TREATMENT OF GONORRHOEA.
During the acute or florid stage of the disease the patient should be definitely restricted as regards all physical activity. In particular over-exertion and physical fatigue are to be carefully guarded against. Long distance travel by train or automobile should be forbidden as for some reason this tends to aggravate most cases.
In the female, rest in bed during the menstrual period is generally indicated and will go far in preventing complications. In either sex the presence of fever warrants bed rest the same as in all other acute conditions. Avoidance of chilling during the acute stage is important.
The patient should not occupy a room with another person as it is essential for him to achieve the maximum in the way of rest, relaxation and sleep.
All sexual stimulation and excitement must be most carefully avoided as it has been proven beyond question to be a major obstacle to recovery.
Even the least indulgence in alcohol is to be forbidden absolutely until recovery is fully established. Tea, coffee, cocoa, candy, pastry and tobacco should be deleted from the diet if the best results are to be obtained. It is the physicians duty to assure himself that these orders are being faithfully carried out, otherwise he is likely to be wasting his time in attempting to treat the patient.
An “old school” specialist in the treatment of diseases of the urogenital tract without benefit of a homoeopathic armamentarium may achieve brilliant results in many of these cases simply because he insists upon one hundred percent patient cooperation. Why therefore should the homoeopathic remedy an even break with the specialist and his bag of tricks and then watch the results.
They will speak for themselves. If there is anything that raises the writers blood pressure it is the complacent expectation that the indicated homoeopathic remedy will move heaven and earth in the face of every possible and imaginable obstacle to recovery.
Never forget this golden rule of successful practice:
Remove first the obstacle to recovery and then prescribe the remedy. We might add that it may be well to watch carefully that the obstacles once removed do not happen to get in the way again for human nature is pretty much the same everywhere and pitifully weak when it comes to matters of self indulgence.
A diet of raw fruits during the first ten days or two weeks of the acute stage of gonorrhoea has proven most beneficial and definitely hastens the recovery process. After a period on raw fruit the addition of raw vegetable salads (no commercial dressings, only lemon juice and olive oil) will be in order. As improvement progresses gradually return to a normal hygienic diet keeping the emphasis where it belongs, on the fresh, natural raw foods and fresh cooked unprocessed articles of diet.
Local treatment we will mention only to condemn without reservations. When the specialists warn against the harm that may be done to delicate tissues by inexperienced hands we may perhaps be pardoned for fearing intervention even by their very experienced and skillful hands. The fact is there is really no need or excuse for local treatment in cases of Neisserian infection of either the male or female urogenital tract.
More than anything else local treatment causes spread of the infection and untoward complications. The writer and some of his homoeopathic and naturopathic friends have successfully treated gonorrhoeal cases in both the male and female without recourse to local treatment in a single instance over a period of more than twenty years.
Hydrotherapy deserves honorable mention as the only quasilocal therapy that we would use or advise whenever indicated. We refer to hot sitz baths or hip baths as they are sometimes called. This type of bath will often give grateful relief in many cases of acute gonorrhoea in both sexes. It is also used effectively in the treatment of both specific and non- specific urethritis in pre-adolescent females.
In the use of the sitz bath the water should come as high as the crest of the ileum and should be as hot as can be endured without discomfort. The temperature of the water should be kept at about the same level throughout the bath. Hip baths should last from fifteen to thirty minutes. A good average is twenty minutes. We have yet to observe any untoward effects from this type of treatment.
The question of water drinking is often raised. We advise the use of whatever amount is required to satisfy thirst, but do not find it advantageous to force liquids as some advise. Too much water may easily add to the patients discomfort without any advantage whatsoever. The juice of one to three lemons a day in water is distinctly beneficial in nearly every case although we find an occasional patient who cannot take them without aggravation of the local discomfort. In such cases fresh grapefruit juice will be readily tolerated. Rarely is it necessary to dilute grapefruit juice with water.
The only medication that is ever indicated or required in the treatment of cases of either acute or chronic Neisserian infection is the well selected homoeopathic remedy. There is never any need for the use of sulfonamides. In facts, their use tends to produce a false cure which is worse than no cure at all as patients who have undergone sulfonamide treatment often become symptomless carriers of gonococcal infection. This is an observed fact in both sexes. In this connection we venture the prediction that treatment of Neisserian infection by any of the sulfa drugs will be looked upon with disfavor by specialists within comparatively few years.
(Next month-Remedy Indications in Gonorrhoea).
Eugene passed away at his country home on Spring Hill, Tuscarora Township, Bradford County, PA. He had been in ill health for several months. His wife, the former Caroline Davis, whom he had married in Philadelphia in 1910, had passed away in 1961. They spent most of their marriage lives in Swarthmore, PA.
Dr. Underhill was a member of the United Lodge of Theosophy, a member of the Philadelphia County Medical Society, and the Pennsylvania Medical Society. He was also the editor of the Homœopathic Recorder.