Personal hygiene and physical training for women

by Anna M. Galbraith

In acute nephritis, inflammation of the kidneys, small quantities of very cold water, repeated at half-hourly intervals, act as a diuretic. Care must be had, however, not to overtax the stomach and heart by overfilling the system with fluids.

In obesity, water-drinking is essential as a means of dissolving and carrying out of the body the large amount of broken-down material which results from the increased tissue destruction caused by exercise, hot and cold baths, and other means employed to decrease the weight.

For constipation and biliousness two glasses of cold water should be taken before breakfast, with an interval of twenty minutes between, the last glass being taken one hour before breakfast.

Contraindications.—Cold water taken into the stomach produces more marked effects than water applied to an equal area of the skin. The quantity of water taken is a factor as well as the temperature. Cold-water drinking lowers the temperature and slows the pulse, so that drinking cold water must be strictly prohibited when one is in a state of fatigue, whether perspiring or not. Feeble persons should not drink cold water, except in very hot weather, or just before starting out for a brisk walk in the open air, or when about to engage in other exercise. With the air of the room at 70° F., a woman in fair condition, moving about making her toilet, may safely drink cold water slowly, except when there is a feeling of chilliness. In the latter case, the powers of reaction being diminished, chill and internal congestion, often resulting in great injury, may be produced. Cold-water drinking is always prohibited when in a state of fatigue. Ice-water should never be taken. When taken with meals, it greatly retards digestion and may do much harm.

Enemas.—Coloclysters.—Another valuable internal use of water is for emptying the lower bowel, and washing out the large bowel in cases of catarrhal inflammation.

For constipation, in which the object is to unload the bowel as quickly as possible, 1 or 2 pints of water, at a temperature of from 104° to 110° F., is made into a suds by means of Castile or other good soap, and poured into a fountain-syringe. If the enema is being given by an attendant, the patient lies on the right side in the Sims’ position; the under leg is stretched out so that it forms a straight line with the trunk, while the upper leg is sharply flexed at the knee, so that the foot is opposite the knee of the under leg; the right arm is thrown back from under the body.

If the patient is administering the enema to herself, the best position is the knee-chest. In this the patient kneels on the floor, the thighs are held rigid, and while the shoulders are brought to touch the floor, the face is turned to one side. The position can only be taken satisfactorily with the corsets and all tight bands around the waist removed. In this position gravity causes the intestines to fall upward toward the waist, and the water naturally follows this course. In this position the water goes up higher, and is retained longer, than when taken in the other positions. Two pints of the soap-suds are prepared at the proper temperature, and the patient uses as much of this as she feels that she can retain. The water should be retained from five to ten minutes, to get the best results.

For the purpose of washing out the large intestine more water is used, but not more than 2 quarts should be used for this. The position of the patient and the temperature of the water are the same. But for this clyster, instead of adding soap to the water, cooking salt is used, in the proportion of 1 teaspoonful of salt to 1 pint of water.

This lavage of the intestine removes rapidly large masses of decomposing material, swarming with microbes and ptomains and the toxins produced by them. It also increases the activity of the portal circulation.

In cases of chronic constipation there are atony and dilatation of the colon, and the patient always carries about with her an enormous accumulation of fecal matter, and lives in a state of chronic autointoxication. In this class of cases the coloclyster should be administered daily for from two to three weeks; if need be, so long as the patient complains of gaseous distention and fetid flatulence. After the discharge of the warm water, 1 pint of cool water should be introduced, beginning with a temperature of 85° F., and gradually decreasing this from day to day until 70° F. is reached. This water should be retained if possible; it acts as a tonic bath for the colon.