Femina, A Work for Every Woman

by John A. Miller

Before Lister’s great antiseptic discovery it was the generally accepted opinion that suppuration and pus were essential to the healing of wounds; this was an error and the opposite is now established to be the truth. Pus prevents or rather delays the wounds from healing, and suppuration in wounds is a fruitful source of blood poisoning.

If sand, earth, dust or dirt has gotten into or near the wound, it must be washed off with clean, fresh water, but never employ soiled or infected clothes for that purpose for these may poison the wound and do a great deal of mischief. After the wound is clean dress it in the manner described in a preceding paragraph.

Poisoned wounds are chiefly punctured. The danger of these wounds lies in the possibility that the poison is absorbed by the lymphatics and veins, and conveyed to the heart, whence the entire blood becomes infected. To prevent this a ligature should be tied above the wound, by means of a strip of muslin or preferably an elastic suspender, so as to check the free return of the blood by the veins and lymphatics. After which the poison should be sucked from the wound, or the wound should be cauterized, with carbolic or nitric acid by means of a sharp-pointed stick dipped into the acid and then applied to the wound, or fired with a red-hot iron, crochet or knitting needle. The poison of snakes and tarantulas is neutralized with an alkali; the most efficient seems to be spirits of ammonia, but a strong solution of washing or even baking soda should be substituted when ammonia is not at hand. I would puncture and enlarge the wound of the sting with the point of a sharp knife or scissors, so that the alkali can come into immediate contact with the injected venom; the patient must be given frequent drinks of whisky, brandy or strong wine until a physician arrives to supervise further treatment.

Wounds inflicted by poisonous insects like the bumblebee, honeybee, wasp, hornet, yellow jacket and mosquitoes produce wounds which are instantly followed by a sharp, pungent, itching pain, and in a few moments after by a pale, circumscribed, inflammatory swelling. Some persons have a peculiarity in their constitution that the poison of an insect gives rise to exceedingly alarming symptoms, such as palpitation, nausea, dizziness, dimness of sight and an indescribable sense of suffocation. The sting is sometimes left in the skin; for this the wound should be carefully examined, and when present drawn out. The most prompt and useful application is water of ammonia, or strong salt water, or strong soapsuds. Turpentine is also a valuable application. If the insect has lodged in the throat, large quantities of warm salt water and mustard must be immediately administered until the patient has vomited freely, and if there is a sense of suffocation leeches and afterwards hot poultices should be applied to the neck. If the system has become poisoned, and some of the distressing symptoms that were above enumerated are present, the internal use of whisky or brandy is called for.

Hemorrhage is common to all wounds, and the loss of the blood depends upon the size and nature of the vessel that is injured.

The bleeding that takes place in ordinary superficial wounds oozes from minute vessels, the capillaries, and slight pressure temporarily applied controls it. When an artery is wounded, the blood flows in intermittent jets, or in a running pulsating stream from the vessel. The venous blood is dark red and flows in a continuous stream and not under the same pressure as that coming from the arteries, hence it is much easier controlled.

The clotted blood with which a wound may be filled, is nature’s means of arresting the hemorrhage, and it must never be disturbed or washed off, lest this open the blood vessels again and thereby renew the bleeding.

The arrest of hemorrhage is accomplished by the application of cold or ice water, by hot water and by pressure upon the arteries. Persons fainting from the loss of blood should always be laid with their heads lower than the body; cold water should be dashed into their faces so as to restore them to consciousness. Moderate hemorrhage from the smallest vessels and from the veins generally ceases from slight pressure over the wounds or by drawing or pressing the edges of the wounds together. In a very short time the blood coagulates and forms a temporary plug until the vessels themselves become permanently sealed by a similar process. The pressure must often be continued for a considerable time until the object has been attained. A folded clean cloth or compress is laid over the wound which is the source of the hemorrhage, and this is retained by means of a properly adjusted bandage. If notwithstanding the pressure exerted by the bandage or with the hands, the scarlet blood saturates the cloth and continues to flow, it indicates that a very large vessel is wounded, and thus life may be seriously threatened and in proportion to the magnitude of the wounded vessel, a surgeon should now be summoned to make a further investigation. Hemorrhage from varicose veins of the legs may be checked by a compress fastened over the site of the wound by a bandage, but every constriction around the waist or above the knee by a garter must be loosened. If the patient’s life is threatened from the bleeding, the limb must be elevated, and the pressure of the compress increased, or the pressure should be exerted on the trunk of the bleeding artery above the wound or injury.

(c) Burns and scalds are the most commonly fatal injuries which occur in modern life. The extended use of steam machinery, the universal employment of coal oil, the general use of the phosphorus and sulphur matches, and the flowing manner of woman’s dress has materially increased the liability of this accident. Of all accidents, burns involve the victim in the most agonizing pain and protracted suffering. Burns are liable to serious complications; the obstinacy to the healing of vast ulcerated surfaces, or the lifelong mutilation to which they condemn the unhappy patient, the rapid draft they make on the patient’s strength, and the danger of abscess and ulceration of internal vital organs which eventually destroy life.