Every Man His Own Doctor / The Cold Water, Tepid Water, and Friction-Cure, as Applicable to Every Disease to Which the Human Frame Is Subject, and Also to the Cure of Disease in Horses and Cattle

by R. T. Claridge

Sprained Shoulder.—A patient fell down an ice-berg and severely bruised his shoulder, so that he could not raise his hand. The bruise was immediately saturated with cold water for an hour, and cold wet cloths applied for a long time. When inflammation had subsided, a heating bandage was applied and renewed when dry. Elbow bath twice a day, fifteen minutes each.

This treatment was repeated two or three times a day.

Accident to the Eye.—A child five years old, ran a knife into the ball of the eye. Cold wet bandages perfected a cure. The blue of the eye ran, but the boy, now fifteen years of age, sees perfectly well.

Swelling of a Vein—Varicose Veins.—A young lady was afflicted with swelled vein just over the large toes of both feet; the swelling in one foot shortly disappeared, the other became more developed, the foot and ancle inflamed.

I wrote to Priessnitz, who advised “a cold foot-bath, three times a day, for twenty minutes; water up to the ancle and not to be changed. After the bath, rub the foot (omitting the affected part) and leg, particularly in front, up to the knee, until heat is restored; then apply a bandage (well wrung out) to the foot and leg up to the knee, always changing before dry. If an eruption or swelling take place on the foot, take a sitz-bath half an hour, twice a day, and the sweating process, followed by cold bath every other day. Do not perspire more than an hour. The foot should be kept a little elevated.”

Patient not getting better, and the medical men declaring the case, in their opinion, incurable, she went to Gräfenberg. The following is the treatment pursued there:—Packing-sheets for fifteen minutes; changed for another of twenty minutes; and cold plunge-bath morning and evening; between which douched twice a day, and a sitz-bath taken; always wearing foot and leg and waist bandage.

Priessnitz, on seeing the case, declared the complaint was not a local one, that “it was a general derangement of the nervous system”, and so it turned out, as veins in the arms, thighs, and elsewhere enlarged and diminished under the treatment. Both feet and legs now became swollen and inflamed up to the knee, so that patient was obliged to move on crutches. Treatment increased. Length of cold bath and douche extended to five minutes each. To prevent the pain that must have attended the limbs, in so inflamed a state, coming in contact with water, the bandages remained on those parts whilst taking those baths. This crisis continued for two months, when it began to recede, then came again in a more moderate form; receded and again made its appearance a third and last time. Catamenia became regular, appetite good, and patient could walk without assistance. The cure was effected in ten months. It is now upwards of two years since the party left Gräfenberg, and she is perfectly well.

By this it will be seen, that that which is produced by the treatment, must be made to recede under the treatment. Had Priessnitz relinquished any part of it at the most trying moment, the cure would not have been effected.

Speaking to him of varicose or enlarged veins, he said “they are generally curable. I had a patient with an enlarged vein in his foot, when on the ground the vein became full, measuring nearly two inches; this was cured in eighteen months.”