Deep Gonorrhea.
Acute deep Gonorrhea is usually brought about by some indiscretion on the part of the patient, such as violent physical exercise like running, jumping, dancing, or it may be also produced by drinking of alcoholic liquors or by strong and improperly done injections at the hands of self-doctoring patients. It develops usually from the third or fifth week from the beginning of the sickness. The first symptom of acute deep Gonorrhea is the increase in frequency and painful urination. The most characteristic feature is that the pains are not felt in the beginning or during the act of urination, but right at the end of it, due to spasmodic contractions of the deep urethral muscle on highly inflamed parts. Another distressing feature is the frequency and urgency of urination, so that the patient cannot hold back his urine for a moment, but has to void it immediately. One more symptom that often misleads the patient into the belief that he is getting better, while in reality the opposite is true, is a rather sudden stoppage of the discharge, which has been rather free. At the same time quite often a drop or two of bloody discharge appears at the close of urination, accompanied with the intense spasmodic pains mentioned above. This combination of symptoms makes the acute deep Gonorrhea a most distressing and alarming complication to the patient, and frequently he wakes up for the first time on this occasion to a full realization of the serious and dangerous nature of Gonorrhea. Acute deep Gonorrhea, under intelligent care, subsides and quiets down in two to three weeks, but for a complete cure it takes from six to eight weeks more, so that all together these cases take from two to three months. The importance of Acute Deep Gonorrhea lies mainly in the fact that it indicates that Gonorrhea Germs have penetrated deep into the system, opening a gateway for other deep and serious complications.
Gonorrheal Inflammation of the Testicle (Epididymitis).
The nearest place for Gonorrheal germs to invade from the deep Urethra is that part of the testicle which consists of the twisted and folded on itself spermatic duct; this part is called the Epididymis, which means the appendix of the testicle. Epididymitis starts usually quite abruptly, from three to five weeks from the beginning, after some physical exertion, like too fast or too much walking, running, jumping, dancing, wrestling, etc. It starts with a high fever, headache, feeling of heat and weight, and agonizing pain in the testicle. Every motion and walking becomes impossible and the patient has to take to bed. The testicle in its rear part becomes swollen, sometimes to twice or even more its normal size, and hard. Under proper care, the acute symptoms of pain and swelling subside in two to three weeks and the patient is able to resume his work, but a part of the swelling and hardness remains and can be felt for many, many months, until it gradually disappears thru slow absorption; yet in some cases a small, hard nodule remains forever. The main danger of Epididymitis is just in this very possibility, that the spermatic duct may be partially or completely obstructed and blocked permanently by the inflammation, in consequence of which no spermatozoa can go out from the testicle of this side, and if Epididymitis occurs on both sides, which happens often, then obliteration of the spermatic ducts is complete; in other words, the man can never have children—he becomes sterile.
Gonorrheal Buboes.
Among acute complications of Gonorrhea should be mentioned also buboes, very much dreaded by the patients, who are pleased to call them, for some reason, “blue balls.” Buboes are a swelling of the glands in the groin, which can be felt as hard and tender knots. Gonorrheal buboes are very harmless, usually go down promptly under treatment, and very seldom form an abscess.
Chronic Gonorrhea (Gleet).
A case of Gonorrhea that lasts longer than three months is called chronic. There is a number of different conditions that may keep Gonorrhea up for many months and even years. Chronic Gonorrhea differs from acute by the absence of pains, swelling, or any other violent or acute symptom. The discharge is either very slight, just a drop in the morning (so-called good morning drop) or none at all. Frequently a man feels no discomfort of any kind and does not notice anything abnormal, except possibly a slight pasting and glueing of the urethral canal, in which cases only a close examination of the urine will show that it is full of shreds; but a large majority of the cases of chronic Gonorrhea is accompanied with more or less copious discharge, commonly called Gleet.
Chronic Gonorrhea may be limited either to the front part of the Urethra or to the deep rear part.