Medical Home Remedies:
As Recommended by 19th and 20th century Doctors!
Courtesy of www.DoctorTreatments.com



MEDICAL INTRO
BOOKS ON OLD MEDICAL TREATMENTS AND REMEDIES

THE PRACTICAL
HOME PHYSICIAN AND ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MEDICINE
The biggy of the late 1800's. Clearly shows the massive inroads in medical science and the treatment of disease.

ALCOHOL AND THE HUMAN BODY In fact alcohol was known to be a poison, and considered quite dangerous. Something modern medicine now agrees with. This was known circa 1907. A very impressive scientific book on the subject.

DISEASES OF THE SKIN is a massive book on skin diseases from 1914. Don't be feint hearted though, it's loaded with photos that I found disturbing.

Part of  SAVORY'S COMPENDIUM OF DOMESTIC MEDICINE:

 19th CENTURY HEALTH MEDICINES AND DRUGS

 

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Dressing of Fractures.

Dressing of Fractures: After having placed the fragments in position, our next care is to take such measures as will keep them in place ; otherwise the movements of the patient and the contraction of the muscles in the injured limb would soon cause a displacement of the broken ends.

Indeed, in many cases it is necessary to apply the bandages while the limb is held in position by the assistants ; for if the parts be relaxed long enough to put on the necessary dressings, the limb shortens and takes the same position as before.

In order to attain this object and keep the parts in position, we employ supports, splints, bandages and apparatus of several kinds.

Bandages.-For the application of dressings to fractured limbs, the best material for bandages is muslin or cotton cloth. This can be procured at the various depots for surgical appliances ; yet bandages can be readily prepared in the household by tearing up sheets. The width of the strips into which the sheet is torn should vary according to the locality requiring the bandage ; in general, we may say that from two to four inches is the breadth required.

The length of the bandage also varies ; of course several shorter ones can be made to answer the same purpose as one long one. For bandaging a leg from the foot to the knee, we require ordinarily about five yards. The strips maybe sewed together end to end, so as to make the length required.

In order to apply a bandage properly, this must be first rolled firmly and evenly around a stick. It should then be carefully applied, the roll being held close to the leg as it is carried up the limb. If much loose bandage is allowed to intervene between the roll and the leg, it will be impossible to apply the bandage nicely.

Care should be taken that the bandage is put on evenly ; that is, it should not be applied tightly in one place so as to cut off the circulation, and loosely in another so that it will slip.

In order to apply a bandage nicely and smoothly on any part of the body which tapers - such as the arm or leg - it is necessary to turn the bandage over at every circle around the limb. This process is called reversing, and can be learned only by personal instruction.

In bandaging the hands and feet, we should leave the ends of the fingers and toes uncovered, in order that we may see their color and feel how warm they are. This is an important item, especially when the bandage is applied by an unskilled hand ; for if it be too tightly applied so that the circulation is impaired, it is necessary to loosen the bandage at once, and reapply it less tightly. We can observe the existence of this condition by a blue or livid color of the fingers or toes, which are at the same time unnaturally cool.

This coolness and lividity are caused by the interruption to the circulation through the limb.

In order to hold the bones in place we need in some cases only a bandage. Thus fractures of the skull, and many of those of the trunk, can be kept in position by adhesive plaster and simple bandages.

Fractures of the long bones, however - indeed of any bone in one of the extremities - are to be treated by the use of splints. Splints may be made of various materials ; the commonest are those of wood, leather, pasteboard and plaster of Paris. The selection of the splint depends upon the requirements of the case. In every instance the two requisites which are to be chiefly sought, are strength and lightness.

For ordinary purposes, splints can be made out of thin wood, such as shingles or siding, which can be cut to the length and shape required. Another convenient material is sole-leather. The advantage of this is its ready adaptability to the shape required. It can be moulded to the limb by first soaking it in hot water. Stiff pasteboard is useful in many cases where no great strength is required.

In order to fit a splint of pasteboard or sole-leather to a limb, a pattern should be first cut in paper ; the leather or pasteboard can then be cut after this pattern, soaked in hot water until it is I quite flexible, and applied to the limb. A bandage should then be applied so as to hold it in position. After it has become dry on the limb, it will retain its form. It should then be removed, the edges trimmed and padded with cotton. In fact, every splint, of whatever material it be made, should be covered with cotton sheeting, which is to be made especially thick at the prominent points of the limb, where pressure on the part may be expected. Thus, in applying a splint to the leg, especial care should be taken to pad thickly the projections at the ankle and at the knee. The cotton should also be made to overlap the edges of the splint, so that there can be no chafing of the skin.

These are important points in the preparation of the splint; by observing them, we can avoid many of the unpleasant incidents and accidents which are apt to occur during the treatment of a fracture.

In many cases, a lighter and weaker bandage than one of these will answer every purpose ; such bandages can be readily made of glue or of starch, or of a mixture of the two.

To make a starch bandage, a quantity of thick starch is prepared and kept warm, while a bandage is smoothly and evenly applied over the limb which is previously well padded with cotton to avoid chafing. The starch is then applied to the bandage which covers the limb, and allowed to cool. A second layer of starch is then rubbed into the bandage, and still a third, if necessary to give it the proper degree of stiffness. In applying the starch, it is best to use the hands rather than a brush, since it is important to rub the starch thoroughly into the bandage and into all the crevices.

A bandage of glue and starch can be made in a similar way, and has the advantage of being somewhat stiffer than one made of starch alone. To do this, take equal parts of boiled starch and melted glue, heat them together and mix thoroughly while still warm. The limb is enveloped in cotton so as to protect the skin ; a bandage is evenly applied, and is then smeared with the warm mixture of glue and starch.

If such a dressing be found too yielding, it may be strengthened by applying a second bandage outside of the first and saturating this with the starch or with the mixture of glue and starch.

In fact, three, four, or five layers of bandage may be thus applied, if necessary, each layer being smeared with starch in turn. The last layer should be covered with a simple bandage unstarched.

If it become necessary to employ a very stiff and firm dressing, which shall surround the limb, it will be well to use the ft/aster of Paris. These are prepared in the following way:

A muslin or soft cotton bandage, two and a half or three inches wide, is dusted over with the dry plaster of Paris. To do this well, the bandage is unrolled and the plaster thoroughly rubbed into the meshes of the cloth, beginning at one end. There is usually danger of getting too little plaster into the bandage, in which case the dressing will be weak and flexible. Every care should be taken, therefore, to get as much as possible into the cloth. After this, they should be loosely folded up, ready for application.

The limb, meanwhile, is enveloped with a double layer of sheet cotton, with extra thickness at the bony prominences of the ankle, the knee, the elbow, or any other parts of the body which must be covered. When the limb is ready the bandages, whose meshes are already full of plaster of Paris, are placed in lukewarm water, where they are allowed to remain until wet through, a process which usually requires three or four minutes. These bandages should not be allowed to remain in the water too long, because the plaster of Paris becomes hard and brittle and will crumble when the dressing is applied. Hence it is advisable to put only two or three of these rolls in the water at a time, a fresh one being added so soon as one is removed for application to the limb.

The bandages are then applied closely and evenly to the limb. One or two thicknesses are usually sufficient, and we should never put on more than three or four, since the bandage will thereby acquire an unnecessary weight and rigidity. After the dressing is thus applied, a mixture of plaster of Paris and water, having the consistency of cream, should be plastered over the entire dressing with the hands.

It is important that the plaster of Paris employed for this purpose shall not have been long exposed to the air and moisture ; for plaster which has been subjected to this exposure will not harden well, and a dressing made of it will not possess the necessary stiffness and firmness.

An important feature in the application of rigid dressing is that the limb shall not be completely enveloped. Hence it is necessary to cut open the starch or glue or plaster of Paris dressing. The reason for this lies in the fact that the limb almost invariably swells somewhat after the application of the dressing ; and unless this can be loosened the patient will suffer much pain and perhaps injury in consequence.

Hence whenever a dressing of starch or glue or plaster of Paris has been applied, it should be cut open so soon as it has dried. The plaster of Paris dressing is usually dry in twelve hours ; the starch or glue dressing may require twenty-four hours. In any case we can determine when they are dry by feeling of them and noting their rigidity. After they have dried, a pair of scissors may be inserted under one end of the bandage and made to cut the entire dressing open. It will be necessary in every case to select for this purpose that part of the dressing which is least important in supporting the broken bone. Thus if the part enveloped in the dressing be the leg, the bandage may be cut open along the front just over the shin-bone. In cutting open the plaster of Paris bandage it will be necessary to employ a very he'avy, strong pair of scissors.

After the dressing has been thus opened, a bandage may be applied, around it lightly so as to hold it firmly in position. This may be removed every second or third day in order to see how closely the dressing is fitted to the limb. In many instances the part swells considerably for the first day or two and then becomes smaller ; it will be necessary therefore to gradually tighten the bandage which is employed to hold the dressing in position.

If there be an open wound anywhere-and there often is at the seat of the fracture - this should be exposed to view and relieved from pressure by cutting an opening in the dressing over the wound. The edges of this opening should be covered with lint spread with vaseline, in order to prevent the discharges from the wound from escaping upon and under the dressing.

If the fracture be located near a joint, the splint should be made to include this joint so as to secure perfect repose for the limb in the vicinity of the injury.

Special devices are employed in the treatment of certain fractures. A favorite one for the treatment of fractures of the leg is what is known as a fracture-box. This will be described in treating of this particular affection.

Bandages used in dressing fractures

Above are several pictures showing the dressing of broken bones in the late 1800's.



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