The Ladies Book of Useful Information Part 18

Between the monthly periods, if the system is weak, the following may be taken:

Precip. carbonate of iron, Five drams; Extract of conium, Two drams; Balsam Peru, One dram; Alcohol, Four ounces; Oil wintergreen, Twenty drops; Simple syrup, Eight ounces.

Dose: Two teaspoonfuls three times a day. Shake the mixture before using.

CHLOROSIS, OR GREEN SICKNESS.

This disease generally occurs in young unmarried females who are weak and delicate. It manifests itself about the age of p.u.b.erty, and is accompanied by feeble appet.i.te and digestion. There is no menstrual discharge, or else it is very slight.

It is caused by innutritious food and residence in damp and ill-ventilated apartments. It may be hereditary, all the females of the family being liable to the same disease. Those who drink largely of tea, coffee, diluted acids, bad wines, and indulge in tight lacing; are predisposed to this disease. Among the exciting causes may be mentioned disturbing emotions, unrequited love, homesickness, depression of spirits, etc. When we take into consideration the fact that the cause of the disease is impoverishment of the blood, the treatment will not be difficult.

TREATMENT.

Exercise freely in the open air; protect the body from chilliness with warm clothing and plenty of it. The patient should sleep on a mattress in a well-ventilated room. The diet should be nouris.h.i.+ng without being stimulating. It is important that the habits should be regular, and the mind kept cheerful by society and innocent amus.e.m.e.nts. Before the medical treatment is commenced the exciting causes of the disease must be removed. A complete change must be made in the existence of the patient. If she is confined closely at school, she must be removed; if she is inclined to confine herself to the house, send her to the country. Picture to her the danger she is in by the continuance of such a life; give her plenty of outdoor exercise. The mental and moral causes are the most difficult to remove, but a change of scenery and new friends will do much towards it. For those who are shut up in factories, or who work all day in a stooping position, a change of employment must be made. A bath of tepid water in the morning, followed by a brisk rubbing, will be beneficial; also the frequent use of the sitting-bath, and the sponge bath in the evening. Active exercise should precede and follow all baths. During menstruation all applications of water should be omitted. The following remedies are recommended by a famous Philadelphian doctor. They are to be taken on alternate days; that is, take No. 1 one day, No. 2 the next day, etc.:

No. 1.-Precip. carbonate of iron, five drams; extract of conium, two drams; balsam Peru, one dram; oil cinnamon, twenty drops; simple syrup, eight ounces; pulverized gum arabic, two drams. Mix. Dose: Two teaspoonfuls three times a day, every other day, after meals. Shake before using.

No. 2.-Tincture of nux vomica, one dram; syrup iodide of iron, one ounce; simple syrup, four ounces. Mix. Dose: One teaspoonful three times a day, every other day, after meals.

Another treatment is as follows:

Clear the bowels with the following mixture: Sulphate of magnesia, one ounce; nitrate of potash, ten grains; extract of liquorice, one scruple; compound infusion of senna, five and one-half ounces; tincture of jalap, three drams; spirit of sal volatile, one dram. Mix.

Dose: Two or three tablespoonfuls at a time, at intervals of two hours until an effect is produced. This is to be followed by sulphate of iron, five grains; extract of gentian, ten grains. Make into three pills and take a pill twice a day, with the compound aloes or rhubarb pill every night.

PROFUSE MENSTRUATION-MENORRHAGIA:

By menorrhagia we understand an immoderate flow of the menses. There is no fixed amount of blood which is lost at the menstrual period, but it varies in different women. It will average, however, from four to eight ounces. The quant.i.ty discharged may be estimated by the number of napkins used. Each napkin will contain about half an ounce, or one tablespoonful, so that eight napkins would contain four ounces; twenty, ten ounces; etc. In some females the discharge may be excessive without impairment of the general health.

Some females are predisposed to uterine hemorrhages, from a relaxed or flabby state of the texture of the uterus. Frequent childbearing, abortion, high living, too prolonged and frequent suckling, may induce flooding. Among the exciting causes we may mention overexertion, dancing, falls, lifting heavy weights, cold, and mental excitement.

TREATMENT.

The patient must lie down on a hard bed, and abstain from all stimulating food and drinks. The room should be cool and she should be lightly covered with bedclothes. Soak the feet in warm water, and if the flowing is excessive apply cloths wrung out in vinegar and water to the lower bowels. The hips must be elevated higher than the head.

Only in extreme cases should plugging be resorted to. This may be done by pieces of linen, about four inches square, thrust into the v.a.g.i.n.a until it is full, and a bandage applied between the legs. Cold hip baths and v.a.g.i.n.al injections of cold water will be beneficial when the hemorrhage is slight.

Use also the following:

Diluted sulphuric acid, Two drams; Syrup of orange peel, Two ounces; Cinnamon water, One ounce.

Mix. Dose: A teaspoonful in a winegla.s.sful of water two or three times a day.

If there is much pain administer the following every two or three hours:

Morphia, Quarter grain; Cayenne, Four grains; Rosin, Four grains.

Mix. Give in blackberry syrup.

PAINFUL MENSTRUATION-MENSTRUAL COLIC-DYSMENORRHEA.

Dysmenorrhea means a difficult monthly flow, and is always preceded by severe pains in the back and lower part of the abdomen. It is caused by taking cold during the period; fright, violent mental emotions, obstinate constipation, sedentary occupations, smallness of the mouth and neck of the womb. Females subject to this trouble are generally relieved by marriage. The symptoms are severe bearing-down pains in the region of the uterus, like labor pains; restlessness, coldness, flashes of heat, with headache; aching in the small of the back, lower part of the abdomen, and thighs; the discharge is scanty, and contains shreds of fiber and clotted blood.

TREATMENT.

The patient should immediately go to bed and cover up warmly.

Stimulating food and drinks should be avoided. Use a warm foot bath and sitting-bath, with hot poultices of hops or cloths wet in hot water applied to the abdomen.

In the interval of the menses, take active exercise, with a tepid hip bath three nights in the week, injecting some of the water high up in the v.a.g.i.n.a. Keep the bowels open by a pill of aloes and myrrh, and take a small teaspoonful of the volatile tincture of guiac.u.m three times a day, in water. On the approach of the period, take the following at night:

Calomel, Three grains; Opium, One grain.

In the morning a dose of caster oil, and on the appearance of the menses, the Dover's Powder and mixture as before. Repeat this treatment, in each interval, until permanently relieved.

The following is recommended by an eminent physician, to be taken a few days before the period:

Acetous tincture of colchic.u.m, Three drams; Magnesia, One dram; Sulphate of magnesia, Three drams; Distilled mint or cinnamon water, Four ounces.

Mix. Dose: A small winegla.s.sful every two or three hours until it operates. This should be preceded the night before by a small dose of blue pill.

SUPPRESSION OF THE MENSES-AMENORRHA.

By suppression is meant a disappearance of the menses after they have become established, and may be either acute or chronic. It is caused by cold caught during the flow, by exposure to night air or by wetting the feet; fear, shocks, violent mental emotions, anxiety, fevers and other acute diseases. Chronic suppression may be either a consequence of the acute, or caused by delicate health; also, from diseases of the ovaries or womb. It may also be occasioned by an imperforate hymen, in which case it must be cut open by a physician.

TREATMENT.

When the suppression is caused by some disease in the system, that disease must be cured before the menses will return. For sudden suppression, use the warm sitting-bath or foot bath. Apply cloths wet in warm water to the lower part of the abdomen, and drink freely of warm water. If the suppression is chronic and the patient is delicate, in the interval between the menses use the shower or the full bath of cold or tepid water, rubbing the body briskly with a coa.r.s.e towel, especially around the abdomen, loins, and genital organs.

As soon as the discharge has ceased, a warm hip bath will generally bring it on. If there is much inflammation of the uterus give the following:

Tincture aconite leaves, Two drams; Sweet spirits of nitre, One ounce; Simple syrup, Three ounces.

Dose: One teaspoonful every two or three hours.

If the discharge cannot be brought on, wait until the next period. A few days before the term the bowels should be freely opened and kept open until the period for the discharge has arrived. A pill of aloes and iron is one of the best that can be given. Give from one to three pills daily. If there is no evident reason for the discharge not appearing, such as pregnancy, inflammation of the neck of the womb, and the woman is suffering from the suppression, use the following:

Caulophyllin, One dram; Extract aconite, Eight grains; Aloes, Ten grains; Sulphate of iron, Ten grains.

Make into forty pills. Dose: Two or three pills, taken night and morning.

The remedies should always be taken a few days before the period arrives for the menses. If the chronic suppression is the result of any acute disease, the health must first be re-established, otherwise it would be wrong to force the menses. When this has been done, immediately before the return of the period a warm hip bath should be taken every night for six nights, and one of the following pills taken three times a day: