The compress is a wet cloth or bandage applied to a part. The object may
be to cool the part under treatment, or to retain heat. The compress may
be used with equal success for either purpose. When the part is to be
cooled, a compress composed of several folds should be wet in cool,
cold, or iced water, as required, and placed upon the part after being
wrung so it will not drip. It should be changed as often as _every five
minutes_. This is often neglected to the injury of the patient. A very
cold compress may be prepared by placing snow or pounded ice between the
folds of the compress. This will not need renewal so frequently; but its
effects must be carefully watched, as injury may be done by neglect. In
applying cold to such delicate parts as the eye, a very thin compress is
better. It should be renewed once in five minutes, at least.
When accumulated warmth is required, a thick compress is applied, being
wrung out of tepid water, and covered with a dry cloth to exclude the
air. Soft, dry flannel is an excellent covering. Rubber or oiled silk
may be employed when the compress is not to be retained more than a few
hours; but if it is to be worn continuously, they will be injurious, as
they are impervious to air and thus interfere with the function of the
skin. The effects of a compress thus applied are identical with those of
the poultice, and the application is a much more cleanly one.
Compresses are applicable in all cases in which poultices are commonly
used. They may replace the old-fashioned plasters with profit and
comfort to the wearer. The wet-sheet pack, half pack chest pack and
wrapper, leg pack, and wet girdle are all large compresses.
When applied continuously in the same place for a long time, the
compress occasions a considerable eruption of the skin, and sometimes
boils and carbuncles. There is no particular advantage in these
eruptions, and they sometimes do much harm by producing a great degree
of general irritation. The notion that they purify the system, though a
very popular one, has really a very slight foundation. The discharge is
largely made up of elements which would be of great utility if retained
in the system, and the amount of foul matter eliminated in this way is
certainly infinitesimal compared with the amount thrown off by a few
inches of healthy skin. The skin can always do more and better work when
healthy than when diseased. The eruptions are no doubt due to debility
of the skin, produced by a too long continuance of the very abnormal
conditions supplied by the compress. Yet, strange as it may appear,
there are those claiming to be physicians who directly aim to produce
inflamed and irritated surfaces by the continuation of the compress for
months and even years.
The _wet head cap_ is a compress made to fit the head. It should consist
of several thicknesses of cotton or linen cloth, so as to retain
moisture for some time. It is a good temporary appliance in diseases of
the scalp, and for headache; but it should never be worn continuously
for the purpose of relieving congestion, as it will have an effect just
the opposite of that desired. In eczema of the scalp it may be worn
until the disease is cured, being frequently rewetted. It is an
excellent means of preventing sun-stroke and other effects of heat when
worn beneath the hat in summer; but even for this purpose its use should
be temporary, the cap being worn only during the hotter portion of the
day.