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

Cold, and Sore Throat.—Bandage the throat at night, expose it by day, even in winter.

Pain in the Bowels.—Packing-sheet until hot, then tepid bath 66° morning and afternoon; at mid-day, sitz-bath 64° twenty minutes. It was truly astonishing to witness the result of one day’s treatment.

In a case of great swelling in the throat, bandages were applied to it always, and changed every twenty minutes. To this were added rubbing-sheets three times a day, and a sitz-bath 64° for twenty minutes.

Cold.—In a severe cold, suspend packing-sheet in the morning and substitute rubbing sheet; at noon, packing-sheet for an hour, followed by tepid-bath 64°.

If not soon well, sweating process for an hour and half, followed by tepid bath 64°.

In a common cold, Priessnitz ordered three rubbing-sheets, with great friction, on going to bed. For children, he finds a tepid bath, for ten minutes twice a day, is sufficient; dining on farinaceous food and going out as usual.

Cold with Head Ache.—Two rubbing-sheets and tepid sitz-bath for twenty minutes before dinner, and the same in the afternoon. After each operation a cold-head bath for ten minutes.

Cold, Sore Throat, and enlarged Tonsils.—Packing-sheets and tepid-bath twice a day. Tepid sitz-bath and bandages are generally ordered.

Cold settled in the Knee.—One day rising from kneeling, a patient, aged 50, felt great pain in her knee, which swelled so as to prevent her going out. Despite medical skill, it increased in size, and the foot lost all sensation; this took place twelve months previous to going to Gräfenberg.

The patient for the first seven or eight weeks was confined entirely to her room. In the morning, packing-sheet and tepid bath; noon, stood on the leg up to the top of the thigh in cold water half an hour; afternoon, repeated the same; drank ten glasses of water daily; and kept the leg and foot constantly bandaged. At length she began to walk with two sticks; then she took a cold bath in the morning, and after ten weeks the douche twice a day, ten minutes each time. Digestion good.