510 PLAIN FACTS FOE OLD AND YOUNG 



for weeks, or even months, before a complete cure can 

 be effected. This treatment must, of course, be em- 

 ployed under the supervision of a physician or a well- 

 trained nurse. A careful examination of the bladder 

 should be made in all cases, as a calculus may exist, or 

 a tumor may be present, growing from the wall of the 

 bladder. Complete relief may be afforded by opening 

 the bladder and removing the tumor. Calculi may be 

 removed by crushing without opening the bladder, al- 

 though the latter operation is by no means so serious 

 or dangerous a proceeding as might be imagined, pro- 

 viding it is performed by a skilled and experienced 

 surgeon. 



When the disease is confined to the urethra, there 

 will often be found some small growth just within the 

 mouth of the urethra, or sometimes a fissure may be 

 observed by examination with a proper instrument. 

 Such cases, of course, require the attention of a sur- 

 geon, and generally yield very promptly to the proper 

 treatment. Sometimes there seems to be simply an 

 irritability of the mucous membrane lining the urethra, 

 and the canal is contracted. Such cases are very speed- 

 ily relieved by gradual dilatation, as the author has 

 verified in a great number of cases. When the bladder 

 pain is due to some morbid condition outside of the 

 bladder itself, the morbid condition, or whatever it 

 may be, must receive such attention as is indicated. 



In cases of obstinate catarrh of the stomach, com- 

 plete rest of the bladder for a prolonged period is 

 necessary. This is obtained by keeping the patient in 

 bed and draining the bladder by means of a self- 

 retaining catheter. 



The hot vaginal douche is wonderfully helpful in 

 a great many cases, as is also the hot bladder douche. 



