Article September 7, 1899 Issue

Lockjaw Due to Fear

New Orleans Times-Democrat

"It is highly probable," said an old physician, "that a good many of the numerous cases of so-called lockjaw recently reported from the North were attributable to fear. Nearly all of them were supposed to originate in wounds received from toy pistols, and after the first few deaths any nervous child who had sustained that kind of an injury must have been in an agony of apprehension. There are many well authenticated cases in which such terror has brought on symptoms almost exactly resembling the malady itself, and frequently death ensues. 'Mimetic Diseases' is the title of one of the most curious and interesting books in medical literature, and it is full of instances of the effect of fear on the human body, some of them so astonishing that they seem almost incredible. Imagination is especially to be dreaded where lockjaw is concerned, and I have always been on the lookout for it in my practice. I remember, some years ago, a gentleman came rushing into my office in a cold panic. He had been walking up Canal Street, and in passing a place where an old building was being torn down happened to step on a plank bristling with rusty nails. His foot turned and one of the nails pierced his shoe at the side of the instep and wounded him on the sole. Fortunately he was rather stout and couldn't bring up his foot so as to see the injury, but he told me he could feel the gash and also the stickiness of coagulated blood. The thought of lockjaw had entered his mind immediately, and he came to me feeling he was doomed. I made him lie down and removed his shoe and sock. There, sure enough, was a slight puncture, but, instead of telling him, I laughed heartily. 'Why, it's only a bruise;' I exclaimed. 'The skin isn't broken. There isn't the slightest possibility of lockjaw, but you must keep quiet a few days or the tendons may become inflamed.' With that I dressed the injury and swathed the foot in tight bandages, which I warned him not to remove. Then I called a cab and sent him home. I watched the case closely, and in a few days the wound was well. If he had known the facts I am convinced he would have had lockjaw."

New Orleans Times-Democrat.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

When True Religion is Gained