Femina, A Work for Every Woman

by John A. Miller

The urethra often takes on the inflammations of the neighboring tissue or organs; disease of the vulva or of the vagina will spread itself to the urinary canal. I have seen cases in which the whole trouble was traceable to a catarrh of the neck of the womb.

Gonorrhœal infection of the vagina will in the great majority of cases extend itself to the urethra as well as to the cavity of the womb and neighboring organs.

If treatment in these complicated cases is to be successful, it must be directed to the disease in all of its strongholds; this, of course, can only be done under the direction of a skillful specialist.

There is a predisposition on the part of the mucous surfaces to become infected by eruptions of the eruptive fevers, and the urethra is particularly liable to this invasion. Children who have had the measles and scarlet fever will often be troubled with frequent and smarting micturition and after convalescence from all the other symptoms of the respective fevers, they are still more or less annoyed for weeks or months with a urethritis. I have had cases of this nature that dated back years. If the early treatment is neglected and the case becomes chronic, it generally spreads to the bladder, which also becomes similarly affected.

Smallpox pustules are apt to break out in the urethra during the acute stage of the disease, and excite a very itching and painful urethritis. Dysentery in children may give rise to the disease. In adults I have noticed the affection in connection with typhoid fever, but this generally passes off with convalescence. Hemorrhoids or piles give rise to urethral inflammation which does not yield to treatment, but subsides at once after the removal of the piles. The application of a Spanish-fly blister to any part of the body may also cause a stranguary or a urethritis.

Mothers may become uneasy, as to the cause of the muco-purulent discharge from the urethra of their little girls. I have known them to entertain suspicion of some specific infection being introduced into the genitals, in some mysterious manner; a little inquiry into the history of every case, dispels these absurd delusions, and it will be found that pinworms have caused the inflammation. In adults, however, the subject should be made the object of particular inquiry. During delivery, the passage of the child’s head exerts great pressure on the urethra, so that it may be crushed or torn across. Women may be troubled with derangement from this cause for a long time, or for their whole lives, if the real cause of their ailment is not recognized. Displacements of the womb in different directions, principally when it is tipped backwards so that its neck impinges on the urethra or neck of the bladder, compresses the canal, so that its caliber is diminished, and a painful obstruction and retention of urine ensue.

Papillated growths and mucous polypoids that were so small that they were hidden from external sight, but readily detected by scientific methods of examination of the urethra, by means of the urethral specula, were the exciting causes of some cases that came under my treatment. The unfortunate victims were under the impression that their kidneys or their bladders were diseased. The numerous quack medicines advertised for the cure of these maladies were copiously consumed, doing, of course, more mischief than good. The removal of the growths in each instance at once put a stop to any further inconvenience.

In pregnancy, after the third month, the womb rises out of the pelvis, so as to accommodate its increasing size. This naturally drags the bladder upwards, and so stretches the urethra that it becomes sore and extremely irritable. To relieve this distress until the parts have accommodated themselves to their new relations, the Femina vaginal capsules are of the greatest value, and without the slightest ill effect arising from their use. Vaginal irrigations of hot water are also of decided benefit, especially before using a capsule.