588 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



or three times daily. Fomentation to tlie spine, hot 

 and cold sponging of the spine, and, in the later stages 

 of the disease, the sitz bath, are useful. 



Measures of treatment as prescribed for catarrh of 

 the womb are also useful in this condition, after the 

 acute stage has passed. 



Erosion of the Womb.— The condition usually 

 known as ulceration of the womb is not what is com- 

 monly termed ulceration elsewhere, but would be more 

 properly termed erosion. This condition generally 

 exists in connection with congestion or chronic inflam- 

 mation of the womb. 



Treatment.— This condition usually requires the 

 personal attention of a skilled physician. The hot 

 vaginal douche, 110° to 115° F., is an excellent measure 

 of treatment. The addition of borax is useful. After 

 an ordinary douche of two to three gallons of water, 

 inject a half pint of a saturated solution of borax. 



The prolonged cool sitz bath is also very useful. 

 Temperature 80° F. at first, to be reduced one degree 

 daily to 75° F. Duration, ten to twenty minutes. 



Amenorrhea, or Suppressed Menstruation.— 

 This term is applied to a condition in which the men- 

 strual flow is absent. There are two varieties of the 

 disease, one in which the flow has never made its ap- 

 pearance, though the proper time has arrived, and the 

 other in which the flow has been suppressed after hav- 

 ing been once established. There are numerous causes 

 of this disorder. It is usually the result of impaired 

 nutrition. Every case of amenorrhea is not patho- 

 logical, however. Sometimes, as in fevers and other 

 wasting diseases, the function is suspended as a means 

 of economizing the vital forces of the body. In these 

 cases, no attempt should be made to restore the func- 



