Practical and operative gynecology / by J. Clarence Webster.

  • John Clarence Webster
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Practical and operative gynecology / by J. Clarence Webster. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    91/336 (page 71)
    MINOR THERAPEUTIC MEASURES. The Vaginal Douche. This valuable therapeutic agency has been employed for centuries. In the time of Hippocrates it was employed merely to apply certain medicaments to the vaginal walls. It was first employed for the purpose for which it is mainly used now-a-days in the fifteenth century. Nattire of apparatus.—The best form of douche apparatus is one which allows of the flow of a continuous stream of water, under the influence of gravity. The ordinary douche- can, with rubber-tube attached, is the most convenient instrument. According to the elevation of the can above the patient, the force of the stream varies. The can may be obtained in various sizes. The tube is furnished with a stop-cock, and should have at its end a vaginal nozzle, five or six inches long, with lateral perforations near the distal end. This nozzle may be straight or curved, and should be made of vulcanite, though glass is largely em- ployed. Instead of the douche, a tube may be used with an ordinary pitcher, the flow being obtained by syphon action. A less convenient instrument is the largely used rubber- syringe worked by means of a bulb. This allows only of an intermittent stream, it is apt to fatigue the hand of the person who works the bulb, and is liable to get out of order.