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Care of Wounds
by Herbert M. Shelton
DP ND DC DNT DNSc DNPh DNLitt PhD DOrthop
THE HYGIENIC SYSTEM
ORTHOPATHY
Chapter 26
It required thousands of years of torturing the wounds of sufferers with almost every substance in the three kingdoms of nature before surgeons finally discovered that there is no healing virtue in any "remedy" and that the healing of a wound is not the result of any application, but is the work of nature, that is, of a restorative principle identical with the principle of life, and by which each organ and tissue is, to a certain extent, enabled to repair the damage it sustains.
In vain would the surgeon set the ends of a broken bone in a case of a fracture, except for the power of the bone to reunite itself, or to reduce a dislocation, if the torn ligaments were not able to heal themselves. In vain would he bring together the severed edges of a wound if the power of healing possessed by these did not exist in them. These things they now know, although they did not always know them.
In the recuperative process, a certain series of changes must necessarily take place in the damaged part, before it can be restored to soundness, and these changes require time. It was an easy matter for those who did not know of these changes, nor of how and by what they were made, to attribute the healing of a wound or bruise to whatever happened to be used on it. The remedy was applied, the wound healed — ergo, the remedy healed the wound!
While healing is an internal, a physiological process and is not a power or property possessed by salves, ointments, etc., it is not wholly independent of external circumstances. It is more certainly dependent upon internal conditions.
In proportion to the soundness and general health and vigor of the system, will be the facility with which the individual organs will recover themselves from local injury and disability, and others hold on to their integrity and activity in spite of the crippled state of their neighbors.
It is a fact, evidenced by every day occurrences, that wounds or broken bones heal without great difficulty, no matter into whose hands they fall. Bones and wounds often heal under circumstances that would seem to render healing impossible. On the other hand, cases are occasionally met with in which neither broken bones, bruises, nor wounds will heal no matter how and by whom managed. The external conditions may be ever so favorable, yet instead of healing, suppuration occurs. In such cases the internal condition of the body is exceedingly foul and its energies at low ebb.
It is necessary to make a distinction between "disease" (pathology) and injury. A healthy body — one that is not toxemic — takes little offense at injuries, unless the injury is great enough to destroy the function of an organ, or to shock the system so greatly as to enervate profoundly. Assuming the injured individual is free from toxemia, he will recover from injury quickly, and without complications and sequels. This is possible but not very probable, for conventional living builds toxemia from birth. This is the reason so many are treated for injury for months and years before they recover. Some die from slight injury or poisoning; others survive desperate injuries or profound poisonings. The former are profoundly toxemic; the latter only slightly toxemic.
Although the forces of life are not easily overpowered and crushed beyond the possibility of final recovery, even while prostrate and staggering under hostile influences, except when the scales are just balancing between life and death, it may make all the difference between life and death, whether the care is such as to favor the natural, upward tendency of life, or such as to thwart and obstruct that tendency.
If the wound has been great enough to produce shock, the subject should be cared for as described for shock in the chapter on First Aid. Bleeding should be cared for as described in the same chapter for hemorrhages.
Large and severe wounds call for the services of a surgeon, but the little wounds anyone is liable to sustain may be cared for by the one who receives them. Whether it is a contusion, puncture, or cut, the rapidity and ease with which it will heal will depend chiefly upon internal circumstances, and every hygienic measure should be employed to improve the internal condition.
Whether a cut or puncture is large or small, the external circumstances required for best results in healing are (1) cleanliness, (2) drainage, and (3) rest.
Cleanliness: This is secured by washing the part in plain water, preferably hot, and by excluding external contamination from the wound. Care should be exercised not to dress the wound in such a way that drainage is interfered with. Physicians and surgeons think that wounds need frequent irritating and are not yet ready to rely upon cleanliness; hence their frequent use of antiseptics.
The more a wound is manipulated, the longer it will require to heal. The raw surfaces of wounds do not need to be scoured. Cleanse the wound, prepare for drainage and let it alone. One cleansing should be enough.
Antiseptics: Lord Lister, who, as Geo. B. Shaw says, substituted carbolic acid for holy water, is responsible for the introduction of the antiseptic practice. His antiseptic dressings were heralded to the world as a miracle and the profession went wild over them. It was an elaborate process. All abdominal operations were performed under an antiseptic spray playing on the patient's abdomen and on the surgeon's and assistants' hands, on the instruments, etc. More or less systemic poisoning from absorption of the carbolic acid used in making the spray, followed time operations and patients were caused a lot of sickness by carbolic acid poisoning. The kidneys were damaged, the stitch wounds in the abdomen developed into "stitch" abscesses and, altogether, the miraculous process was so damaging that it had to be abandoned.
It was found by surgeons, who began by reducing the strength of the spray solution, that each time the strength of the antiseptic was reduced, healing was more pleasing. A few of these finally reached the stage where they depended wholly upon cleanliness. Others, and these are by far the majority, turned to the search for other substances that would kill the dreaded germ without injuring the patient. Sane treatment of wounds comes slowly.
New tissue — new cells — must be produced to repair the cut or wound. The young cells produced in this healing process are very delicate — more delicate indeed, than germs — and are easily killed by antiseptics and germicidal solutions applied to the wound. Any poison that will destroy the germs in contact with a wound, will also destroy, not merely the delicate new cells that are produced to heal the wound, but also the older and more resistant cells that it comes in contact with. If death of the tissues does not occur, they are greatly devitalized and their resistance to infection, thereby, greatly lessened.
In my Human Life, I long ago emphasized the fact that the use of antiseptics so devitalizes and even destroys tissue that healing is often rendered impossible.
"Antiseptic burn" is not a mere medical term. Such "burns" are real and may be produced by any and all antiseptics. I have seen more than one wound that not only failed to heal, due to the use of antiseptics, but actually grew larger from the same cause, so great was the destructive and corrosive action of the antiseptic. Healing did not occur until the antiseptics were discontinued. The use of such things actually encourages "infection." A severe "chemical burn" is frequently the result of the application of iodine.
In his Man the Unknown, Dr. Alexis Carrel says: "tissues are endangered by most antiseptic substances." Placed alongside this fact is the fact that every normal body is equipped with natural agents of defense against germs. Aside from the abilities of the white corpuscles, and to a limited extent all the other cells of the body, to digest bacteria, the blood and other fluids possess substances which are inimical to germ life. When germs gain an entrance into the body at any point there is launched, immediately, a biological counter-attack, designed to limit their invasion within a circumscribed area immediately surrounding the point of their entrance and to destroy, not alone the germs, but their toxic excretions.
It is worth knowing, also, that many of the antiseptics sold in the markets today have no power to inhibit or destroy germs. They are frauds as antiseptics. Thousands of people smear on or paint on a popular antiseptic and go on feeling secure in the belief that they have destroyed the terrible, infectious germs that were lurking around, when the so-called antiseptic was as harmless to the germs as water. Their faith in the protective potency of the newer forms of holy water gives them a false sense of security.
Drainage: This is the process by which blood and secretions drain out of and away from the wound. If they do not drain they become pent-up, decompose and produce infection. The noted English surgeon, Sir Win. Arbuthnot Lane, speaking of wounds and operations, says: "Where drainage is perfect there is no death."
When a wound is received, an excess of material is sent to the site, not only to heal the wound, but also to fortify the part against absorption from without and to flush away any injurious matter that may get into the wound. If danger threatens underneath a scab, itching causes rubbing or scratching, thus breaking the seal and re-establishing drainage.
Bleeding from a wound of any kind is nature's way of cleansing it. Where bleeding does not occur, as in snake bite, dog-bite, nail puncture, etc., means should be employed to establish drainage. Tetanus will not follow a nail-puncture or other wound that drains well. Failure of drainage may lead to septic poisoning and death.
A puncture wound that does not bleed should be sucked with the lips or with a suction pump to establish drainage. If the puncture is large enough to admit of the entry of a small cleansing instrument, it should be cleansed with gauze or cotton and hot water. When the wound is cleansed, push a little gauze to the bottom of it and allow a portion to protrude. This establishes and maintains drainage. The dressing can be changed daily until the wound is healed.
Puncture from a dog bite may be cared for in the same way as puncture from a nail or other sharp instrument. Whether the dog's teeth are dirty or the nail is rusty, if the wound is cleansed thoroughly and drainage established, the wound will heal promptly and no poisoning will develop. If drainage does not take place, septic poisoning will develop.
Fear is a weapon used by preachers, politicians and physicians. Fear creates hysteria and hysteria produces dire results. Add fear to snake-bite, dog-bite or a puncture by a rusty nail and enough hysteria will, be developed to cause a serious ending. It is possible to get enough nervous excitement to kill, even where no poisoning is present.
Rabies is a state of frenzy brought on by doctors and the clamoring multitude. A psychological storm resulting from wild excitement, hysteria and frenzied fear, is tremendously enervating and causes many to lose their lives.
Shallow cuts hardly involve any problem of drainage. Deeper cuts, those that penetrate through the skin, will drain well if permitted to do so. However, where the severed edges are drawn together and sewed, or held together by adhesive tape, they will not drain well unless an opening is left for drainage. Putrescent poisoning will occur in such cases.
Such cuts should be carefully cleansed and the edges brought together, provision made for drainage, and then they should not be irritated and disturbed.
Ointments, salves and bandages interfere with drainage and healing. Binding up wounds in bandages and ointments is what makes antiseptics seemingly necessary. Wounds that are exposed to sun and air heal more readily than those bound up.
Healing takes place by granulation under moist dressings if the exudation is not allowed to accumulate. All surface wounds that drain well heal in a normal man in spite of germs. All penetrating wounds, small or large, with imperfect drainage take on septic fermentation and, if neglected, will cause death from septic infection.
Rest: This means that the injured part should not be used in such a way that it involves motion in the wound. It means that the wound should not be manipulated, prodded and irritated at frequent intervals, as is commonly done. Rest is just as important in a flesh wound as in a broken bone.
Rest of the whole body is essential if the wound has been sufficient to produce shock. Shock means profound enervation and rest is essential for recovery of nerve power. I have seen fainting follow sticking a small sliver under the finger nail. Not the seriousness of the wound but the amount of shock will determine the amount of rest needed.
Fasting: In addition to the above local measures, general measures to hasten healing are advisable. When an animal is seriously wounded or has a bone broken it will not eat. The shock of the wound and the subsequent pain and inflammation reduce digestive power, or suspend digestion altogether. To eat then adds to the internal foulness; to fast decreases the existing toxemia. Some wounds heal while fasting that have persistently refused to heal for months or years.
Sunbathing: Sunbathing, through its effects upon the blood, hastens healing, both of flesh wounds and of broken bones. Although there is reason to believe that wounds heal more readily if exposed directly to the sun, this is not necessary to get great help from sun-bathing.
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| Success of DETOXIFICATION = failure of drugs and other toxins |
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To learn more about drug-free healing, and the failure of drugs - read this article by Dr. Shelton: HOW DISEASES ARE CURED
"What does the average individual know about keeping well? Almost nothing."
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| Examples of Remarkable Recoveries |
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Free download:- Dr. S Bass: REMARKABLE RECOVERIES FROM SEVERE HEALTH PROBLEMS - booklet presenting how raw foods and juices have been used clinically in medical institutions for over 150 years to help patients detoxify, and recover from cancer and other diseases.
(Note: this detox method is excellent for self-help. While fasting requires professional help for optimal results.)
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| SELF-HELP NOTE |
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This summary of diseases by Dr. Shelton is somewhat technical, and mainly compiled for doctors. For the basics of self-healing click here, or read the articles on Dr. Bass' website www.drbass.com. For self-help, read what doctors of Natural Hygiene & Orthopathy have written for 175 years, much of it is online. E.g. at soilandhealth.org (the Health Library) and non-profit INHS..
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2005 update:
About the newest developments in drug-free healing & Natural Hygiene - e.g. primitive diets and the insulin mechanism - click here.
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Index
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"Orthopathy" by Dr. Herbert M. Shelton contains a comprehensive analysis of most known diseases, and a general classification and guide to their treatment, based upon a natural wholistic interpretation and approach.