Gonorrheal Strictures.
Next to Gonorrheal Prostatitis in frequency and practical importance should be mentioned stricture. In fact, in many cases it is much more dangerous, as the old neglected stricture can never be cured completely, while prostatitis, even in the old cases, almost always can be brought to a satisfactory condition.
The stricture is a scar, forming gradually and slowly after an uncured Gonorrhea. Usually these scars are a result of row patches in the urethral canal that quite frequently develop during a chronic Gonorrhea. These patches, so-called granulation patches, what the public calls “wild flesh,” are a common source of pains and persistent discharge, lasting for many months. These granulation patches can be discovered only thru a special instrument called urethroscope, which introduces electric light in the urethral canal and makes possible a clear and exact inspection of its entire surface. If these patches are not discovered or not properly treated, they may heal up slowly by themselves, but not in a natural way with the restoration of the normal size and smooth lining of the canal. They will heal up with a scar that has a peculiar ability to shrink and to contract. As a result of it, the normal (lumen) channel of the urethral canal is interrupted, twisted, and obstructed, partially or completely, which leads to a retention or a stoppage of urine. The granulation patches are soft in the beginning, and can be cured without difficulty in very few weeks or months; but after they have turned into a stricture the treatment is immeasurably harder and longer. In fact, the very old strictures cannot be cured completely, but only relieved temporarily.
The main danger of a stricture is its slow and insidious development. It takes many months for a granulating patch to turn into a fresh stricture, and it takes years to form an old stricture. For months and years a patient may have no discomfort nor symptoms sufficient to call his attention to his condition, and by the time he begins to feel some annoyance and to notice some disturbance, the stricture is already old and incurable. Therefore it is highly important for any man who has had the misfortune to contract Gonorrhea to secure a positive assurance that he is in no danger of developing a stricture later. The active symptoms of stricture are: (Gleet), a slimy discharge, particularly in the morning; frequency of urination and a slow, dribbling, weak stream of urine; but, as mentioned above, these symptoms develop long after the stricture is formed, and no man should wait for their development.