The perils of home surgery
I cut the index finger of my right hand really badly last week – right down to the knuckle. Naturally, I did the manly thing and stuck a plaster on it. If only I knew then what I know now:
Bring the edges of the wound together by stickingplaster, without any delay, keep the part perfectly at rest, bleed, purge, and live very low, to prevent inflammation. Should it come on, it must be met at its first approach by bleeding or leeching to as great an extent as the condition of the patient will warrant. If a permanent stiffening of the joint seems likely to ensue, keep the limb in that position which will prove most useful; that is, the leg should be extended, and the arm bent at the elbow. Wounds of joints are always highly dangerous, and frequently terminate in death.
Cripes.
(From the 1882 Household Cyclopedia , link found at 43Folders)
— Filed under Miscellany