"FEMALE DISEASES."
We hear a great deal in these days of "female diseases," by which is
meant the displacements of the organs of the reproductive system; that
is, of the uterus, ovaries, etc. These displacements are many, for the
uterus may not only drop down out of place, but it may be tipped
towards one side or the other, to the front or the back; or it may be
bent upon itself in various directions. These different displacements
cause much pain, and often result in ulcerations and profuse
discharges which are known as the "whites," or scientifically as
leucorrhea.
I only mention these things incidentally, so that I may call your
attention to the things you may do to prevent them.
A great many girls and women are spending large sums of money in being
doctored for these difficulties who need not suffer with them at all
if they had known how to dress healthfully; and many are bearing much
anxiety over the possibility of becoming sufferers with these
distressing diseases who could have their burden of fear removed by
the knowledge that "female diseases," in the great majority of cases,
are the results of wrong habits of dress and life. Leucorrhea is not
a disease. It is a symptom of abnormal conditions, and to be cured it
is needful that the conditions shall be understood.
Dr. Kellogg says, "Leucorrhea may result from simple congestion of the
bloodvessels of the vaginal mucous membrane, due to improper dress. It
may also be occasioned by taking cold, and by a debilitated condition
of the stomach."
Leucorrhea is merely an abnormal increase of a normal secretion. All
mucous membrane secretes mucus in small quantities--enough to keep the
membrane moist. When from any cause this secretion is increased, we
have what is called a catarrhal condition. As all cavities that
communicate with the air are lined with mucous membrane, this
catarrhal condition may exist in the nose, the throat, the eyes, the
ears, the bowels, or the reproductive organs, and will be named
according to the location.
A natural increase of this secretion takes place just before and after
menstruation, and should occasion no anxiety, but if continued during
the remainder of the month, especially if very profuse, of offensive
odor, or bloody in character, it needs the attention of the skilled
physician.
I do not wish to make you think constantly of yourself as diseased,
and so I do not give you directions as to local self-treatment. Many
symptoms can be overcome by general care of the health-habits of the
girl, and if they do not yield to this general care it is better to
consult a responsible physician than to tamper with yourself.
And here let me give you a word of warning. If you need medical care,
never consult the traveling doctors who advertise to do such wonderful
things. They charge big fees and give a little medicine and then move
on, and you have no redress if they have not accomplished all that
they have promised. They live off the gullibility of people. Again,
never take patent medicines. Wonderful discoveries, favorite
prescriptions and the like may be harmless, and they may not. And even
if they are, how can you judge that they are suited to your special
case? That they cured some one else is not proof that they will
benefit you, and you run a risk by taking them as an experiment. One
very serious danger in the taking of patent medicines is the fact that
they are so largely alcoholic in composition, and girls and women have
all too often been led into the alcohol habit and become habitual
drunkards through taking some advertised remedy.
Another has correctly said: "If you need the consultation and advice
of a physician go to your family physician, or, if you prefer, go to
some other physician; but always select one whose moral character and
acknowledged ability render him a suitable and safe adviser in such a
time of need. Above all things avoid quacks. The policy they pursue is
to frighten you, to work upon your imagination, and to make such
alarming and unreliable statements as will induce you to purchase
their nostrums and subject yourself to such a series of humiliations
and impositions as will enable them to pilfer your purse and without
rendering you in return any value received, but likely leave you in a
much worse condition than they found you."
You will probably be advised by your personal friends, who may know of
your ailments, to take hot douches, and perhaps you may wonder why I
do not prescribe them for leucorrhea, and kindred difficulties.
I do not commend them for the fact that I do not want you to be
turning your constantly anxious thought towards yourself in these
matters. If you need such treatment, let it be prescribed by your
physician, who knows exactly your condition. As far as possible turn
your thoughts from the reproductive system. Take care of your general
health, dress properly, obey all the rules of hygiene in regard to
diet, sleep, bathing, special cleanliness, and care, and then forget
as far as possible the physical facts of womanhood.
An excellent addition to your general bathing can be taken once a week
in the form of a sitz bath, which is effective for cleanliness, and
also for the reduction of congestion. If you have no sitz bath-tub,
an ordinary wash-tub can be made to answer by raising one side an inch
or two by means of some support. Have the water at a comfortable
temperature, say about 98 degrees, and if you have no thermometer you
can gauge the heat by putting in three gallons of cold water and add
one gallon of boiling water. Sit down in the tub and cover yourself
with a blanket. In about ten minutes add by degrees a gallon of cold
water. Remain sitting a minute or two longer, then rub dry.
Many people are afraid to use cold water after hot, in bathing, for
fear they will take cold, but that is just the way to prevent such a
result from the hot bath. The hot water has caused all the pores on
the surface of the body to open, and the bodily heat is rapidly lost
through this cause. The cold water, quickly applied, causes the pores
to close, leaves the skin in a tonic condition, and conserves the
bodily heat. One should never take a hot bath without following it
with a _quick_ cold application to the surface. It should continue,
however, but for a moment.
This kind of a bath is very useful for all chronic congestions of the
abdominal and pelvic viscera, such as piles, constipation, painful
menstruation, leucorrhea, or other affections of the reproductive
organs. It is also very helpful in headaches due to congestion of the
brain. If there is too little blood in the brain it might produce
wakefulness, but when the brain is too full of blood this bath tends
to produce sound and refreshing sleep.
A foot bath may be taken at the same time as the sitz bath, and in
this case the water should be warmer than that in the sitz bath, and
as the person rises from the sitz bath she should step into it, so
that her feet will get the tonic effect of the cold water.
The average age at which menstruation first appears is fourteen, but
some girls menstruate as early as eleven, while others may not develop
till some years later. Frequently, when the girl does not manifest
this symptom of womanly development, the mother becomes anxious and
begins to give forcing medicines. She knows that girls often die with
consumption in their early young womanhood, and has heard that it was
because they did not physically develop, and she fears that such
danger threatens her daughter, and imagines that if something can be
done to "bring on her courses," as she expresses it, the danger will
be averted.
In this case she has reversed cause and effect. The consumptive girl
did not menstruate because she had not the vitality to do so. The
consumption was the cause, the non-menstruation the effect. To produce
hemorrhage from the reproductive system by strong, forcing medicines
is only to increase the danger. The only thing to do is to improve the
general health, and if the girl can increase in strength until she
has more vital force than suffices to keep her alive, the function
that is vital--not to her, but to the race--will establish itself.
The failure of the menses to appear at the average age may be due
merely to a slow development, and in this case there is nothing to do
but wait. If the girl seems well, if she has no backache, no headache,
no general lassitude, no undue nervous symptoms, the mere
non-appearance of the menses need occasion no alarm. If, however, she
has these symptoms, it is an evidence that nature is attempting to
establish the function and is hindered either by general lack of
vitality or by some local condition, and in either case the giving of
forcing medicines would be a mistake. The weekly sitz bath would do no
harm as a semi-local measure. All proper precautions should be
observed as to maintenance of general health and mental serenity, and
if these do not prove sufficient the physician should be consulted.
In the case I mentioned, where the reproductive organs were lacking,
the girl had been subjected to a long course of home medication which
had proven disastrous to her digestion, and yet, as will be readily
understood, had not resulted in the establishment of a function that
is dependent upon organs which, in this case, did not exist.
Sometimes there are slight mechanical hindrances which can only be
determined by the physician, though their presence will be indicated
by the symptoms of menstruation without the accompanying sanguineous
discharge. In these cases the home medication is dangerous. If the
girl regularly has symptoms of approaching menstruation, with pain and
bloating, and these subside without flow, it would be wise to consult
the physician instead of resorting to domestic remedies or letting the
matter go on without attention.
Quite frequently the first appearance of menstruation is followed by
weeks or even months of freedom from its reappearance. In these cases
no alarm need be felt as long as the general health is not affected.
Again, there may be suspension of the function from change of
surroundings. Girls who go away to school often suffer from
irregularity. I have known of a case where the girl never menstruated
during the school year, but was perfectly regular during vacations.
These cases may be accounted for by the nervous strain, the using up
of vital forces in mental effort to such degree that there is nothing
left with which to carry on the menstrual function. In all such cases
it is wise to watch carefully the general health, and if all functions
are not properly conducted, to reduce the strain until the vitality is
able to keep all functions in order.
Girls are sometimes disturbed because the flow is scanty, and think
they should do something to increase the amount. It is no doubt true
that profuse menstrual flow is the result of our artificial lives. If
we lived more normally we should have naturally a scanty menstrual
flow. Therefore if a girl has good health and no monthly pain and the
flow is scanty, she may consider herself as more nearly in a normal
state, and be thankful.
If, however, the menses are suddenly less than normal it denotes a
suppression, which may be the result of cold, exhaustion of body,
weariness of nerves, mental anxiety, or disturbance of the emotions.
If gradual suppression occurs, accompanied by loss of health, it
indicates some constitutional difficulty or local trouble which
demands professional counsel.
Profuse menstruation is also a relative term, as there is no definite
standard as to amount of menstrual flow, nor the length of time it
should continue. The profuseness must be measured by the condition of
the individual. Where health seems fully maintained there would appear
no cause for anxiety. But if there is a marked increase over the
amount usual for the individual, if great weakness and prostration is
produced, either at the time or afterward, it may be called profuse,
and the cause may be either debility, that is weakness, or plethora,
which means fullness. If from the latter, there will be throbbing
headache, pain in the back, and general signs of fever. If from
debility, there will be pallor, weakness, and perhaps an almost
continuous flow.
As may be imagined, the treatment in the two cases will differ. The
full-blooded girl should be put on a plain, unstimulating diet, with
plenty of out-door exercise during the month, but about twenty-four
hours before the flow is expected she should have complete mental and
physical rest. She should remain in bed, and apply cold wet cloths
over the abdomen and between the thighs for an hour at a time, with
intervals of at least one-half hour between the applications. The
bowels should be freed from all fecal matter, and cool, small enemas
be given two or three times a day. If these simple measures do not
avail, the doctor should be consulted.
The pale and debilitated girl needs to rest. Sometimes, if hemorrhage
continues almost from one period to the next, she should remain in bed
even after the flow seems checked. The great desideratum is to build
up the general health, not by tonics, which are usually only
stimulants, but by the judicious observance of the laws of health.
This will, in many cases, call for the advice of the physician, who
can see and study the patient and her special conditions. It is not
safe to trust to book-doctoring.