Bruise

“ Have the child bend backward over the arm of a sofa, for example, or put him in bed with the body hanging out of the bed face upward. If none of these effect relief you must depend upon the skill of the physician.
A Bruise or Contusion.—A bruise or contusion is an injury to the tissues underneath the skin, but this does not imply that the skin itself is opened or damaged. In every bruise the small blood vessels are ruptured, and the blood collects in the tissues causing distention, swelling and pain. ”

“ Bruises.—If the skin is not broken, the best thing for a bruise, or black and blue spot, as they are often termed, is a piece of pure copper. It should be thin enough to shape with the fingers just the curvature or angle of the portion of the body bruised. ”

“ The horn, filthy with blood and excrement, very often broken at the ends by blows into small splinters, broke the flesh, lacerated it, perforated it, so that it was at the same time a deep penetrating wound, and a crushing bruise, but all the same these awful wounds were cured far more easily than those of daily life. ”

“ Young children are specially liable to die after burns.
XI.—CONTUSED WOUNDS AND INJURIES UNACCOMPANIED BY SOLUTION OF CONTINUITY
If a blow be inflicted with a blunt instrument, there is produced a bruise, or ecchymosis, of which it is unnecessary here to describe the appearance and progress. A bruise may be distinguished from a post-mortem stain by the cuticle in the former often being abraded and raised. When an incision is made into the bruise, the whole of the subcutaneous tissues are found to be infiltrated with blood-clot, and there is no clear margin. ”

“ Thou art boot for many a bruise,
And healest many a wound;
In our Lady's blessed name,
I take thee from the ground. ”

“ The amount of violence required after death to produce appearances like those made before death is such as would seldom, if ever, be inflicted on a corpse, and, therefore, where we find a well-marked bruise we ought to infer that it was made before death. ”

“ If a considerable amount of blood is poured forth into the injured tissues it is termed a haematoma. The treatment of a bruise consists in the application of cold lotion, preferably an evaporating spirit-lotion, to limit the subcutaneous bleeding. ”

“ But if the mischief be not upon the bone, but it is the flesh itself which is pulpy, relapses and pains will return from time to time, if there happen to be any disorder in the body; wherefore proper bandaging, and for a considerable time, must be had recourse to, until the extravasated blood forming in the bruise be dried up and absorbed, and the part be made up with sound flesh, and the flesh adhere to the bone. The best cure is the cautery in those cases which, from neglect, have become chronic, and the place turns painful, and the flesh is pulpy. ”

“ A contusion or bruise is a laceration of the subcutaneous soft tissues, without solution of continuity of the skin. When the integument gives way at the same time, a _contused-wound_ results. Bruising occurs when force is applied to a part by means of a blunt object, whether as a direct blow, a crush, or a grazing form of violence. If the force acts at right angles to the part, it tends to produce localised lesions which extend deeply; while, if it acts obliquely, it gives rise to lesions which are more diffuse, but comparatively superficial. ”

“ Dangerous bleeding from large blood vessels sometimes takes place internally, and collections of blood may later break down into abscesses. Furthermore, the bruise may be so great that the injury to muscle and nerve may lead to permanent loss of use of the part. For these reasons a surgeon's advice should always be sought in cases of bad bruises. Pain is present in bruises, owing to the tearing and stretching of the smaller nerve fibers, and to pressure on the nerves caused by swelling. The swelling is produced by escape of blood and fluid from the torn blood vessels. ”

“ It seemed to him as if he had always before thought it a light thing that men should suffer, as if all that he had himself endured and called sorrow before was only a moment's stroke that had never left a bruise. ”

“ BRUISES, or contusions, being frequently neglected at first, may produce consequences more alarming than those of wounds. Blows received on the head, pit of the stomach, hip, or the knee, are the most dangerous. A violent inflammation, in consequence of injured nerves, or the destruction of blood vessels, often occasions the mortification of those parts, which the most skilful treatment cannot retrieve, if the accident be neglected for many hours or days. ”

“ WOUNDS.—A wound is a condition produced by a forcible cutting, contusing, or tearing of the tissues of the body, and includes, in its larger sense, bruises, sprains, dislocations, and breaks or fractures of bones. As ordinarily used, a wound is an injury produced by forcible separation of the skin or mucous membrane, with more or less injury to the underlying parts. ”

“ My victims ask me, with their cold hands about my throat and glassy eyes staring into mine, to name the hour I want to die. My flesh is bruised where they burn and prick me. My head is sore from the frequent pulling of my hair. ”

“ The horn, dirty with blood and animal excrement, often breaking into splinters at the blow, tore the flesh, scratched it, perforated it, making at once a deep penetrating injury and a bruised contusion, and yet these atrocious wounds healed with greater ease than those in ordinary life. ”

“ Wounds made during life might show the suggillation peculiar to bruises or traces of inflammation. Besides, the gaping nature of the lips of the wound, the fact of hemorrhage [431] having taken place and the coagulation of the blood, the infiltration of blood into the cellular tissue, etc., are surgical facts that would leave but little doubt as to the infliction of the wounds during life.
The cause of death is often a difficult matter to determine, as it may have been accidental, suicidal, or the result of homicide. ”

“ He could now walk almost without pain. At the start, he had determined not to limp. It had made him sick to take the first steps, and during the first mile or so, he had compressed his breath, and the cold drops of sweat had stood on his forehead. But he had walked it off. What were they after all but bruises! He had looked at them, as he was getting up: deep bruises on the backs of his thighs. And since he had made his first step in the morning, he had been conscious of them, till now he had a tight, hot place in his chest, with suppressing the pain, and holding himself in. ”

“ Contusions or Bruises.—In slight bruises, and those not likely to be followed by much inflammation, nothing more is usually necessary than to bathe the part in cold water, or with spirit, as eau de Cologne, brandy, &c., mixed with an equal proportion of vinegar and water. In more severe cases, however, and where the accident is near an important part, as the [116] eye, or any of the joints, it becomes a desirable object to prevent the approach of inflammation. ”

“ Bruises need no attention unless they are extensive or painful. The skin should be kept clean and if possible unbroken, since injured tissues are less resistant to infection than tissues in their normal state. Applications of cold water or of equal parts of cold water and alcohol may relieve the pain, but cold should not be used upon bruises that are extensive. A compress bandaged [277] tightly in place may help to prevent swelling and discoloration.
Burns and Scalds. ”

“ There are certain maladies which make the whole body sore. The patient, let him be touched on any point,—let him even be nearly touched,—will roar with agony as though his whole body had been bruised. ”

“ Legs and arms seemed to be flying everywhere, and the wonder was that a score of limbs and necks were not broken. But it rarely hurts a boy to become hurt, and though bruises were plenty, no one suffered serious harm. ”

“ In all mild varieties home remedies may suffice, but in the more serious and extensive bruises it is advisable to seek medical assistance. It is essential to completely put the part to rest and to elevate it. ”

“ A fight of this kind, even among children, lasts for several hours, and, as can well be imagined, at the end of it there are a great many bleeding noses and broken teeth, besides bruises in profusion. The victor in these fights is made much of and receives presents from his parents and the friends of the family. ”

“ Treads, blows, and bruises, EXTERNALLY, and a lodgment of gravel, or other extraneous substance, having insinuated itself INTERNALLY, from the bottom of the foot, and working upwards, are principally the means by which such misfortune is too frequently and unluckily produced. ”

“ Treatment of fainting, choking, burns and scalds, bites from animals, bruises and tears from machinery, convulsions, sunstroke, persons found insensible, suspected poisoning and frostbite; how to lift and carry an injured person. ”

“ The cries and groans of the unhappy [Pg 248] sufferers, from the bruises many of them had received, and their hopes of deliverance beginning to fail, were continued through the night, but as morning approached, in consequence of the few who then survived, they became extremely feeble. ”

“ Fourth day.—The foot swells up more and more. Hammering pain in the foot all the time. Lancinations in the throat when swallowing. Pain in the abdomen, with sensation as if bruised. 55. Throbbing toothache. Prickling in the larynx when drawing breath. He approaches his hand to the fire without burning himself, whereas another person got burnt at the same distance. An hour after, he feels very keenly that he had been burnt. Stinging pain in the throat when swallowing saliva. ”

“ It seemed clear the marks were caused by some individual standing in front of her and squeezing her throat with both hands, the thumbs on the windpipe and the fingers round the neck. From the strength necessary to produce such bruises, it looks as if this individual were a man. ”

“ Moreover, old males and females have been killed, and found to be in the same bruised condition. A feature, and a conclusive one, is the fact that invariably the female is suckling her young at this period, and sustains the bruises in desperately defending her litter. ”

“ Of Burns, Wounds, Contusions or Bruises: Of Sprains, Ulcers, frostbitten Limbs, Chilblains, Ruptures, Boils. Of Fellons, Thorns or Splinters in the Fingers or Flesh; of Warts, and of Corns.
Sect. 432. abouring Countrymen are exposed in the Course of their daily Work, to many outward Accidents, such as Cuts, Contusions, &c. which, however considerable in themselves, very generally end happily; and that chiefly in Consequence of the pure and simple Nature of their Blood, which is generally much less acrimonious, or sharp, in the Country, than in great Towns or Cities. ”

“ Yet ne'er doth kindlier fortune crown his toil,
Than if with blade of iron a man dare lance
The ulcer's mouth ope: for the taint is fed
And quickened by confinement; while the swain
His hand of healing from the wound withholds,
Or sits for happier signs imploring heaven.
Aye, and when inward to the bleater's bones
The pain hath sunk and rages, and their limbs
By thirsty fever are consumed, 'tis good
To draw the enkindled heat therefrom, and pierce
Within the hoof-clefts a blood-bounding vein. ”

“ A Simple Wound is that which only opens the Flesh, and hath no other concomitant Circumstances; but a Complicated Wound, on the contrary, is that which is attended with grievous Symptoms, as Hæmorrhages, Fractures of Bones, Dislocation, Lameness, and others of the like Nature.
What is a dangerous and mortal Wound?
A dangerous Wound is that which is complicated the Accidents whereof are dreadful: As when an Artery is open'd or prick'd, when a Nerve or Tendon is cut, or when the Wound is near a Joynt and accompanied with a Dislocation or Fracture. ”

“ In anger the eyes are fiery and the pupils contracted; in modesty the cheeks are suffused with blushes; in fear, and under a sense of infamy and of shame, the face is pale, but the ears burn as if for the evil they heard or were to hear; in lust how quickly is the member distended with blood and erected! But, above all, and this is of the highest interest to the medical practitioner,—how speedily is pain relieved or removed by the detraction of blood, the application of cupping-glasses, or the compression of the artery which leads to a part? ”

“ The little discomfort which the flowing of blood causes me, compared with the other pain, is like a fresh breeze after a blast from the infernal regions. It does me a real good to see my blood pouring forth: let it flow, it does me extreme good."
The stranger watched with an expression of delight the blood pouring from the wound, and the doctor was obliged to insist on binding up the hand. ”

“ You know that you can produce wounds upon the body of the hypnotised patient, in a state of trance. By suggestion lesions are made, burns are caused, inflammation and pain appear by the mere suggestion of a wound. ”

“ And such folk as can heal and cure came to examine into their wounds and to tend them that night, for they could do nothing more for them, so severe and so deadly were the stabs and the thrusts, and the gashes of the many wounds that they had, than to apply to them spells and incantations and charms, in order to staunch their blood, and their bleeding mortal wounds. ”

“ I have always had an insurmountable horror of blood; when I was a boy, the sight of an open wound affected me so much that I would fall into a swoon, which on more than one occasion nearly cost me my life. ”