When the bath is finished, gather three corners of the rubber cloth in the left hand, take the fourth corner in the right in such a way as to form a spout when lifted or held over the slop-jar or bucket. The water may be poured out in a moment, when the cloth should be spread over the back of a chair to dry, and the slats unlocked and set away in a closet.
The Foot Bath is frequently employed, as a means of causing diaphoresis, in colds, attacks of acute diseases, and also to draw the blood from the head or some internal organ. It is a powerful auxiliary in the treatment of those chronic diseases in which inflammation, congestion, and a feeble circulation are prominent symptoms. The water should be as hot as it can be borne and the temperature kept up by additions of hot water. It may be made stimulating by the addition of salt, mustard, ginger, or cayenne pepper.
The Sitz Bath. A tub is so arranged that the patient can sit down in it while bathing. In this manner the lower part of the abdomen, hips, and upper part of the thighs, are immersed in whatever fluid the bath is composed of. It is applicable in diseases of the pelvic organs, and may be hot, warm, cool, cold, or medicated, according to the effect desired.
The bath tub should be large enough to permit a thorough rubbing and kneading of the diseased parts, and the patient may remain in it from ten to thirty minutes. The clothing may be wholly or partially removed, as agreeable to the individual. A warm, sitz bath is an effective, remedial adjunct in menstrual suppression and in painful menstruation, gravel, spasmodic and acute inflammatory affections generally. The cold, sitz bath is used as a tonic in cases of relaxed tissues of the pelvis, in debility of the urino-genital organs, in piles, prolapsus of the rectum, and in constipation.
The Head Bath. A shallow basin contains the fluid for the bath; and the patient, assuming a recumbent position, immerses a portion of the head, generally the back part. The temperature may be warm, cool, or cold, as desired.
Medicated Baths are infusions of vegetable or other substances in water. They are sometimes applied with the sponge, though generally the patient is immersed. The temperature at which they are usually employed is that of the tepid bath. The nature and strength of the medication depends upon the character of the disease for which it is employed.
The Alkaline Bath is prepared by dissolving half a pound of carbonate of soda in sixty gallons of water. It is useful in those diseases in which the fluids of the body are abnormally acid, as in rheumatism.
The Acid Bath is prepared by adding two pounds of muriatic or hydrochloric acid to sixty gallons of water. A much smaller quantity of the acid is sometimes used, and in some instances vinegar is substituted.
Scott's Acid Bath is composed of nitro-muriatic acid (aqua regia) and water. It should be prepared in a wooden tub, and a sufficient quantity of acid used to give the water a sour taste. It is extensively used in India as a remedy for disorders of the liver.
The Iodine Bath is composed of the following ingredients: tincture of iodine, two drachms; iodide of potassium, four drachms; water, forty gallons. It should be prepared in a wooden tub. It reddens the skin. For children, a much weaker solution must be employed. Its use is generally restricted to scrofulous and tubercular affections.