If the reader will refer to page 179 and note carefully what was said in this connection, she will learn that the phrase falling of the womb is sometimes nothing more or less than a relaxation of the vaginal walls that is due to a chronic catarrh of the vagina. It is quite natural that it should be so, for if the structures that make up the pelvic floor lose their tonicity and strength, the womb must naturally descend. If we now succeed in temporarily replacing the organ by assuming the knee-chest position, and in the meantime cure the catarrh and inflammation the patient must get well. The reader is again referred to the chapter on vaginal catarrh.
The fatigue or lassitude which makes every physical effort of some patients a great hardship, can be greatly relieved, if not cured, by this formula.
NO. X.
| Take: | Tincture of nux vomica | 2 drams |
| Fluid extract of ergot | 4 drams | |
| Fluid extract of golden seal | 1 ounce | |
| Compound elixir of calisaya sufficient to make | 8 ounces |
Directions: A tablespoonful three times a day, between meals.
When the prolapse is due to some of the structural defects that were enumerated in the causation of displacements, and that were traced to the accidents of childbirth, then no permanent relief can be hoped for, until these defects are remedied.
Pessaries or rings that are introduced into the vagina for the purpose of stretching or spreading out the relaxed folds of the vagina, that they cannot prolapse or fall down, and thus indirectly support the uterus, were suggested by the ancient fathers of medicine. In view of the fact that they were wholly ignorant of the causes that were responsible for prolapses, the remedy was quite practical and ingenious, but to-day, when we are acquainted with the causes that operate in bringing the prolapse about, they are, to my mind, a very unsatisfactory makeshift, and afford only a temporary amelioration.
A woman who is compelled to wear a ring or pessary is certainly not well, and if she has any hard work to do or must be on her feet a great deal, the pessary will sooner or later so irritate the vagina that it must be removed. Besides this, I always contended that, in the long run, this extra strain on the vaginal walls would only relax them more, and, instead of ever being able to dispense with the use of a pessary, she must increase the size after a while.
There are a great many devices in the form of pessaries; some of them are absurdly ridiculous, and more in the nature of instruments of torture than of remedial expedients. Since I learned to know better, I no longer recommend them, and those who desire a radical cure for a prolapse of any kind, will surely be disappointed if they pin their faith to them.