A handbook of local therapeutics / edited by Harrison Allen.

Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A handbook of local therapeutics / edited by Harrison Allen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    205/554 (page 193)
    dried with absorbent cotton ; after which the following ointment is applied: Chrysarobin, 6 parts; iodoform, 3 parts; ext. of belladonna, 6 parts; vaseline, 15 parts. In the treatment of internal piles, if very sensitive and liable to bleed, a suppository of tannic acid may be used and followed by one composed of chrysarobin, one grain ; iodoform, half a grain ; extract of belladonna, one-eighth grain ; cocoa butter, a sufficient quantity. After pursuing this treatment for a few months the piles will be found shriveled up. Diseases of the Skin.—Goa powder was introduced some years ago from India as a remedy for Ringworm. It was soon found to have a beneficial influence upon other affections of the skin, and its virtues being ascertained to be due to the chrysarobin contained in the powder this preparation gradually took the place of the latter. Occasionally conjunctivitis occurs during the use of chrysarobin, whether from the direct irritative action of the drug or through absorp- tion is not known. Some persons have a peculiar idiosyncrasy to the drug, and its appli- cation gives rise to severe dermatitis with fever and occasionally symptoms of poisoning, shown by vomiting, diarrhoea, and a tendency to oedema of the lungs, indicating an irritative action on the mucous mem- branes. Chrysarobin is employed in the treatment of Psoriasis, the Vegetable Parasites of the skin, particularly Tinea Circinata and Tinea Sycosis, and in Chloasma. In psoriasis the scales are cleansed off by the use of soap or a solution of salicylic acid in alcohol Oj ad fgj), and then the drug in the form of an ointment of ten to forty grains to the ounce of lard is rubbed thoroughly in. The face and scalp, as also the genitals, are to be avoided in these inunctions, as they are peculiarly liable to inflammation. If the disease is spread over the body the inunctions should not be too extensive at first until the effect on the patient has been ascertained. Usually, after a three or four days' course of treatment, the inunctions having been made twice daily, the diseased patches are found perfectly- smooth and destitute of scales, and of a peculiarly blank white color, while the surrounding skin is sharply defined by an area of a violaceous tint. The parts should then be allowed to rest for a time until it is ascer- tained whether the disease has been removed. If the treatment is pro- longed inflammatory action results. In addition to the danger of exciting inflammation of the skin, chrysa- robin has the disagreeable quality of staining clothing, etc., with which it comes in contact, an indelible yellow or purple color. For this reason it has been superseded bypyrogallic acid, naphthol, and other drugs infe- rior to it in effect upon the psoriatic patches, but without this, drawback. 13 k