Medication applicator

Abstract

An applicator for slowly applying medication to hermorrhoids while providing firm support for the swollen hemorrhoidal tissue. The applicator is a member of generally cylindrical shape having an enlarged bulletshaped head at the front end and a toroidal enlargement at the rear separated by a reduced tubular segment with a plurality of perforations in its wall. Additionally, it has a concentric hollow with an enlarged portion extending forwardly from the rear through the tubular segment. A tapered stopper for the hollow is provided for closure of its rear opening. The bullet-shaped head is sized to permit insertion of the applicator in the rectum with minimal discomfort, and the length of the perforated tubular segment is such as to assure support for the swollen hemorrhoidal tissue when the head is pushed into the rectum past the sphincter. Prior to such insertion, the enlarged portion of the hollow can be packed with anhydrous lanolin and plugged at the rear with the stopper. When the packed applicator is inserted into the rectum as described, the lanolin liquefies as it approaches body temperature and seeps or drains out of the perforations in the tubular segment onto the hemorrhoids.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to means for applying medication to hemorrhoidal tissue, and particularly to such means for supporting the swollen tissue while automatically feeding the medication to the tissue at a relatively slow rate to provide relief for extended periods of time.

Hemorrhoids are among the most common of human ailments, painfully afflicting the great majority of persons at one time or another during their lifetimes. Various commercial preparations for the soothing and healing of hemorrhoids have been advertised and sold for a great many years. These preparations have often taken the form of salves or ointments and, because of the rather difficulty accessible location of swollen hemorrhoidal tissues, have been hard to administer in such a way as to give maximum relief. Although I am aware that perforated dispensing tubes have been provided for insertion, and discharge of medication, in the anus, such tubes are designed for relatively quick insertion and withdrawal so cross-sectional relief is provided for only a short time and the swollen hemorrhoidal tissues remain painfully unsupported after withdrawal thereof. For these reasons, namely, the application of medication in discrete doses (which dissipate after relatively short periods of time) and lack of support of the hemorrhoidal tissue shortly after the application of each dose, the treatment of hemorrhoids with soothing salves or ointments under present methods of application leaves much to be desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

I have now, by this invention, provided an applicator of simple and inexpensive construction suitable for the sustained application of soothing, healing medication to hemorrhoids and simultaneous support of the swollen hemorrhoidal tissues so as to reduce irritation of the tissues to a minimum and relieve the pain and discomfort normally accompanying such irritation. To accomodate these purposes, the applicator is preferably of elongate and generally cylindrical form, and has a bullet-shaped penetrating head at its forward end, an enlarged toroidal base at its rear end and a cylindrical midsection joining the head and the base. The midsection is concentric with the head and base, and of reduced cross-sectional diameter by comparison with the maximum diameters of the latter. The applicator is formed with a concentric, longitudinal hollow coaxial therewith, the hollow being of enlarged cross-sectional diameter from the rear to an annular shoulder forward of the front end of its reduced midsection, and of lesser crosssectional diameter from there to the front. A friction-fitting plug or stopper for the back opening of the longitudinal hollow is provided as a removable rear closure for the applicator.

To prepare my novel applicator for use, the enlarged portion of its longitudinal hollow is packed with a suitable salve or ointment and the closure plug is inserted into the rear opening of the hollow to prevent subsequent escape of the medication through that opening. The salve or ointment can be any commercially available salve or ointment for the treatment of hemorrhoids, such as, for example, the well-known "Preparation H". Preferably, however, it will be anhydrous lanolin, which I have found ideally suitable as a healing, soothing medication for hemorrhoids. Insofar as I am aware, no one has yet proposed the use of anhydrous lanolin for this purpose. As will shortly be evident, the salve or ointment must be of a type that is liquid at body temperature, anhydrous lanolin being, of course, a material of this type. Anhydrous lanolin is also water soluble, a desirable property in a hemorrhoidal treatment ointment.

After the applicator is packed with medication as described, its bullet-shaped head is inserted into the rectum of the user until the head clears his sphincter. Some of the medication can be smeared on the outside of the applicator, and particularly its head, to serve as a lubricant and make the insertion easier, if desired. After the applicator has been fully inserted, it remains in position with its reduced midsection in contact with the patient's hemorrhoids, and is prevented from substantial movement out of position by the head at one end and toroidal base at the other. For best effectiveness, the midsection is sized to fully occupy the sphincter opening (anus) so as to prevent longitudinal slippage of the applicator within that opening. I have found a midsection length of about 11/4 inches to provide a satisfactory fit, in this respect, for the average adult. The longitudinal hollow within the applicator is preferably of large enough diameter so that the wall of the reduced midsection of the device is relatively thin, yet thick enough to remain substantially rigid under conditions of use.

The inserted applicator can be left in place for long enough to permit liquefaction of substantially all of the medication in its longitudinal hollow, if desired, or, for a longer time than this. As the medication liquefies under the influence of body heat, it seeps out of the applicator through the holes in its midsection wall, to bathe the swollen hemorrhoidal tissues with a soothing balm. At the same time, the hemorrhoids are supported in such a way as to be free of painful, rubbing contact with one another, so that frictional irritation is kept to a minimum and healing is accelerated. While these objects can be accomplished by leaving the applicator in position just long enough to permit liquefaction and drainage of the medication therefrom (for example, for a period of half an hour or so), longer residence times, such as, for example, periods of two or three hours or even for as long as all night, are sometimes preferable for better healing effect or to avoid the necessity of removing the applicator at inconvenient times.

The novel applicator of this invention can be made of any relatively soft material capable of use as described without discomfort or harm to inflamed hemorrhoidal tissues and tough and durable enough for the purpose. Additionally, the material should be one which is resistant to attack by body chemicals such as the acids found in those tissues and fluids with which it will come into contact in use. Various plastic and rubber materials known to those skilled in the art fit these requirements, a preferred one of which is polyethylene. The applicator is of extremely simple construction, and can be easily manufactured by known techniques at low enough cost for wide distribution to virtually anyone in need of the soothing and healing relief it makes possible.

It is thus a principal object of this invention to provide hemorrhoid medication application means of simple and inexpensive construction.

It is another object of the invention to provide such means for the sustained bathing of inflamed hemorrhoidal tissues with soothing medication and simultaneous support of the tissues in a way to reduce irritation thereof to a minimum during the bathing process.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such means in the form of an applicator which can be left in its normal position of use for relatively long periods of time to ease the pain and irritation of swollen hemorrhoidal tissues and/or avoid the discomfort of removal during the night or at any other inconvenient time.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the light of subsequent disclosures herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a preferred form of medication applicator in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is a view, mostly in longitudinal section, of the FIG. 1 applicator.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing a modified version of the applicator.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Considering now the drawing in greater detail, there is shown generally at 10, in FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferred embodiment of the medication applicator of this invention. The applicator 10 is of generally tubular character, having a concentric longitudinal passageway 19 running therethrough from end to end, and being of round cross section throughout. At its forward end, the applicator has an enlarged, bullet-shaped head 12, and at its rear end, a toroidal base 14. Separating the head 12 and base 14 is a relatively thin-walled midsection 16 having a plurality of perforations 18 distributed fairly uniformly around its circumference, all as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Applicator 10 is formed from a fairly rigid type of plastic (preferably polyethylene) meeting the requirements previously set forth herein.

Internal passageway 19 of applicator 10 is divided into two portions, namely, a diametrically enlarged rear portion 20, running from the base of the applicator to an annular shoulder 24 situated in front of the forward end of the perforated midsection 16, and a diametrically reduced forward portion 22, running from this shoulder to the front end of said applicator. Applicator 10 is provided with a tapered plug or stopper 26, sized for frictional engagement with the rear opening of the enlarged segment 20 of passageway 19. This plug or stopper can be made of the same material as the main body of the applicator, or of any other suitable material.

As will be clear from previous disclosures herein, applicator 10 is prepared for use by packing or loading at least the enlarged portion 20 of passageway 19 with a suitable salve or ointment for the soothing and/or healing of hemorrhoids and then closing the rear end of the passageway with the plug or stopper 26. Normally, some of the salve or ointment will be unintentionally smeared on the outer surfaces of the applicator during the loading process, but if not, these outer surfaces can be intentionally lubricated with the salve or ointment for enhanced ease of use. The applicator is then inserted, head first, into the rectum of the user, until the enlarged head 12 clears his sphincter. At this point, the applicator is retained firmly in position by the sphincter, and its salve or ointment charge begins to liquefy as its temperature is raised by the body heat of the user. As the salve liquefies, it seeps out of the applicator through the perforations 18 in the midsection of said applicator, to bathe and soothe the inflamed hemorrhoidal tissues thereadjacent. This medication seepage continues until substantially all of the salve or ointment in the applicator is liquefied and escapes through the perforations 18. The applicator can then be removed, if desired, or left in position to support the user's swollen hemorrhoidal tissues for a period of several hours, or even for as long as all night, if this appears desirable to promote healing of said tissues or to avoid unnecessary discomfort to the user. For reasons already given, my preferred medication for use in applicator 10 is anhydrous lanolin.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, applicator 10 can be easily fabricated, using known techniques, from relatively inexpensive stock materials, to permit its distribution and sale at prices within the reach of virtually anyone. One way of manufacturing the applicator would be to obtain tubular plastic stock having an inside diameter equal to that of the reduced portion 22 of its internal passageway and an outside diameter equal to the maximum diameter of its head or toroidal base, externally shape segments of the tubular stock equal to the length of the applicator into the form illustrated in the drawing, enlarge an appropriate portion of the bore of each applicator segment of the stock and perforate the tubular midsection portion of each applicator as necessary to complete the fabrication thereof. This method of manufacture will result in some wastage of material, however. A way of avoiding this wastage would be to assemble the applicator from separately manufactured segments designed to fit together in such a way as to provide a product of similar size and shape to applicator 10. FIG. 3 shows such an applicator at 28, formed from a separate head segment 30, a tubular midsection segment 32, and a toroidal base segment 34. These parts can be separately manufactured and glued or melded together with a suitable adhesive or solvent cement in the manner indicated in FIG. 3.

Applicator 10 or 28 can, of course, vary in its dimensions as necessary to fit individual users. For fairly universal applicability, however, the applicator can have a length of about 3 inches, maximum head and toroidal base diameters of approximately 3/4 inch each, a midsection length of about 11/4 inch, an inside diameter of about 1/8 inch throughout the length of the reduced portion of its longitudinal passageway, an inside diameter of approximately 1/4 inch throughout the length of the enlarged portion of its longitudinal passageway, an outside diameter of about 1/2 inch throughout the length of its tubular midsection, and midsection perforations of approximately 1/16 inch diameter each. The number of the midsection perforations can vary within the scope of my invention, 12 or 16 being, perhaps, fairly typically representative of an optimum number.

While the novel medication applicator of this invention has been herein illustrated and described in what are considered to be the preferred embodiments, there are, as will be appreciated, variations of these embodiments within the scope of the invention. Certain of these variations have already been mentioned, and others will occur to those skilled in the art in the light of present teachings. Examples of the latter result when noncritical changes are made in the shapes and arrangements of the various parts or features of the illustrated applicator, equivalent materials of construction are substituted for the preferred materials, etc.

In summary, the scope of the present invention extends to all variant forms thereof encompassed by the language of the following claims.

Claims

What I claim is:

1. A means for the automatic dispensing of medications, in the form of a salve at room temperature and liquified form at body temperature, onto the walls of a body cavity by natural internal body fluid pressures comprising a body cavity insertion member having

a tubular intermediate segment having a hollow interior for holding said medicament, said hollow interior being defined by a wall having penetrating holes through which the liquefied medicament can flow laterally outwardly from the applicator;

a bulbous head portion integral with one end of the intermediate segment, said head portion being adapted to pass through the sphincter opening and into the body cavity; and

an enlarged rear portion integral with the opposite end of the intermediate segment, said rear portion being adapted to provide an enclosure for the applicator at the rear;

said bulbous head portion having a body fluid inlet opening spaced forwardly from the intermediate segment and a hollow passageway connecting the hollow interior of said intermediate segment with said inlet opening; and

said intermediate segment being of a length to occupy the area of the sphincter opening in such manner that the applicator can be inserted in said sphincter opening until its bulbous head portion passes completely into said body cavity whereby said inlet opening is disposed within the cavity, and the intermediate segment is then held relatively firmly against longitudinal movement in the opening by the bulbous head and enlarged rear portions of the applicator sandwiching the sphincter at the ends of said intermediate segment;

whereby said medicament can be packed, in salve form, into the hollow interior of said intermediate segment and said bulbous head portion then inserted into said body cavity, and whereby body temperature thereafter causes the medicament to liquefy, after which said medicament is forced through the holes in the wall of said intermediate segment onto the surrounding tissue by the pressures of internal body fluids in said body cavity acting through said inlet opening and said hollow passageway.

2. A medication applicator in accordance with claim 1 particularly adapted for use in the treatment of hemorrhoids, where said opening is the anus and said body cavity is the bowel.

3. A medication applicator in accordance with claim 2 in which said enlarged rear portion has an access opening and an interior passage joining the hollow interior of said intermediate segment with said access opening, and which includes a closure for said access opening, the closure being removable to permit the packing of said hollow interior with said medicament, through said interior passage, and subsequent sealing of the access opening against fluid movement therethrough.

4. A medication applicator in accordance with claim 3 of generally cylindrical character in which said bulbous head portion is bullet-shaped, said tubular intermediate segment is cylindrical and the hollow passageway in said bulbous head portion, the hollow interior of said intermediate segment and the passage of said enlarged rear portion form a longitudinal hollow concentrically disposed conduit means within the applicator.

5. A medication applicator in accordance with claim 4 in which said enlarged rear portion is of toroidal shape.

6. A medication applicator in accordance with claim 5 formed substantially from a material selected from the group consisting of plastic and rubber compositions sufficiently rigid for the purpose, harmless and nonirritating to those human tissues with which it will come into contact in use and resistant to chemical attack by acidic and other substances of the type found in body tissues and fluids which it will encounter in use.

7. A medication applicator in accordance with claim 6 formed substantially from polyethylene.

8. A medication applicator in accordance with claim 7 having a length of about 3 inches and in which said bulbous head portion has a maximum cross-sectional diameter of approximately 3/4-inch, said enlarged toroidal rear portion has a maximum cross-sectional diameter of approximately 3/4-inch, and said tubular intermediate segment has a cross-sectional diameter of approximately 1/2-inch and is approximately 11/4 inches long.

9. A medication applicator in accordance with claim 8, in which the wall of said tubular intermediate segment contains 12 round perforations of approximately 1/16-inch diameter each.