Back Failures
Sources: Papers On HealthOften a severe pain in the toe, foot, ankle, or lower
leg has its cause, not in anything wrong with the part which is
painful, but in some failure of nerve in the patient's back.
Blistering or other treatment of the painful part will often injure,
and cannot do much, in any case, to cure. Pains even in the knee and
groin sometimes have the same cause--in back failure. In other cases
the symptoms are, weariness, stiffne
long without support, and pains in the stomach and thighs.
A little thought will enable any one to distinguish between pains due
to back failure and those due to local causes. If there is no
appearance of anything wrong at the part pained, then the evil is
probably in the back. It is even a good rule to consider the pain at
first as due to back failure rather than local causes, for by treatment
of the back the local trouble, when that is present, is much helped and
relieved.
In the case of pains in the arms or hands, the upper part of the back
is indicated; in leg and foot troubles, the lower part. Neuralgic
pains are almost always of this class.
In any case of this kind, heat may be applied to the spine, and rubbing
with hot oil given to it, at its upper or lower part as required. If
the heat and rubbing increase the pain, then cold applications may be
used. Sometimes heat and cold may be needed alternately; but common
sense must guide, and all irritation or chilling of the patient must be
carefully avoided.
The best manner of applying cold to the spine is described in article
on Angina Pectoris. Towels are folded as there directed. The moist one
(well wrung out) is placed next the spine, either over the part desired
or the whole spine. The dry one is placed over this, and the patient
lies down on his back on the top of them; or, if he cannot lie, as
sometimes happens, the towels are gently pressed with the hand against
the spine until sufficient cooling has resulted. The patient should
never be made to shiver. If he feels chilly, hot fomentations to the
feet and legs, as described in article on Angina Pectoris, may be
applied.
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See Child-bearing. ... Air
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Give dilute vinegar, followed by white of egg. ... Amputations
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Emetic, followed by white of egg. Keep very warm. ... Assimilation
Is the process whereby the digested food is carried into the blood stream, and thus conveyed to the different parts of the body where the hungry cells are in need of it. Fine threads of blood vessels (capillaries) take it up from the stomach and ... Back Failures
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This apparently simple treatment, if the best results are desired, must be gone about most carefully. A foot-bath for ten or twenty minutes, though a considerable help in many cases, is not at all sufficient. It must be given, in most cases, for forty... Baths For Head
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The destruction of the skin over any painful part, by means of blisters, is to be always avoided if possible (see Burns, Knee, Pleurisy, etc.) ... Blood
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(See Blood, Purifying; Sores). ... Blood Purifying
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Often, in the young, the bones are so soft that they bend more or less, and the beginning of a distressing deformity appears. In such a case plaster jackets and steel bands are of little use, and often very painful. It is better to use bandages, app... Bowels Glands Of
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This (called medically Peritonitis) is an inflammation of the membrane covering the bowels. It results from chill or strain, and sometimes, in the case of child-birth, from dirt introduced into the parts by handling with unwashed hands. In such cases... Bowels Lax
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Sometimes when one part of the bowels is much more active than another, it passes into that other, and they become locked, like a stocking half turned inside out. This causes dreadful pain, and if not soon relieved is fatal. Purgatives are of no use, ... Bowels Reversed
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