TALKS ON HEALTH.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 147, 26 August 1926, Page 2

TALKS ON HEALTH.

(By a Family Doctor). EUPTOSE IN BABIES ! Ruptures may occur in quite small babies. The rupture shows itself as a lump in the groin, which comes down w'hen the baby cries or strains, and generally disappears when the baby sleeps. A rupture must not be neglected. It is never really cured of its own accord. It may be that the rupture does not come down for many weeks months, and it looks as though it wore cured, but soouer or later it is sure to appear again. Not every swelling in the groin is a rupture. -I cannot teach you to know all the different kinds of swellings in the groin, but I am anxious to warn you that you must not assume that because a lump appears in the groin therefore the baby must be ruptured. It may be something else, and you must not make the mistake of put- ( ! ting a rupture on a swelling that is not j as a matter of fact, a rupture at all. j You must ask the doctor about the j swelling. j Try a Truss. If it is decided that the baby is ruptured you may try applying a truss. Some people try a woollen truss, but it is not very much good; it is worth trying, but it must not be persisted in if it is not successful. Small india rubber trusses arc also made. It is very important that the truss should fit. An ill-fitting truss is worthless. Above all, | the truss must not be put on over the rupture when it is still to be seen in the groin. First the rupture must be pressed back and then the truss must be applied. If while the truss is applied the lump slips down past the truss, the truss must be taken off and applied again after the rupture has been pushed back. An Operation. ( Never use force in pushing the lump back, and make no attempt to reduce the rupture when the baby is screaming. If after a fair trial the truss is found to be unsatisfactory, you must begin to think about an operation. It may sound harsh to talk of operating on a 1 small baby, but the fact is indisputable that hundreds of babies are operated * on every year with complete success. Do not neglect a sound method of cure j because of unreasonable prejudices. I j would not recommend cure by operation I unless I had seen scores performed and j the babies relieved entirely and completely. A Matter of Life and Death. It some times happens in inf ants as it I does in adults that a rupture comes down and gets stuck fast. No amount of coaxing or pushing will induce the rupture to go back. The lump becomes hard and tense, and the infant appears to be in great pain. Such a condition j is known as a “strangulated rupture.” Only an immediate operation save j life. It is the one condition above all I others that demands haste. I have before now run to a hospital with a baby in my arms to save a few minutes. The tigki cord that binds the gut so firmly must be released, or the bowel will be * damaged beyond repair, and it is only \ too likely that a fatal result will follow. Strangulation is one of the danI gers that is avoided by an early operaI tion. Before operation, the rupture is a source of worry to the mother; after I operation, the worry is cleared away. A Critical Time. | A rupture may appear for the first time at puberty—that is, when the J child has left school and is beginning I to work on his own. It is a very erirical time for boys when they first begin to do manual labour. They have nut

gained their full manhood’s strength, they are still growing, and that in itself absorbs much of their strength. The strain of a day’s work tells on them with double force. If they have a tendency to rupture the straining at their work will bring it down, and a lump will appear. One often find on inquiry that a boy who comes to the surgeon with a rupture at the age of fifteen or sixteen was ruptured as a baby, only no particular notice was taken by the parents. During school days it has lain dormant. The Best Plan. A truss is, in my opinion, not quite satisfactory to a young working man; it is a nuisance. To begin wiih, it has to be put on every morning; it may chafe the skin; it requires renewing once or twice a year, and it costs money each time. The best plan is to have an operation. It save time, trouble, and money in the end. If it is possible, always have the operation before the wage-earning age. A schoolboy loses r nothing in wages while he is in hospital. The young man of twenty is very likely losing all the time. What I said bei fore about the truss being a good fit and i not allowing the rupture to slip past, the truss applied with extra significance to the' young man. If the rupture ever gets stuck, go to the hospital in a cab at once; or go to the doctor first, and he will tell you what is best to be done. [Reappearance. One matter has to be emphasised; it is most important to give the operation- 1 wound a chance to become strong. The surgeon often gets blamed for the reapI pearance of a rupture when the fault really lies with the patient. It is only natural, I grant. The young man is anxious to get back to work at the first possible opportunity. He finds the outside wound has healed, and he starts too soon at carrying bricks 6r picking up the road. It is not a bad plan to tion-wound for a month or two. A common cause for disappointment is when a rupture appears on the other side. If there is even a small rupture on the other side it is wise to have both sides operated on at the same time. If there is no sign of a swelling on the other side the surgeon cannot operate, and he Piust not be blamed if a second j operation has to be done a year or two ! after the first on the opposite side to { the first operation.