Boils, ulcers & abscesses : their cause, cure and prevention.

Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Boils, ulcers & abscesses : their cause, cure and prevention. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    COLD-WATER CURE FOR ULCERATED LEGS. The Cold-Water Cure for Ulcerated Legs is very simple, but, at the same time, it gives, owing to the bandaging, a lot of trouble. It may be worth trying, if other means fail. Dr. Johnson, in his “ Domestic Practice of Hydropathy,” thus de- scribes it :— “The wound should be covered with fine lint, four or five times doubled, and dipped in cold water, and applied quite wet, with all the loose water in it. Then the entire leg—lint and all—should be covered with a piece of soft wet linen, two or three times folded. Over this, oiled silk should be applied, quite round the leg, from the knee to the ankle. Over all, a calico bandage, three inches wide and six or seven yards long, should be neatly, accurately, and evenly applied, so as to make exactly even pressure upon every point of the limb. Much of the efficacy of this local treatment will depend upon the manner in which this external bandage or roller is laid round. It should be dry, and should be drawn tolerably tight. “In addition to the local treatment, a wash-down may be taken twice a day, and a vapour bath once a week, fol- lowed by a shallow bath. The actual sweating may last from ten to twenty minutes. Diet: A full mixed one, but no stimulants. LHzercise: As much as the patient’s strength can bear. The water dressing and bandaging should be applied twice a day. This treatment is said to be very successful, but we cannot say that we agree with it—especially with the exercise. Rest is the thing. COLLODION. What is called Flexible Collodion is a good local application for BROKEN Botts. It should be painted on with a camel-hair brush once or twice a day, each successive coat being put on over the previous coat. By this means irritation is allayed —and sometimes, in the early stages, Boils are very irritable —while the Boil itself is soon dried up. Collodion is a solution of gun-cotton in alcohol or ether much used in photography, and upon its strength depends whether it is astringent or pliant. In the former case, it is called Contractile Collodion ; in the latter, Flexible Collodion —and the “ flexible” preparation is what you want in the present instance.
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