Incontinence. A cold compress should be applied over the region of the bladder; but in neither difficulty ought domestic treatment to be relied upon, if the measures pointed out fail to give speedy relief. It is essential in all cases, that the patient should make regular efforts to pass water.
XXX. Toothache or Faceache.
The toothache of pregnancy is a Neuralgia, from which some ladies begin to suffer soon after conception, and thus recognise their condition. It is, however, liable to happen at any period during pregnancy. The pain may attack one or more teeth, decayed or sound, or it may extend along the jaw without affecting any tooth in particular. Extraction of the teeth during the time of pregnancy should be avoided, the shock to the system is dangerous; it is rarely necessary, and should only be resorted to when the medical attendant advises it, as homoeopathic treatment will generally removed the pain.
TREATMENT. Aconitum. Toothache from cold or wet, febrile symptoms, throbbing pains aggravated by stimulants. The writer has in some cases applied the tincture locally-a few drops in a little water-with almost immediate relief.
Chamomilla. Faceache with swelling, irritability. flushes of heat, palpitation, and sensitiveness to external impression, pains worse on taking warm food or drink at night.
Coffea. Extreme sensitiveness to pain, sleeplessness, flushed face, great restlessness; pain relieved by cold water, accompanied by palpitation, recurring every night.
Belladonna. Toothache with determination of blood to the head; irritability of the nervous system; the pains increase at night, are of a throbbing, piercing character, and often alternate with intense headache.
Administration. The foregoing are most useful, during an attack, when a dose may be given sixty, thirty, or fifteen minutes, according to is severity.
As preventives one of the following should be taken:Sepia, Cimic., Nux V., Calcarea, Kreas., Mercurius, or Staphysagria; the three last if decayed teeth are affected.
ACCESSORY MEANS. Avoidance of cold and damp; improvement of the general health, especially of the digestive organs, by means of wholesome food, pure air, out-of-door exercise, bathing, and regular, early habits.
XXXI. Headache and Dizziness.
These are sometimes most distressing concomitants of pregnancy. There may be acute congestion, with throbbing and heat in the head and face, confusion of ideas, dizziness, and intolerance of light and sound, etc. Or the face may be pale, and cool, and the eyes heavy and languid. A feeling of weight on the top of the head or back of the neck, palpitation, nervous tremblings, a disposition to fall forward, variable or diminished appetite, etc. are also common.
TREATMENT. Belladonna. Rush of blood to the head, with staggering, buzzing in the ears, throbbing of the arteries of the neck, scarlet redness of the face, sparks before the eyes, double vision, intolerance of light, confusion of ideas, disinclination to move, etc. Worse in the morning.
Aconitum. Giddiness on rising form a recumbent posture, heavy pressive pains on the top of the head or in the forehead, redness of the eyes, scanty urine, etc. Especially suitable for plethoric female of florid complexion and nervous temperament.
Bryonia. Beating in the forehead, giddiness, sense of weight and fulness, as if the brain would protrude on stooping, flushed face. This headache is often accompanied by indigestion, constipation, and sometimes bleeding from the nose.
Nux Vomica. Congestive headache waking the patient early in the morning, worse after eating, aching as if the head would split, stupefaction, etc., often associated with constipation, nausea, etc., sometimes commencing with dazzling of the sight, and increased by coughing or stooping. Nux V. is especially useful to patients who have lived too freely and who take alcoholic beverages.
Pulsatilla, Gelsemium, Gloninum, Cocc., Sepia, Platina, Etc., may also be considered.
XXXII. Pain in the Breasts.
Some women are troubled with a pricking or acute pain of a neuralgic character, in one or both breasts. The pain may be constant and exceedingly troublesome, or recurring paroxysms; generally there is no fever, although excessive suffering may cause sleeplessness and want of appetite.
CAUSES. Sympathetic irritation in the breasts through pregnancy, which determines a flow of blood to those organs; compression of the breasts with stays, etc. Pain or tension of the breasts may also be symptomatic of uterine tumours, ovarian dropsy, etc.
TREATMENT. Pulsatilla will generally removed this condition when purely nervous, as will conium.
Bryonia. Pricking sensation with sensitiveness.
Belladonna. Erysipelatous redness, heat, and hardness.
Administration. A dose thrice daily for three or four days.
ACCESSORY MEANS. No tight articles of dress should be worn. Hamamelis and olive-oil (one part of Hamamelis to ten of oil), gently rubbed into thee breasts, often affords relief.
XXXIII. Melancholy, Fear, Nervousness, etc.
Fear, anger, joy, grief, etc., operate powerfully upon the heightened susceptibility of the pregnant state, and may affect both the mother and child unfavorable. A morbid dread, causing the sufferer to view events through a darkened medium, may produce trembling of the body, weakness of the limbs, alarming dreams, nightmare, nervous irritability, despair of life, and even a wish that it were extinct. Injudicious friends often aggravate this morbid state by thoughtlessly repeating exaggerated accounts of accidents and unpropitious results of pregnancy. These narrations, though almost always as to operate powerfully on her mind, and produce the most serious results.
TREATMENT. Pulsatilla. Weeping-mood; headache, heartburn, uneasy feeling at the pit of the stomach; mental oppression. Pulsatilla often produces a satisfactory change in the whole system.
Cimicifuga. Melancholy, weariness, nervous weakness and prostration; pains in the left side under the breast, in the back, etc.
Ignatia. Alternate sadness and gaiety; depression of spirits, the patient frequently weeping without cause; acute sensitiveness of the body, nervousness; sensation as of a ball risings in the throat, and hysteric symptoms.
Platina. Extreme depression, even to the fear of death, anguish about the heart, Hysteria, etc.
Sepia, Aconite, Hyoscyamus, Cham, Opi., or Coffea, may sometimes be required.
ACCESSORY MEANS. Useful occupation, combined with out-door exercise, and cheerful company or books.
XXXIV. Varicose Veins.
A dilatation of the veins of the legs, by which they become swollen and painful, and the patient is prevented from taking the necessary walking-exercise, is a frequent accompaniment or pregnancy.
SYMPTOMS. The enlarged veins are most frequently below the knee, but, the veins of the thigh may also be involved, and, in some cases, those of sexual organs The veins appear blush, tortuous, and knotted; and are sometimes apt to become inflamed and ulcerated, or even to burst. When the womb is more inclined to one side than the other the corresponding limb will be most affected. The veins get larger when the patient is much on her feet, or allows the limb to hang down, but decrease in size during rest in the horizontal posture.
CAUSE. Pressure of the enlarged womb, which obstructs the return of blood from the parts below. Such being the general cause of the derangement, after delivery the veins speedily regain their usual size.
TREATMENT. Pulsatilla. Painful and inflamed veins, causing welling of the limbs, in. patients having the pulsatilla temperament.
Hamamelis Virg. In severe cases, when bleeding is threatened. A dose every eight or twelve hours.
Aconitum. May be alternated with either Pulsatilla or Hamamelis to relieve the pain and feverishness.
Nux Vomica. Varices, with enlargement of thee abdomen, haemorrhoids, constipation and bearing-down pains.
Belladonna, Arsenicum, Silicea, and Sulph., are also useful under certain conditions. Further information may be found in the author’s Vade Mecum of Modern Medicine and Surgery.
ACCESSORY MEANS. The limb should be bandaged from the toes to a little above the knee, or to the hips if the disease extends above the knees; beneath this bandage linen compressed should be laid over the enlarged veins, and kept wet with a lotion of Hamamelis tincture, four teaspoonful of water to one of the tincture. All ligatures should be removed. In severe cases it is necessary to keep the limb in a horizontal posture, and to wear elastic stockings.
XXXV. Piles (Haemorrhoids.)
Piles is one of the most frequent disease of pregnancy. External piles seldom give rise to bleeding, while internal piled often bleed profusely. The disease is really a varicose condition of the veins of the rectum (lower bowel).
CAUSES. The chief cause is pressure of the enlarged womb upon the vessels of the pelvis; minor causes are-mechanical pressure of the contents of the bowels in Constipation, acrid Diarrhoea, etc.
TREATMENT. Nux Vomica and Sulphur. In the majority of cases, the alternate use of these medicines will afford marked relief, especially in persons who have indulged in stimulating drinks, or who lead an inactive life, and when there are alternate Constipation and Diarrhoea, frequent protrusion of the lower bowel, pain in the small of the back, painful urination, with aggravation of the symptoms after meals and during mental labour. A dose of Nux V. at night, and one of Sulph. in the morning, for a week or two. The dose may be repeated every four hours, during an attack.
LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS; LICENTIATE IN MIDWIFERY, LONDON AND EDINBURGH, ETC. PHYSICIAN TO THE READING AND BERKSHIRE HOMOEOPATHIC DISPENSARY.
Author of "The Stepping Stone to Homeopathy and Health,"
"Manual of Homoeopathic Treatment". Editor of "The Homoeopathic World."