The diagnosis and treatment of chronic nasal catarrh : three clinical lectures delivered at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York / by George Morewood Lefferts.

  • Lefferts, George Morewood, 1846-1920.
Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The diagnosis and treatment of chronic nasal catarrh : three clinical lectures delivered at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York / by George Morewood Lefferts. 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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    LECTURE III. TREATMENT. Gentlemen: A very essential principle in the local treatment of tarrhal affections of the nasal passages is thorough cleanliness; it iderlies ail others. There certainly can be little remedial value in the plication of a medicated spray or powder that only reaches parts cov- ;d and protected by a layer of thick, tenacious mucus, or, still less, Dse encased in an armor of hard, inspissated crusts. On the other nd, I am convinced that this matter of cleanliness, if the latter be derstood to mean frequent, daily, even several times a day, syringing the nose, is overdone, and that it does much harm. The comfort, icied or real, that a patient experiences after the use of his “ nasal uche,” even though this relief be only temporary, as it always is, .ds him to repeat the process with constantly increasing frequency, .stances are not unknown where patients will use a quart of a strong 1 ine solution, under high pressure, through the nose several times ily. Physicians are not entirely guiltless in the matter, for it is not : frequently that the patient is misled by their belief that the cure of a ; sal catarrh lies in the use of a “ douche.” Such practices, I repeat, <: productive of no good, but much harm. Even apparent temporary 1 od effects ultimately fail. The use of strong saline solutions in large antity, passed through the nares under high pressure, is not infre- ently an efficient factor in the propagation, if not in the causation, as >elieve that I have many times seen it, of a chronic inflammation of : delicate nasal mucous membrane, with its usual result of penna- nt infiltration of the mucous and submucous structures. All this her than a means for its relief. Ahile, then, cleanliness is essential, mechanical means for attaining are to be used with great discretion. There is nothing curative in ir employment — bear that in mind. They are by no means as gen- tly necessary as was formerly supposed. I believe that in my prac- - I have discontinued their use in more than fifty per cent of cases, 3 the latter not only do just as well, but better, being relieved of an