Plasters - Victorian Health and Medicine

PLASTERS. - Compounds of adhesive tenacious substances. Plasters should not adhere to the hand when cold; they should be easily spread when heated, and should remain tenacious and pliant after they are spread, but should not be so soft as to run when heated by the skin.

Plasters are very serviceable for delicately organized persons, or for those who are much exposed to the variations of temperature: when employed for the chest one should be placed on at the commencement of winter, and suffered to remain on until it peels off, when it should be clipped away by degrees, and when entirely removed, replaced by another.

Plasters are usually composed of unctuous substances united to metallic oxides, or to powders, wax, or resin. They are usually formed whilst warm into half-pound rolls, about eight or nine inches long, and wrapped in paper.

When required for use, a little is melted off the roll by means of a heated iron spatula, and spread upon leather, linen, or silk. In using the spatula the flat surface is applied to the end of the roll, the melted substance being allowed to drop on the material on which it ia to be spread. When a sufficient quantity has, been melted, it is then to be spread evenly and thinly by means of the edge of the instrument. When spread plasters are warmed for application, the unspread side should always be held to the heat.

When plasters are to be removed from the skin, they should always be warmed through with warm water. Plasters are preserved by enveloping the rolls with paper, to exclude the air as much as possible, and by keeping them in a cool situation. When kept for any length, of time, they are apt to become hard and brittle, and to lose their colour. When this is the case, they should be re-melted by a gentle heat, and sufficient oil added to the mass to restore it to a proper consistence.

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