Femina, A Work for Every Woman

by John A. Miller

Chronic inflammation of the ovaries is much more frequent as an original or individual affection, than the preceding form. A peculiar feature of this affection is a gradual growth or enlargement of the ovary, all the way from a moderate swelling to a good-sized orange. There has been some discussion as to the particular tissue of the ovaries that is involved in the inflammatory process, whether it is the interfollicular structure or the follicules or ovisacs themselves; practically the solution of this question has no bearing on the treatment, although it may have an influence on the function of the organ, which may be more injuriously affected by the latter than the former variety. The disease occurs almost exclusively after the age of puberty and during the period of sexual activity. It is not as often met in the unmarried as in the married, and with the latter it is more prevalent in the first years of married life. Inordinate sexual indulgence is a frequent exciting cause, and when this is coupled with pernicious means that are employed for preventing conception, it becomes still more frequent.

Chronic inflammation of the vagina, womb, and of the Fallopian tubes is often transferred to the ovaries.

The infectious catarrh to which the genital tract of the female is more or less exposed from a lack of proper cleanliness of her own person, or a gonorrhœal infection from her male companion, show a peculiar tendency to gradually spread the inflammatory processes to the ovaries. Some careful observation has established the fact that an apparently cured gonorrhœal infection in the male may, after a year or two, excite a gonorrhœal catarrh in the genitals of the female; a great many diseases of the ovaries have been traced to this source of infection.

As gonorrhœa is not an uncommon affection among the male portion of the community, it is not sufficient for the intelligent members of the medical profession to know of these dangers of infection, but every man and woman should be apprised of the great danger there is of infecting the marital chamber with the pollution of the brothel.

The symptoms of chronic ovaritis are more or less dependent on the causation of each individual case.

Sometimes it is traced to the fiery stage of the acute affection, while in other instances it can be laid to some indiscretion during the menstrual flow, then, again, it may have developed itself so stealthily that the greatest acumen and skill are required to detect its origin. The most important and constant sign is a steady pain in one or both ovaries. When this pain is violent, it shoots toward the back and rectum and down the thighs. The pain becomes heightened from an accumulation of feces in the rectum, which a habitual constipation entails. Marital excesses near the approach of the menstrual period or shortly after the disappearance of the menses are quite likely to precipitate the painful symptoms. The bladder sympathizes in a certain proportion of cases, so that there is a frequent desire to pass water. In the course of time the distressful symptoms that have been enumerated derange the digestive apparatus; the patients lose their appetite and decline into a debilitated and nervous state, so that one or the other hysterical phenomenon become more or less prominent in persons of a nervous temperament.

Sterility is a rule with this class of women, even if there is only one ovary affected; this would indicate that the apparently healthy one sympathizes with the other, or an accompanying catarrh of the uterus or tubes may prevent the passage of the fertilizing germ. If both ovaries are inflamed, then it is quite natural to suppose that the delicate follicles and their contents, the ova, become destroyed or so altered that they no longer answer the purpose of reproduction. It is seldom that one meets a chronic ovaritis without a uterine catarrh, and how much this contributes to the sterility is not easy to tell.

TREATMENT.

The course of this affection in the majority of cases is favorable. If the treatment is intelligently administered, the pain and congestion gradually subside, and as this class of patients have generally learned from sad experience that negligence or indiscretion on their part will excite a relapse, they soon learn to avoid these, so that they enjoy comparative immunity from suffering for a considerable length of time.