At the “Change of Life”, as at puberty, menstrual irregularities are to be expected, and the important change that Nature is establishing in the habits of the system should be facilitated by especial moderation in the demands made upon body and mind. Many serious diseases are apt to make their attack at about this time, and perhaps the more easily because of the prevailing disposition among women to charge to the “change of life,” all the symptoms of ill-health or physical discomfort that they may experience perhaps during a whole decade. Many symptoms may be due to that cause, but it is nevertheless a wiser plan to seek professional advice before assuming such to be the case. And good judgment must be exercised, too, in treating many of the derangements of this epoch, for they may be Nature’s efforts to equalize a circulation deprived of the accustomed relief afforded by menstruation. Piles, especially bleeding piles, are frequently to be looked upon as a relief to the over-active blood-making organs, and as a complaint to be removed cautiously and gradually. Quick cures of piles are always to be considered ill-advised and dangerous unless the causes upon which they depend can first be put quite out of the way.
Among the more common disturbances of the circulation at the “change of life” are vertigo, and flushes of heat.
Vertigo may arise from either too much or too little blood in the head, the latter condition being frequently occasioned by the losses of flooding. The best medicine for a vertigo so produced is China, twelve globules to half a glass of water, a tablespoonful of which should be taken every one, two, or four hours as needed. Plenty of easily digested nourishing food should be taken by a patient suffering from this kind of vertigo, milk in some form, or some of the prepared foods made from beef, and sold at the drug-shops, being best adapted to the needs of the system.
When the vertigo depends upon too much blood in the head, and is accompanied by flushed face, hot head, dullness of sight, and weight, and fulness at the upper part of the neck, the best treatment is a hot foot-bath, and a full injection into the bowels. Let the water for the foot-bath be at 110* F., deep enough to come up well on the ankles, and let it contain two teaspoonfuls of ground mustard. The bath should last for thirty minutes, and the feet and tub should be covered.
For the injection, use a quart of warm water, containing a little soap. The best medicine will be the mother tincture of Gelsemium, of which five drops should be taken at a dose, mixed with a tablespoonful of hot water, and repeated once in three hours, if necessary. Cloths wet in cold water, applied to the head, and changed as often as they become warm, will also be of service.
Flushes of Heat are a very common form of annoyance at this period, and are best met by either Lach, or Sanguinaria, the former where the trouble is worse after sleeping, affects the left side the more, and the patient’s skin is very sensitive; the latter where there is headache, nausea, chilliness, and cough. Of the selected medicine, dissolve twelve globules in half a glass of water, and take a tablespoonful four times daily.
A few other disorders of the “change of life” are mentioned in the author’s “Modern Domestic Medicine,” but most of the troubles of this period should receive professional attention.
Leucorrhoea or the “Whites” is an extremely common disease among women, manifesting itself at all ages, in several varieties and many degrees, and resulting from a long list of causes. It consists of an abnormally profuse discharge of a fluid, colorless, white, yellowish or greenish, from the private parts, the fluid being variable in consistency, quantity and odor, and the disease resembling in most points a common “cold in the head.” The character of the discharge indicates the particular glands from which it comes, and it is usually an excessive flow of the natural fluids designed to moisten and lubricate the parts affected. Nervous weakness or exhaustion, a thin condition of the blood, an increased flow of blood to the sexual organs, cold, mechanical or other local irritation, or specific poisons may cause the trouble in some of its phases. The first may come from confinement at studies, especially instrumental music, without sufficient rest, air, and exercise; an increased flow of blood to the parts is natural at the monthly periods, and during pregnancy, and a slight leucorrhoea at such times can hardly be thought a disease; cold locally applied is frequently a cause of the trouble in little girls, who seem to have a remarkable fondness for sitting on such articles as stone door-steps; or, it may result from wetting the feet, or in any of the ways that bring about colds of the head or chest; mechanical and local irritations are induced by masturbation, sexual excesses, pessaries, and in little girls by worms, which crawl forward from the back passage, also by displacements or injuries to the womb itself; and specific poisons are found in the diseases of the privates of men, which a husband may convey to his wife. The discharge undoubtedly cleans the body, at times, of worn out material, which finds an obstacle to its escape through other channels.
In treating the Whites, it will be first necessary to remove the cause of the trouble, and this will often require a physician’s or surgeon’s services. But a plan that will almost invariably be useful, whether as a cure or as a temporary relief, is that of washing out the vagina with injections of hot water. Such a treatment, however, or any other local measures, should never be practised during the flowing of the menses; only in the intervals.
To give a proper injection, a large fountain syringe will be necessary, and its reservoir should be hung as high as the tube will allow. About a gallon of water must be used, and this should be at exactly 110* F., measured by a good thermometer. A table-spoonful of common salt added to the water will be advantageous. and the injection should be taken at such a time as will admit of its being followed by atleast an hour of rest, lying down. Take the injection about three hours after breakfast and again at bed-time, or if a morning douche cannot be followed by the hour of rest, take but one injection daily. Better no treatment than the treatment without the subsequent rest.
The injection should be taken sitting upon a rubber sheet, arranged to collect the water as it runs away and conduct it into a receptacle. The water after being made exactly 110* F., should be put into the receiver of the syringe (which will have to be refilled two or three times during the treatment), the receiver is then to be hung up on a nail, bedpost, chandelier, or anything high enough to give it all the “head” or pressure of water that the length of the tube will allow. The tube or nozzle-which should have been will anointed with vaseline or sweet oil-is then to be passed into the vagina as deeply as it will go easily, the water is to be allowed to flow, and the hand is to be placed over that organ so as close its lips somewhat, obstructing the outflow of the water and obliging it to distend the folds of lining membrane and come in contact with every part of its surface. The water should flow rather slowly and about a gallon should be used at each treatment.
At the end of a week of such treatment the temperature of the water should be reduced five degrees, to 105* F., and each subsequent week a further reduction of five degrees should be made till water of 85* F. is used. At this point the temperature should remain–harm may be done by going lower–and the injections may be continued indefinitely. In fact any woman who becomes accustomed to these internal baths will be more than likely to keep them up at short intervals, merely for the sense of cleanliness and comfort they occasion, but, as just remarked, care must be taken not to use water too cold–85* F. is cold enough, as a general rule.
Among many medicines for the whites, the best for domestic use will be Calcarea carb. or Pulse., the former where the patient is pale, fat, flabby, indolent, has cold feet and a tendency to perspire about the head and neck; the latter for patients who have easily disordered stomachs, and vague pains, changing character and location easily, who are apt to grow chilly on the slightest provocation and always feel better in the open air. Twelve globules of the selected medicine should be dissolved in half a glass of water, of which a tablespoonful should be taken four times a day.
For the troublesome itching of the privates, which is sometimes so annoying as almost to make life a burden, thorough bathing of the parts in warm water is to be advised as a preliminary measure whatever further treatment may be required. Among external applications, the best are Borax, in powder or in solution, Nitrate of Silver, in solution, ten grains to the ounce of water, and Balsam of Peru, which last must be applied with caution, as it is often very distressing and irritating to the delicate membranes at this point. Internally, a medicine is often of service, and the best selection usually is Sulph., which should be taken twice daily, at each dose using a tablespoonful of a solution of twelve globules of the medicine in half a glass of water. This trouble often offers a perplexing problem to the physician, who should be consulted if the above measures are unsuccessful.
Member New York State and County Homoeopathic Medical Societies ;
Formerly Staff-Physician to the College and Wilson Mission
Dispensaries ; Fellow of the N. Y. Academy of Anthropology ; Member American Historical Association,