Rupture Always Brought On By Weakness+_

The word _Rupture_ is _wrong_; a relic of the days when no one
understood the real nature of this affliction.

In its true definition, the word means a _break_ or _tear_. And that is
how this ailment got the name _Rupture_-- people used to think the
muscles had broken or torn in two.

But we have examined hundreds of ruptures under the searching X-rays.

And we long ago found that rupture is _not_ a break or tear; something
all physicians and surgeons now concede.

The muscles at some point have simply lost their _strength_-- lost
their _elasticity_-- like a piece of old rubber which has lost its
"_stretch_."

[Sidenote: The Cause Of The Weakness]

Sometimes this weakening is due to general poor health; sometimes to
lack of exercise; and sometimes the weakness is inherited.

Now the bowels are always _pushing_ or _pressing_ more or less against
the abdominal wall-- any one, whether ruptured or not, can plainly
_feel_ that pressure when coughing or sneezing; while lifting or other
exertion greatly _increases_ the pressure or strain.

When in a healthy or sound condition, the abdominal wall is _elastic_;
and when the bowels push against it, the muscles which form it simply
_stretch_ until the strain on them is over.

Just as when you pull at your cheek, the flesh falls back in position
the instant you let go.

[Sidenote: Why The Muscles Give Way Under Strain]

But if the muscles of the abdomen are in a _weak_ condition, they can't
_stand_ much strain-- can no longer _stretch_-- any quick movement is
often enough to cause them to spread apart, forming an opening through
which a part of the bowels _pushes out_ or _protrudes._

Now there is only one way to _overcome_ that weakened condition; only
one way to get rid of rupture without undergoing the dangers of
operation.

As a first essential, proper artificial _support_ must be applied at the
point of rupture.

Comfortable mechanical support that can be depended upon to hold the
bowels always in _place_.

Just as a broken bone must be held in place, while healing, by a bandage
or plaster cast.

Dr. Birkett, of the famous Guy Hospital of London, and one of the
world's most eminent medical and surgical authorities, says this:

[Sidenote: What Dr. Birkett Says]

"The expediency of judiciously pursuing the mechanical treatment of
every variety of hernia (rupture) cannot be too strongly urged upon the
laity