Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Irritation of the prostate / by R. Harvey Reed. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![[7] aid in emptying the engorged ducts, but act as a gentle stimulant to the gland itself. Where there is hyperesthesia of the nerves supplying the gland, and thus keeping up, through sympathetic irritation, a constant ' copulate, or inducing frequent nocturnal emissions, I have nev. anything which gave me such prompt relief as the use of carboi applied with the porte caustique along the prostatic urethra. Sometimes a single application, combined with tonics, sedatives or alteratives, as the case may demand, will be sufficient, but if not, a few at the most will serve to control the difficulty. The use of suppositories containing suitable remedies applied with Harrison's porte-remide^ will be found very beneficial, especially if intro- duced shordy before the patient retires. The use of cold, in the form of pounded ice, filled into an eyeless catheter (gum preferred) and introduced into the bladder, and allowed to remain for a few minutes, is often serviceable in reheving the irritation. The use of electricity may be of some service, although it is question- able whether it has any advantages over the remedies above mentioned, and it is a remedy we must use with care, lest we induce other troubles, such as neuralgia of the testicles, or even suppuration of the same, or induce inflammation and cause it to extend along the urethra, and thus complicate our trouble rather than relieve it. In addition to all these remedies, the hygienic surroundings of the patient demand the careful attention of the surgeon in every particular, but especially should the skin be kept healthy, the diet judiciously guarded, in order to avoid if possible any bowel complication, and last, but not least, the general habits of the patient directed in a line of mode- ration in all things.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22277171_0009.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
