Comments on: Pessaries

By: Jezebel VonTizzle

Jezebel VonTizzle — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:17:35 +0000

I too have a modern day IUD and the pain was something of a blinding white light. I cant even imagine what this mustve been like.

By: cole

cole — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:00:59 +0000

LOL at A, for sure.

Was going to mention the dung pessaries of olden time. The first time I heard the term was in a book, I believe. Not that long ago, actually. I had to look it up, I admit.

By: A

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:20:08 +0000

Wow, did you hear that? It was my cervix screaming.

By: Ann

Ann — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:13:10 +0000

I’m in the medical profession, so the medical application was what I was familiar with, (especially in older women). But looking at these, I understand the *other* use of these devices.

By: Bacchus

Bacchus — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:41:19 +0000

Ann, from the quick Google I did before making this post, the meaning you are used to was the traditional one. But the definition of pessary was broad enough to include these devices also, allowing them to be marketed under that name, and I suspect there may have been some linguistic drift in the meaning after decades of “delicate” marketing use.

By: Ann

Ann — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:24:44 +0000

Interesting. I’m used to a pessary being used to hold the uterus in place in older women with prolapse. They look much different than this, though.

Great post.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:21:10 +0000

Well, since you bring it up, this reminds me of a class I took as a young engineer. History of Technology through NC State, as it turned out.

My professor had a SEVERE fondness for obstetrics of the ancients, so he would do everything in his power to let us know of all the uses for pomegranates, tools that would make grand inquisitor Torquemada poo himself, and probably his favorite prophylactic of all, the Alligator Dung Pessary. He mentioned that for about three consecutive lectures at how great these were supposed to work based off of the papyrus records of the time, and not once~ not ONCE, I say~ did he hazard to guess that the reason that it may have worked so bloody well is that croc poo in the puss is an A#1 mood killer.

We were all waiting for the punchline to it, but it never came. Much like the folks in Ancient Egypt, I’ll bank.

Thanks for bringing up this memory I’d long hoped I’d repressed.

:-D

By: Seraph

Seraph — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:00:45 +0000

They look like someone tied a button to a screw. Owowowowowowow.

(though the one on the bottom left looks like a buttplug, miniaturized. Like it would be used by people who reeeeaally love their American Girl dolls)

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:58:29 +0000

…Ow.

And not a good “ow”, either. The bad kind.

By: alex99a

alex99a — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:38:51 +0000

The one in the middle reminds me of a screw I used to put the front back on a drawer…