Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-01-30
eRowTHs BACK OF THE NOSE.
To Them Are Ascribed Many of tho Ills
and Complaints of Childhood.

and Complaints of Childhood.
In no other department of surgery has
more positive advancement been made
than-in treating the mouth and nose. De-
fects of speech, of breathing, of hearing,
as well as of smelling, that were formerly
considered incurable, now easily yield to
the Skillful treatment of the rhinologist.
A very large proportion OF cures of chronic
catarrb, so called, are found in the exami-
nation of the part of the throat and the
postnares to be nothing more than the
necessary results of obstructive growths
OF the mucous membrane, these growths
sometimes completely plugging the nasal
passages and Eustachian tube of one side,
and thus setting up constant irritation
in both the nasal and aural membranes.
Many children whose wheezy breathing,
running noses, frequent coughing aud ear
aches are regarded by their parents as
merely going through experiences neces-
sarily incident to childhood, and which
will be "outgrown" in time, are suffering
FROM disease of the nose that might be
cured by little surgery in a few weeks
and lifetime of inconvenience if not mis-
cry, be averted.
In children it is by no means uncommon
to find soft tumors, adenoid growths, poly
pi or negotiations in the front nasal space
that are the cause of many infirmities,
mentally as well as physically. DR.. Della
van, in an excellent synopsis of rhinologic-
al surgery, describes the effects of abnor-
NAL growths in striking terms, pointing,
for instance, to easily recognized anomalies
like these: want of symmetry in the form
of the face pinched nostrils, open mouth,
projecting teeth, arched palate, stupid ex-
preston, anaemic surface, dropping eye
lids, stenosis or narrowing of one or both
nostrils with constant catarrh and defect
i've speaking, discharge from the.ears, loss
of hearing, mental dulness, deformity of
the chest, and SO forth.
If adenoid negotiations in the post nasal
space are a prime cause of such evils in
children, it is full time that physicians
generally gave close attention to them,
treating them early in their development
and not waiting until SO far advanced that
their removal must involve serious conse-
quences. The idea of outgrowing these
sequels of malady that if let alone will
persist in its development is monstrously
absurd, and should stamp the physician
who entertains it with fossilism. We Won
der how many children and young people
have lost their hearing for instance, by
such ignorant counsel
As to the removal of these troublesome
growths, it can be said that the procedure
is simple, and may be undertaken by any
physician who has some capability in the
use of his index finger or a curette. In
most children the growth is soft and
easily detached by the finger nail, and re-
moved in a few minutes, and if there be
much bleeding nose douche of warm salt
water usually stops it.
Where the growth is excessive several
attacks may be necessary before all that
should be removed can be taken out. DR..
Behrens says he has found in most cases
that the little patient experienced SO
much relief after the first operation that
he readily submitted to the succeeding.
AS in other operations on the mucous sur
faces of the nose and throat cocaine
muriate is serviceable in mitigating the
pain of the operation, the fear of which is
the chief bugbear in dealing with children.
In some of these cases, especially for polypi,
we think that removal by the snare is de-
sirable because in the dextrous hand this
method gives less discomfort, is cleaner
and more ugh.-Phrenological Jour
mol