Deafness practically illustrated / [James Yearsley].

  • James Yearsley
Date:
[1849]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Deafness practically illustrated / [James Yearsley]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    137/200 page 125
    as, when all moisture is absent, the sensations are so troublesome as to give rise to frequent rubbing or picking, which disappear when the meatus contains a due quantity of ear-wax. ‘The promotion of the secre- tions affords great relief in some cases of tinnitus, though I am as yet uncertain what kind is thus bene- fited, tinnitus being by no means invariably attendant on a dry state of the meatus. I believe it will gene- rally be found that tinnitus is caused by a morbid sen- sibility to the circulation of air in the meatus and middle ear, and the variations of atmospheric pressure upon the membrana tympani, caused by different con- ditions, as occlusion, or constriction, of the Eustachian tubes. I think the resemblance between tinnitus and the sounds heard by listening to a shell or hollow stone is favourable to the opinion I have here advanced. Counter-irritation will not often be of service in deafness of long standing. Ointments, containing veratria or strychnia, may be worth a trial, applied behind the ears: certainly not to the meatus. Gargles should be used where any relaxation about the throat is complained of; and, in the very chronic cases, I also frequently advise patients to take a pinch or two of snuff morning and evening, so as to produce sneezing. Where, from the circumstances of the patient, frequent catheterism is impossible, this is the best substitute, producing, in a great measure, the refreshing effects of the air-douche. When the sense of hearing is greatly impaired, the small amount of sensibility is of excessive value; there- fore, every conservative measure which I have recom- mended on the first failure of hearing, should be of additional importance to the confirmed deaf, so that, at
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