Osteopathy Complete
Elmer D. Barber, D. O.
1898
DISEASES OF THE RECTUM AND ANUS
THE RECTUM
PROCTITIS
(Inflammation of the rectum. Usually due to constipation.
May be acute or chronic.)
SYMPTOMS
Sensation of burning, with desire to go to stool;
spasm of the sphincter ani muscle; discharges usually only mucous, but
may be mixed with blood; pain in the rectum, radiating to the hips and
back. Chronic form differs only in degree.
TREATMENT
1. Place the patient on the side; beginning
at the sixth dorsal vertebra, move the muscles upward and outward gently
but deeply to the end of the coccyx, being very thorough in all regions
where any abnormal temperature or tenderness is manifest. Treat the
opposite side in a similar manner.
2. Flex the limbs strongly against the abdomen,
holding them in this position a few seconds.
In case of constipation, see Constipation Treatment.
3. Place the patient on the side, the limbs
flexed; oil the finger with vaseline, and pass carefully up the rectum,
manipulating the rectum gently but thoroughly, with a view of freeing the
circulation.
Treatment will occupy about ten or fifteen minutes,
and should be given every other day until recovery, except the No. 3, which
should only be given once a week.
It is always advisable in cases of rectal trouble
to flush the bowels occasionally in case the patient is constipated.
HEMORRHOIDS, OR PILES
(Small blood tumors near the anal orifice. Distension of hemorrhoidal
veins, with inflammation and swelling. May be internal or external,
bleeding or blind.)
SYMPTOMS
A sensation of heat, fullness, and perhaps itching,
is felt about the anus; the swelling increases until small tumors form,
which are sore and painful; these may be external and visible or internal,
and are often of a bluish color, and, when inflamed, they are very sore
and painful to the touch. There is frequently a discharge of blood,
especially from internal piles, and such discharges often return repeatedly
until a habit is established, and there is a feeling of fullness before,
and relief after such discharges.
Piles that do not bleed are called blind piles;
this variety is apt to take on inflammation, when they become full, appear
ready to burst, and are so very sensitive the patient can neither sit,
lie down, nor walk.
CAUSE
Piles are really a varicose condition of the rectum,
and are usually the result of an obstruction of the hemorrhoidal veins.
TREATMENT
1. Piles are often caused by constipation,
and in such cases our Constipation Treatment will usually effect
a cure.
2. Place the patient on the face; and, with
a thumb on each side of the spine, beginning at the first sacral vertebra,
move the muscles very deeply upward and outward from the spine, working
down to the end of the coccyx.
3. If the patient has itching or bleeding
piles, pass the index finger its entire length up the rectum, very carefully
moving the inner muscles from side to side, thus freeing the circulation.
In protruding piles, they should be replaced, and the same internal treatment
given.
There is no danger in this treatment, and we
have never known it to fail to effect a cure in from six to eight
weeks. The internal treatment, which is rather painful, should
be given but once a week, and always after flushing the bowels.
Most cases of piles can be cured simply by our Constipation Treatment,
which removes the usual cause of this distressing complaint.
Of the many aggravated cases cured by us we will
mention the case of a Gentleman of Scammon, Kansas, whose piles protruded
an inch and had not been replaced for twenty years. We took the case
as an experiment, hardly hoping to effect a cure. In three weeks
our patient was entirely well, and up to the present time has had no return
of his old trouble.
Piles and fistula are sometimes caused by dislocation
of the coccyx, in which case dislocation must be reduced. See Dislocation
of the Coccyx (below).
DISLOCATION OF THE COCCYX
TREATMENT
1. Manipulate the muscles carefully and very
thoroughly in the immediate region of the coccyx.
2. Dip the finger in vaseline, and pass carefully
up the rectum, and with the thumb and finger endeavor to work the coccyx
gradually back to its normal position. Care must be taken not to
use a great deal of strength, but to gain a little each treatment until
the desired result is attained.
A great many very stubborn cases of the above diseases
have been cured by simply reducing a dislocation of the coccyx.
The internal treatment should not be given oftener
than once a week.
RECTAL CARCINOMA
(Cancer of the rectum.)
SYMPTOMS
Uneasiness in the rectum; pain in back, hips, and
thighs; bowels obstructed; frequent discharges of a fetid muco-purulent
matter streaked with blood. May be constipation or (diarrhea.
No cure in Osteopathy.
RECTAL ULCER
(Not frequent. Detected by palpation.)
TREATMENT
See Hemorrhoids,
or Piles.
The Anus
PROLAPSUS ANI
(Eversion of the lower portion of the rectum, and protruding through
the anus. Most common
in infancy and old age.)
TREATMENT
1. Place the patient on the side, the limbs
flexed; dip the index finger in vaseline, and carefully replace the prolapsed
portion of the rectum to its normal position; pass the finger carefully
up the rectum, manipulating the muscles internally as thoroughly as possible.
2. Place the patient on the side; beginning
at the eighth dorsal, move the muscles upward and outward, gently but deep,
to the lower part of the coccyx. Treat the opposite side in a similar
manner.
3. See Constipation Treatment.
4. Bowels should be flushed each day until
a cure is effected.
Internal treatment should not be given oftener than
once each week.
See Dislocation
of the Coccyx.
FISTULA IN ANO
(Abnormal tube-like passage by the side of the rectum, through fibers
of the sphincter ani muscle.)
TREATMENT
Manipulate the muscles thoroughly and deep around
the fistula; dip the index finger in vaseline and pass carefully up the
rectum, manipulating the fistula in a careful but very thorough manner.
Treatment should be given once each week until recovery.
COMPLETE FISTULA
(Has an external opening near the anus and another in the bowels above
the rectum.)
Not treated successfully by Osteopathy.
INCOMPLETE EXTERNAL FISTULA
(Has an external opening, but none in the bowels.)
TREATMENT
See Fistula in Ano.
INCOMPLETE INTERNAL FISTULA
(Has an opening into the bowels, but none externally.)
Not treated successfully by Osteopathy.
ANAL FISSURE
(A small chap, crack, or ulcer in the anal orifice, usually behind.
Gives intense pain
during defecation.)
TREATMENT
1. In case of constipation, see Constipation
Treatment.
2. Manipulate the muscles thoroughly and deeply in
the immediate region of the fissure, both externally and internally.
Treatment should be given twice a week; an immediate improvement
will be noticed, and a cure can be expected in from four to eight weeks.
