Mother's Remedies Part 38

6. Piles, Simple Application and Relief from.--"Mix together one tablespoonful plain vaselin and one dram flower of sulphur. Apply three times daily and you will get relief."

7. Piles, Steaming with Chamomile Tea for.--"A tea made of chamomile blossoms and used as a sitz bath is excellent; after using the sitz bath use vaselin or cold cream and press r.e.c.t.u.m back gently."

[148 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT for Piles.--What to do first.--The palliative treatment of both varieties of external piles is the same. In all cases the patient should lie flat on his back in bed and remain there for a few days. Highly seasoned foods and stimulants, tea, coffee, whisky, wine, etc., must be discarded. Secure a daily half liquid stool by the use of small doses of salts, Hunyadi or Abilena water. Cleansing the parts with weak castile soap water is essential to allay the pain, reduce the inflammation and soothe the sphincter muscle; cold, or if it is more agreeable, hot applications may be kept constantly on the parts. Hot fomentations of hops, smartweed, wormwood, or poultice of flaxseed, or slippery elm, or bread and milk give almost instant relief in many cases; while in others soothing lotions, and ointments or suppositories are needed.

The lead and laudanum wash is always reliable.

Lead and Laudanum Wash.--

Solution of Subacetate of Lead 4 drams Laudanum 20 drams Distilled water enough to make 4 ounces

Mix thoroughly and apply constantly ice cold on cotton to the sore parts.

The following ointments, lotions, and suppositories to be used freely within the bowels and to the piles, are effective in relieving the pain, reducing inflammation and diminis.h.i.+ng pain and spasm in the sphincter.

1. Ointment of Stramomium 1-1/2 drams Ointment of Belladonna 2-1/2 drams Ointment of Tannic Acid 1/2 ounce

Mix thoroughly and apply inside and outside the a.n.u.s.

2. Camphor Gum 1 dram Calomel 12 grains Vaselin 1 ounce

This must be thoroughly mixed. Apply freely within the a.n.u.s and to the piles. Good for the pain.

3. For External Piles cleanse them well with a sponge dipped in cold water, and then bathe them with distilled extract of witch hazel.

4. If there is much itching with the piles use the following salve:--

Menthol 20 grains Calomel 30 grains Vaselin 1 ounce

Mix and apply to the piles.

5. I use quite frequently the following for sore external piles:

Chloroform and Sweet oil in equal parts

Apply freely with cotton or on to the piles. Ten cents will buy enough to use.

[DIGESTIVE ORGANS 149]

Operation for Piles.--When these measures do not relieve the pains or the piles become inflamed from slight causes and often, it is best to operate.

This can be done in a few minutes with a local anesthetic and the patient frequently goes to sleep afterward, almost free from pain. Inject a three per cent solution of eucaine, or six per cent solution of cocaine.

Thoroughly cleanse the part and hold the b.u.t.tocks apart, pierce the pile at its base with a thin sharp-pointed curved knife, laying it open from side to side. Remove the clot with a curette, cauterize the vessel and pack the cavity with gauze to prevent bleeding and to secure drainage.

Cutaneous (skin) piles are operated upon as follows.--Each one is grasped in turn with a pair of strong forceps and snipped off with the scissors, or removed with a knife. Close the wound with sutures, if necessary, and dress it with gauze. Small ones need no sutures. Be careful not to remove too much tissue. Much after-pain can be prevented by placing in the r.e.c.t.u.m a suppository containing one-half grain of opium or cocaine before either of the above operations are performed. The after treatment is quite simple. Keep the patient quiet, cleanse the parts frequently, and secure a soft daily stool. Cleanse with tepid boiled water with clean sterilized gauze and give salts in small doses, one to two drams to produce a stool.

INTERNAL PILES. Symptoms.--The two prominent symptoms are bleeding and pain. The bleeding is usually dark. It may be slight and appear as streaks upon the feces or toilet paper; it may be moderate and ooze from the a.n.u.s for some time after a stool, or it may be so profuse as to cause the patient to faint from loss of blood while the "bowels are moving." Death may follow in such a case unless the bleeding is stopped. The blood may look fresh and fluid or if retained for some time, it looks like coffee grounds, sometimes mixed with mucus and pus. Patients who bleed profusely become pale and bloodless, and are very nervous and gloomy and they believe they are suffering from cancer or some other incurable trouble.

The first the patient notices he has internal piles is when a small lump appears at the end of the bowel during a stool and returns spontaneously; afterwards the lump again protrudes after the stool and others may appear.

They become larger and larger, come down oftener and no longer return spontaneously, but must be replaced after each stool. As a result of this handling, they grow sensitive, swollen, inflamed and ulcerated, and the sphincter muscle becomes irritable. Later on one or more of the piles are caught in the grasp of the sphincter muscle and rapidly increases in size.

It is then hard to relieve them, and when returned they act as foreign bodies, excite irritation and they are almost constantly expelled and the same procedure goes on at each stool. The sphincter muscle contracts so tightly around them as to cause strangulation and unless properly treated they become gangrenous and slough off.

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Recovery, Pain, etc.--The pain is not great in the early stages, but when the muscle grasps and contracts the pile or piles it becomes terrible and constant. Piles rarely end fatally. Palliative treatment does not afford a permanent cure. They frequently return, but by care and diet many can be kept from returning so frequently. They should be treated upon their first appearance when the chances of a permanent cure without an operation are much better.

PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT for Internal Piles.--What to do first. The cause should be removed. Restore a displaced womb. Regulate the bowels, liver, diet, and habits. Much can be accomplished by these measures if properly used, in allaying inflammation diminis.h.i.+ng pain and reducing the size of the piles. These measures will not cure them if they are large, overgrown and protruding. When the piles are inflamed, strangulated or ulcerated, the patient should remain in bed in a rec.u.mbent position and hot fomentations of hops, etc., and hot poultices, of flaxseed, slippery elm, bread and milk, the ice bag, or soothing applications and astringent remedies, should be applied to the parts. In some cases cold applications are the best. The cold or astringent applications give the best results where the piles are simply inflamed and the sphincter muscle does not act spasmodically, jerkily. But when the piles are strangulated, "choked tight" by the sphincter muscle, hot fomentations, poultices and soothing remedies give the most relief, because they reduce spasmodic contractions of the muscle and allay the pain. Instead of the poultices and fomentations, the "sitz" bath can be used. Put in the steaming water, hops, catnip, tansy, pennyroyal, etc., and the steam arising will frequently give great relief. This can be given frequently; ten to twenty drops of laudanum can be added to the poultices when the piles are very painful.

1. For inflamed piles, the following combinations may be used:--

Gum Camphor 1 dram Calomel 12 grains Vaselin 1 ounce

Mix thoroughly and apply freely around the a.n.u.s and in the r.e.c.t.u.m on the piles.

The external parts should always be bathed with hot water, thoroughly, before using.

2. Gum Camphor 2 drams Chloretone 1 dram Menthol 20 grains Ointment of Zinc Oxide 1 ounce

Mix and apply directly to the piles.

3. When there is a slight bleeding, water of witch-hazel extract, one to two ounces to be injected into the r.e.c.t.u.m. This witch-hazel water freely used is good for external piles also. This is good and well recommended.

[DIGESTIVE ORGANS 151]

4. If the protruded pile is inflamed and hard to push back, the following is good and recommended highly:--

Chloretone 1 dram Iodoform 1 dram Gum Camphor 1 dram Petrolatum 1 ounce

Mix and use as a salve.

5. An ointment composed of equal parts of fine-cut tobacco and raisins, seedless, chopped fine and mixed with enough lard, makes a good ointment to apply on both external and internal piles.

6. Tea of white oak bark, boiled down so as to be strong, and mixed with lard and applied frequently, is good as an astringent, but not for the very painful kind. It will take down the swelling.

7. Take a rectal injection of cold water before the regular daily stool.

This will soften the feces and decrease the congestion.

Preventive Treatment.--This is very important and includes habits and diet and other diseases. If the patient is thin and pale give tonics.

Correct any disease of any neighboring organ. Attend to any disease that may be present.

For Constipation.--Take a small dose of salts or hunyadi water so as to have one semi-solid stool daily. If necessary remove any feces that may even then be retained, by injections of soap suds or warm water containing oil. Discontinue injections as soon as a daily full stool can be had without it.

Habits.--Full-blooded people should not use upholstered chairs as the heat of the body relaxes the tissues of the r.e.c.t.u.m. A cane seated chair is best or an air cus.h.i.+on with a hollow center. It is best to rest in bed, if possible, after stool for the rest relieves the congestion and soreness.

An abundance of out-door exercise, when the piles are not present, or bad, consisting of walking or simple gymnastics may usually be indulged in; violent gymnastics and horseback riding must be avoided. A daily stool must be secured.

Diet.--Such patients should avoid alcoholic beverages, spiced foods, strong coffee, and tea, cheese, cabbage, and old beans.