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Seminal Emissions - Spermatorrhoea.The business of these men would be destroyed, and much unhappiness, misery and despondency would be avoided by young men generally, if the actual facts with regard to seminal emissions were known to the public. The fact is that seminal emissions occur naturally in men in good health who do not indulge in sexual intercourse. Within a certain limit it is perfectly natural and healthy for the fluid to escape without the usual provocation. The question then arises, what is the limit at which these emissions cease to be healthy and become injurious ? It would be a source of much satisfaction to the writer, as well as to other physicians, if there were some fixed law by which this question could be answered. But there is no such law ; indeed, when we consider the matter, it is evident that there can be no rule which shall apply to all individuals. It is impossible to state definitely just how much beefsteak a man should eat or can eat without injury ; he can easily ascertain for himself by experiment. So it is with regard to the frequency of seminal emissions ; the interval which elapses between them varies extremely in individuals who remain nevertheless in equally good health. Some men suffer such an emission once in two weeks, while others have several in a week, and yet maintain perfect health. While we cannot, therefore, predict just how many emissions can be borne without injury to the health, we can say whether they are injuring any given individual. They cannot be accused of any injurious effect unless they are followed by headache, backache, sleeplessness, mental depression, and bodily lassitude. Even in these cases it is quite possible that other causes, such as excessive devotion to business or pleasure, are largely responsible for the symptoms just mentioned ; in every case the patient should take a calm and reasonable view of the matter, and not jump to the conclusion that his health is being undermined by seminal emissions when there are actually other causes which are in themselves sufficient to account for his difficulties. It is a fact that seminal emissions may be a result as well as a cause of general debility ; and much effort is sometimes wasted in attempts to cure seminal emissions, which should be directed to improvement of the general health, since this improvement would be the surest way of checking the symp toms complained of. The occurrence of these emissions by day is always a symptom of disease, either in the sexual organs themselves or elsewhere in the ~body. If they be provoked by slight excitement or irritation of the skin, or by lascivious thoughts, it is highly probable that the difficulty originates in the sexual organs themselves. Most cases in which the patients believe themselves to be afflicted with seminal emissions by day, are really not cases of spermatorrhoea at all. Unless the discharge be accompanied by the usual symptoms, it is highly probable that the fluid which escapes is not the seminal fluid at all, but merely an increased secretion from the urethra and from the prostate gland. The question can be decided at once by submitting the fluid to microscopical examination ; until this is done the patient should remember that the probabilities are against the supposition that this fluid is the true seminal discharge. It should also be remembered that in certain conditions of the general system seminal emissions occur as a rule, and have no other significance than that of a symptom of the disease. It is not uncommon for patients who are recovering from exhausting diseases - such as the infectious fevers, smallpox, typhoid fever, etc.,- to have emissions by day as well as by night. These may occur at short intervals for several weeks and yet disappear permanently when the patient finally recovers his health. One of the most frequent complaints which are made to physicians by young men in connection with this matter, is that they suffer seminal losses during the evacuation of the bowels. It should be stated that the fluid which the patient regards as semen is rarely of this character ; in most cases it has nothing to do whatsoever with the seminal fluid. Such patients complain that this discharge is more frequent and profuse when the bowels are constipated - a fact which of itself indicates the harmlessness of the symptom. Symptoms,- Although the symptoms of true spermatorrhoea vary according to the general condition, disposition and age of the patient, yet the general course is somewhat as follows : Among the earlier symptoms which indicate that the pollutions are becoming more frequent than is compatible with perfect health, are pain in the small of the back, pain in the head, a sense of fatigue and inability for exertion, and a certain incapacity for mental effort. As the emissions increase in frequency, the patient observes a diminished capacity for sexual enjoyment; the general symptoms are made worse, and include dizziness, weakness of sight, trembling in the limbs, a sense of weight in the chest, palpitation of the heart, and signs of dyspepsia. After a time he begins to have emissions by day also, and he now usually becomes the prey of despondency. His mental depression may be so great that his thoughts are con stantly directed to the one subject - a condition which aggravates the difficulty. His gait becomes unsteady ; he feels wandering pains in various parts of the body ; his rest is disturbed by frightful dreams ; he shuns society, because he imagines that others see and recognize the cause of his difficulty. In fact, his mental condition approaches finally a mild type of insanity. It must be said, however, that there but few, if any, cases in which insanity can be traced to excessive seminal losses. There are numerous instances in which an individual suffering from seminal emissions has become insane, and such cases are commonly ascribed to the seminal losses. A closer scrutiny of the case usually shows that the patient had a tendency to insanity, and that the seminal losses are to be regarded rather as one of the symptoms of the general nervous depression which resulted in insanity - as an effect, therefore, rather than as the cause of his mental derangement. Certain it is that those who have inherited a disposition to certain nervous diseases - epilepsy and insanity for instance-are far more frequently affected with seminal emissions than others. Cause*-Spermatorrhoea is not usually a separate disease by itself, but is a symptom of several affections which may be located in the genital organs or may affect other parts of the body, especially the nervous system. In most cases it is simply a nervous disease, and is accompanied by numerous other symptoms which indicate feebleness of the nervous system. The subject of it is commonly of a nervous, excitable temperament ; and as first pointed out by an eminent French physician, he has usually suffered in earlier life from some manifestation of weakness in the genital or urinary organs, such as inability to retain the urine. It has been noted that children afflicted in this way often suffer in later life from weakness of the genital organs. Among the causes which predispose to this affection is constant indulgence of the imagination in licentious thoughts. This especially when combined with unsatisfied sexual excitement, in duces an irritability of the organs which finally results in the escape of the seminal fluid upon slight provocation. Spermatorrhoea is most frequently induced by the habit of self-abuse. When this habit is stopped the individual usually suffers from involuntary emissions instead of those which he had formerly excited voluntarily. It must not, however, be supposed that every individual who has once indulged in this habit must suffer from incontinence of semen afterward. In many cases the habit is practiced to only a limited extent and is not followed, to any particular degree, by seminal emissions ; that is, these emissions do not occur with more frequency than is natural for individuals who have not practiced self-abuse. There are several causes which may act in exciting seminal emissions in cases where no disease of the sexual organs exists. Sometimes an unusual formation of the organ is a source of constant irritation which provokes seminal emissions. One of the most frequent of these is an unnatural tightness of the foreskin, whereby the secretion formed beneath it cannot escape, and being retained irritates the inner surface. An unnatural narrowness of the urethral opening may also cause constant irritation and seminal losses. Cases have been known in which spermatorrhoea has followed several ordinary derangements of the rectum ; thus piles, fissures, worms and skin eruptions in these parts have all been known to cause seminal losses, which disappeared when the original affection was removed. Habitual constipation may also cause the same effect by constant pressure upon the parts. Treatment. - In all cases of involuntary seminal losses certain rules of hygiene and of moral conduct must be complied with. The diet should be bland, easily digestible, and yet nourishing ; in fact particular care should be taken that the patient is provided with abundant food of the best quality. He should take but little food in the evening, and should carefully avoid the use of liquors. The bladder should be emptied before retiring, and the patient should sleep upon a hard mattress - hair, for instance - without much covering. The emissions occur with especial frequency in the early morning hours ; hence the patient can often prevent them by setting an alarm-clock, which shall awaken him about an hour before the time at which the accident usually occurs. If the patient will then empty the bladder the liability to seminal loss will thereby be much decreased. The attention should also be directed to the general state of the bodily health ; care should be taken to secure abundance of air and exercise, and to interest the mind in some pursuit which will divert the attention from sexual matters. Perhaps the most important item in the treatment of spermatorrhoea, generally speaking, consists in persuading the patient to devote his entire energies to some occupation which will leave him no time, and but little energy for thinking about his condition. Yet it should not be forgotten that since seminal losses are oftentimes a mere sign of general debility, excessive exercise may aggravate rather than benefit the difficulty. The patient should never push his employment to an extent which causes him to feel exhausted. The genital organs and the skin in the vicinity should be carefully scrutinized, in order to detect and remove any of the irritating causes which are known to induce seminal losses. In some cases simple attention to cleanliness, and care to avoid the retention of any secretion under the foreskin will be sufficient to remove the affection. In other cases an operation will be necessary whereby a portion of the skin is removed - circumcision. At other times it will be found that piles are keeping up constant irritation, and that the removal of the piles will cure the affection of the sexual organs. Again, the entire difficulty may result from habitual constipation. Measures which cure this affection will also relieve the patient of the seminal weakness. For this purpose the individual may employ the usual mineral waters, or he may take a teaspoonful of Rochelle salts in a glass of water before breakfast every morning. If this does not suffice to secure regular evacuation of the bowels, the following prescription may be employed in addition : Extract of belladonna, - Four grains. Extract of nux vomica, - Five grains. Compound extract of colocynth, - Thirty grains. Mix, and make twenty pills ; take one of these at bedtime. A word may be added here with reference to the habit of self-abuse. There is no denying the fact that this custom is alarmingly prevalent among children of both sexes. Parents cannot be too careful in supervising the habits of their children, for ihese often acquire the habit of self-pollution without knowing what they do. In fact, the habit is practiced in many instances at an age when the child would not be supposed to be deriving any gratification from it. It has even been practiced by infants in arms. Every association of boys or girls, such as occurs in boarding schools, public schools and the like, is a hotbed for the propagation and dissemination of this habit among innocent children. Every child who is entrusted to the care of hired servants also runs a risk of contamination. This is of course a matter for parents, guardians and teachers of children to detect and to prevent ; it lies beyond the reach of the physician. A few words of information may, however, be comforting and profitable to parents who discover that their children have been taught this habit. In the first place, the evils which are popularly attributed to the habit are grossly exaggerated. The medical profession has been singularly lax in instructing the people as to the actual facts in the case ; hence the popular information on the subject is derived largely from the advertisements of quacks, whose interest is furthered by exciting the fears and anxiety of those who have at some time been guilty of the practice. From such sources people have derived the belief that one who has been addicted to self-abuse is marked as a victim for all sorts of nervous diseases, terminating in insanity, imbecility and death. These ideas are essentially erroneous ; for no instance is on record in which insanity or imbecility could be traced positively to this habit. The numerous cases in which self-abuse is practiced by insane, imbecile and epileptic patients seem to be instances in which both the disease and the habit of self-pollution are the results of a common weakness of the nervous system, and not that either one is the effect of the other. The injury which is to be expected from indulgence in the habit of masturbation depends largely upon the extent to which the habit is practiced, as well as the age at which it was begun. As has been stated, every healthy male suffers a discharge of seminal fluid at stated intervals, no matter how continent he may be ; and the frequency of these emissions may vary extremely without exceeding the bounds of health or causing injurious effects. The health of the individual is not impaired when the frequency of these emissions is much increased by marriage ; nor is his general condition necessarily deteriorated if the emissions are made to occur without marriage. Injury is to be expected when the habit is acquired at an early age before the sexual powers are developed, and hence before they are capable of sustaining the effort required of them in responding to the stimulation of sexual excitement. Unfortunately in many cases, the boy becomes so addicted to the habit that he is incapable of thinking about or devoting his energies to anything else. The result must necessarily be a stunting of his intellectual powers. One other fact should be emphasized, namely, that the injury is simply the result of exhaustion of the vital powers ; and that this exhaustion results not from the loss of the seminal fluid, but from the excitement incident to the escape of the fluid. The most absurd and extravagant ideas prevail as to the vital importance of the male fluid ; these ideas, derived chiefly from the advertisements of" specialists," ascribe to this fluid the qualities of a vital essence. It is a prevalent belief that the loss of a single drop of this fluid exhausts a man as much as the loss of a considerable quantity of blood. Such ideas are, of course, absurd ; the exhaustion which follows the loss of the seminal fluid is consequent merely upon the intense excitement which accompanies the act. This is the most intense and exhausting emotion of which the human animal is capable ; and indulgence in it is naturally followed by a corresponding degree of exhaustion. As a matter of fact, a seminal emission induced artificially does not and cannot exhaust the individual so much as natural intercourse ; but the trouble is that while the number of emissions in the natural way is from the very nature of things limited, there is no limit to the license which a person may practice who gratifies his sexual appetite by artificial means. Hence masturbation is or may be more injurious than sexual congress, simply because it is so easily and generally practiced to an excess that is impossible in natural intercourse. As for the treatment of masturbation no rules can be given. The habit must of course be stopped as soon as possible ; yet the best means of attaining this object vary extremely in different cases. In some instances there may be room for the use of medicines ; the child may be pale and feeble, and perhaps when the general health is improved, the practice of self-pollution may be overcome. But in most cases the treatment will consist in engaging the child's attention in some employment or recreation which absorbs his thoughts and energies ; in encouraging him in the effort to overcome the habit, and in extending the warmest sympathy and support. In some cases it may be absolutely necessary to employ mechanical means for preventing the practice in individuals who are too young to summon the moral strength necessary to overcome the habit. Various measures have been tried, such as tying the hands and feet. This is a harsh measure which is, moreover, often unsuccessful. If any such mechanical means must be used, the the most effectual is probably the application of a small Spanish flyblister plaster to the parts in such a way as to keep them constantly so tender that the child is restrained by pain from meddling with them. These plasters need not remain long enough to cause the actual formation of blisters ; it will suffice to keep portions of the skin red and irritated, so that violent motion causes pain. The use of these plasters for a few weeks will usually be sufficient to break up the habit for a time ; care must however be taken that the child does not resume the habit arcer the blisters are discontinued. Those who may have at an early period of their lives been addicted to this habit, but have discontinued it, should be assured that no serious results are to be anticipated in the future. Physicians are occasionally consulted by young men who have become thoroughly alarmed by reading the pamphlets circulated for advertising purposes, in which it is asserted that numerous ills of adult life are the direct consequences of the least indulgence in this habit in youth. If any evil results, it will become evident long before the individual becomes matured; he need have no apprehension on account of a previous indulgence for a short time in this habit. But first, if you want to come back to this web site again, just add it to your bookmarks or favorites now! Then you'll find it easy! Also, please consider sharing our helpful website with your online friends.
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