below the lower margin of the belly, towards the inner side of the thigh, where the great artery (Femoral artery) can be felt pulsating. By pressing firmly upon this artery, the blood is arrested in its flow into the limb, and of course the bleeding from the wound soon ceases. If the wound is in the arm or hand, _pressure_ is to be made, either just above the wound, or on the inside of the arm, about one-third of the way from the shoulder to the elbow, where the artery (Brachial) can be felt. To secure the parts from further bleeding, the wounded artery must be taken up and tied. Let it be seized by forceps, or the point of a needle may be thrust into it, and the vessel stretched out a little, a thread put round it and tied; cut off one end of the tie, and let the other hang out of the wound, until it comes out by the vessel sloughing off. Bring the lips of the wound together, and if it is large, put in st.i.tches enough to hold them, and put on an adhesive plaster, compress of cloths, and bandages to keep it from straining the st.i.tches, and protect it from the air. The _Arnica_ plaster, made by JOHN HALL, of Cleveland, is the best adhesive plaster of which I have any knowledge. Give the patient _Aconite_ once in two hours, for a day after the accident.

_Slight Cuts_ about the joints, especially the knee, are dangerous, from their liability to affect the ligaments, inflame, and produce _Lockjaw_.

Therefore, such wounds, ever so slight, are of great importance. They should be at once closed up, whether they bleed or not, and covered with an adhesive plaster, (Arnica plaster is the best) a bandage, and the knee should not be bent, even when walking or sitting, until the wound is healed. It is best to apply a splint from the hip to the heel, and bandage the limb to it, so as to prevent bending of the joint.

_Bruises_ are to be treated with _Arnica_, applied to the part affected, by putting twenty drops of the tincture into a gill of water, if the skin is _not_ ruptured, or three drops into the same if it is, and bathing freely. The _Arnica_ is to be taken internally at a higher dilution. Keep the parts covered with cloths and wet in _Arnica_ water.

If a blow is received upon the head, by a fall, or in any other way, producing a ”stunning” effect, (concussion of the brain) so that the patient appears lifeless for a time, and delirious when he begins to come to, there is great danger of inflammation of the brain, and death from the re-action, or in some cases, the shock is so great that the patient will never revive unless he has the proper aid.

_Arnica_ is the great remedy to bring on reaction, arouse the patient, and prevent _dangerous_ inflammation or congestion of the brain.

When a patient is ”stunned” by a blow or fall, he should be conveyed soon as possible, to some _quiet_ place, and as little noise as practicable made about him, and the room kept darkened. _Arnica_ 3d should be given immediately, and the nostrils wet with strongly arnicated water.

If fever arise after he comes to, _Aconite_ should be given with _Arnica_, and if the head aches, or becomes hot, _Bell._ is to be used.

This will prevent or arrest all symptoms of inflammation.

_Torn and Mangled_ wounds should not be handled much. If they bleed, the blood must be stopped as in any other case. If they are dirty, warm water may be gently applied to cleanse them. The wound should be covered with some soft cloths, and kept constantly wet in Arnicated water of the strength of four drops of the _tincture_ to a pint of water.

Piles--Hemorrhoids.

One important matter in all cases of habitual piles, is, to keep the bowels regular. Much can be done for this purpose by diet and regimen.

On rising from bed in the morning drink freely, from a gill to half a pint of cold water, at least half an hour before breakfast; use such diet as is easily digested, and drink no alcoholic beverages. To relieve the bowels when costive, take a dose of _Nux Vomica_ at night, and _Podophyllin_ in the morning. This may be repeated from day to day until the proper effect is produced.

To relieve from a severe attack of Piles, use _Bell._ and _Podophyllin_ in alternation every four hours, and apply to the tumors when inflamed, cloths wrung out of hot water, or sit in hot water for a time.

A poultice made of fine-cut _Tobacco_ wet in hot water and crowded firmly up against the pile-tumors, secured by a T bandage, will relieve the most desperate cases for the time, and is attended with no danger or disagreeable symptoms except in rare cases, when it produces sickness at the stomach, which soon subsides on the poultice being removed. _Oil of Arnica_ is an excellent application for inflamed Piles.

A most important point in the management of Piles, and one often neglected, is to replace the prolapsed tumors. The tumors will be protruded from within the a.n.u.s by the act of evacuating, and if left in that condition, will be pressed upon by the external parts, chafed and inflamed. In all such cases, the patient should take particular pains to return the tumors into the r.e.c.t.u.m; and to aid in that process a little oil may be applied when they will be easily pushed back, and the sphincter of the bowel will close below them, preventing any chafing, and the consequent inflammation.

For _Bleeding Piles_, _Ipecac_ and _Bell_. are very efficient remedies.

They may be alternated every half hour, or oftener if the bleeding is severe, or at longer intervals when it is only slight.

_Hamamelis V._, (Witch Hazel,) will in nearly all cases arrest the bleeding at once. It should be applied to the parts and taken internally at the same time. Drop doses to be put on the tongue once in fifteen or twenty minutes.

An infusion of the _Hamamelis_ may be taken internally in doses of half a teaspoonful, and the same injected into the bowel with excellent effect.

The most effectual way, and the best for obtaining permanent relief from Piles when the tumors have become hard, and remain all the time so as to pa.s.s out of the a.n.u.s at every evacuation, being constantly more or less tender and painful, and often becoming inflamed, is to have them taken off. But never let that be done with a knife. The bleeding would, in such a case, be very excessive, and most likely fatal. The history of knife operations for the excision of Pile tumors is written in blood, and the tombstone stands as a monument of condemnation of the practice.

No trustworthy surgeon will at this day attempt it.