Ipecacuanha. Flooding of bright-red blood.
Secale. Painful, dark, and offensive discharge, which is increased by movement or coughing; loss of contractility in the uterine fibres; pale face, coldness of the extremities, extreme weakness.
Arnica. Either alone or in alternation with Aconite, when the haemorrhage follows a fall, strain, mis-step, over-exertion, or other mechanical injury.
Additional Remedies. Sabina, Croc., Hamamelis, Mil.
ACCESSORY MEANS:
The patient should lie down quiet on a hard mattress, with the shoulders low and the hips raised, and move as little as possible; the mind should be kept calm, and order and quietness maintained in the apartment. In urgent cases, hot water (120 degree F) should be injected into the vagina. This is superior to cold water or ice as a stayer of bleeding, and it does not deprive the patient of strength as the application of cold does. Should, however, there be no hot water immediately at hand, cold water must be injected, or pieces of ice introduced into the womb, or pushed up the rectum.
For Bleeding from the Rectum, see “HAEMORRHOIDS” and “DYSENTERY.”
CHAPTER X
INJURIES ACCIDENTS
1 For ampler details of treatment, and other accidents not included in this Manual, the Author’s Vade Mecum of Modern Medicine and Surgery may be consulted.
81. Apnoea (from Drowning, Hanging, Suffocation by Gas, etc.)
No time is to be lost. The two points to be aimed at are: First, to restore breathing, second, circulation and warmth. Loosen everything about the chest and throat. Place the patient on his back, the head and shoulders a little raised by means of a coat rolled up and placed beneath. The mouth should be cleansed, the tongue drawn forward beyond the lips and kept in this position by means of a piece of tape or ribbon tied over the tongue and under the chin. Taking hold of both arms above the elbows, they should be drawn slowly and steadily upwards above the patient’s head and kept stretched while counting, one, two.
This is Inspiration, for by this means air is drawn into the lungs. The patient’s arms should next be turned down and pressed gently but firmly against the sides of the chest, counting as before, one, two. This is Expiration, or emptying the chest of air. These movements should be repeated about fifteen times in a minute, until natural breathing occurs. It is altogether wrong to suppose that life is extinct if breathing does not soon take place persons having been restored after persevering in this treatment for many hours.
Next not before commence rubbing the limbs upwards, with firm pressure, using handkerchiefs or flannels, to favour the return of blood to the heart. Warmth may be favoured by the application of hot flannels, hot bottles, or heated bricks wrapped round with flannel, or by any means at hand, to the pit of the stomach, the arm pits, between the thighs, and to the soles of the feet. Wrap the patient in a warm blanket. A small quantity of warm brandy and water, or hot coffee, should now be given.
82. Fainting: Insensibility
In all cases of insensibility, loosen the clothing round the neck and chest and if caused by an injury, the patient should be gently and carefully put to bed, and kept perfectly quiet while a doctor is sent for.
The ordinary fainting fit is not as a rule dangerous, and will be caused by several things, among which may be mentioned, “tight lacing,” The patient’s head should be pressed down between his knees and kept there for two or three minutes. The clothes should now be loosened, and all tight clothing likely to interfere with the free play of the chest removed. A good plan is to place the patient flat on the floor, the head on a level with the body. Bathing the face and head with cold water is beneficial, and a stimulant, such as coffee or wine, may be given.
83. What to do when a Dress catches Fire
Place the patient on the ground in a horizontal position, and if necessary, use force to accomplish this, since flames mount upwards. Then take a rug, table-cloth, or coat, and throw over the flames, pressing it well down in all directions; the flames are in this way easily extinguished. If this be promptly done, the frightful injuries which are occasionally seen, as a result of this accident, may be altogether prevented.
84. Burns and Scalds
Severe injuries from burns or scalds, especially those implicating large surfaces, are very dangerous, and often fatal.
TREATMENT:
First, remove the dress, and if any portions adhere closely to the surface of the body, do not tear them away, but cut round them as closely as possible. The burned part should then be placed in warm (not hot) water, which will remove the adhering portions. The most important thing to be done now is to exclude air from the wound; this may be accomplished by dusting on flour by means of the common dredger, or by applying gently a paste made with whiting or chalk. If oil be obtainable, any sort (with the exception of mineral oils such as paraffin) will do; the application of this will give immediate relief. (The best preparation is the “Carron oil”, consisting of equal parts of linseed oil and lime water).
Soak in it a piece of folded linen rag, and apply to the wounded surface so as to completely cover it, over this place some cotton wool or wadding, and secure it in position by means of a bandage. This dressing should not be interfered with until the wound is healed, unless it has become foetid from the discharge, when it must be removed very cautiously, and a fresh dressing, prepared beforehand, applied at once. If the wound is very serious, and the patient is suffering from “shock to the system,” he should be wrapped in a blanket and kept warm, and medical aid at once sent for.
If, after the dressing is finally removed, ulcers exist, Calendula or Glycerine cerate is a valuable application.
If there be very much discharge, it must be carefully and frequently removed, and the parts kept as clean as possible.
Internal Treatment, except in the slightest cases, is always necessary, and must be suited to the part injured, its extent, and the constitutional symptoms present. As a general rule Aconitum, given early, does good, by allaying fever, mitigating pain, and moderating reaction. In very severe cases a little warm brandy and water is of service.
85. Frostbite Sunstroke
The aim of all treatment of Frostbite is to restore the circulation gradually. Nothing can be more hurtful than bringing a person who has been frost bitten into a warm room immediately afterwards, or placing him near a fire. The bad effects of this may be seen to a lesser degree in the production of chilblains, by holding the hands near the fire in place of rubbing them briskly. Therefore the patient should be kept in a cool place, and the parts affected rubbed with snow, or bathed with cold water. By this means the circulation will be gradually but surely restored.
SUNSTROKE:
The clothing should be at once removed, and the patient placed in the prone position, with the head and shoulders slightly raised. Cold water should then be poured, from the height of three or four feet, on to his head and allowed to trickle down his back. If an ice bag, or bladder filled with ice, can be procured, it should be applied to the head. Should the patient be very much collapsed, a mustard plaster may be applied to the nape of the neck.
86. Bruises (Contusions)
The prime object should be to excite as speedily as possible the absorption of extravasated blood. If possible, the injured part should be raised, and a warm Arnica lotion (one part of the Tincture to ten of water) applied by means of lint saturated with the lotion, covered with oiled silk, and secured with a bandage. If however, the skin be broken, Arnica must on no account be used, as it may induce erysipelas. Fomentation of hot water used immediately after the injury, and at intervals afterwards, are often useful. A “black eye,” or, as the Scotch people more appropriately say, a “blue eye,” may generally be prevented by Arnica lotion, applied immediately after the injury. Hamamelis, Bryonia root, or Calendula, should be substituted if the sufferer is subject to erysipelas. Where the bruise is very severe; beyond giving the part absolute rest, it cannot be dealt with satisfactorily, except by medical knowledge.
87. Wounds
Wounds of the soft parts are of four kinds; Incised, made by clean-cutting instruments; punctured, such as pricks and stabs; lacerated, the parts being torn, and the lips of the wounds irregular; and contused, or bruised, the surface being broken.
TREATMENT:
The following are the chief points: 1st. To arrest the bleeding. In slight cases, the elevation of the bleeding parts, the application of cold, moderate pressure, and the coaptation of the edges of the wound, after cleaning them, will suffice. A Calendula lotion 1 See Materia Medica, Calendula. will serve to arrest haemorrhage, and check suppuration. See also further on.
2nd. The removal of foreign bodies. Dirt, hair, glass, clots of blood, etc., should be removed by the fingers, or sponge and water.
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."