ls are large, vital organs,
and their displacement leads to greater consequences. You learned at
school that the bowels are over twenty feet in length, weigh as much
as twelve or fifteen pounds, are supported in a way that makes it
possible for them to sag into the abdominal cavity and press upon the
pelvic organs. Dr. Emerson, of the Boston School of Oratory, asserts
that in most adults the stomach and bowels are from two to six inches
below their normal location; and, as I have said before, Dr. Kellogg
often finds the stomach lying in the abdominal cavity as low down as
the umbilicus. What has caused this sagging of the abdominal viscera?
They certainly must have been intended to keep their place unless
there has been some interference. We find just such interference in
the ordinary arrangement of the clothing. Tight waists and bands, and
skirts supported by the hips, are cause sufficient for these
displacements.

Just above the hips there is no bony structure to protect and support
the soft, muscular parts. They yield to pressure, and the internal
viscera, deprived of muscular support, sink until they rest on the
pelvic organs. If, when you look at your abdomen, you see depressions
or hollows on each side below the floating ribs, you may know that the
bowels have sagged down out of place. If you feel great weariness,
backache, or a dragged down feeling in standing or walking, you may
know that the contents of the abdomen are pulling on their attachments
or pressing on the pelvic organs. Thus displaced, circulation is
hindered and the organs all become congested, or filled with blood
that moves very slowly. This congested condition is increased at
menstruation, and great pain may result.

It is well to have the counsel of some good, honest physician under
such circumstances, but should you be where it is not possible to have
such counsel, you may still be able to do something to help yourself.
In the first place, you can rearrange your clothing so as to relieve
all the organs from external weight or pressure, and, in the second
place, you can support the abdominal walls by applying pressure from
below. I have known cases of painful menstruation entirely relieved by
simply supporting the bowels by a bandage, thus relieving the uterus
of pressure and allowing a free circulation through all the internal
organs.

A very simple and practical bandage can be made at home at almost no
cost, either in time or money. Buy so