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Original poster

Housemaid's knee and other ailments that should have died out

102 replies

JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 07/10/2019 20:53

Today I woke up with my knee all weirdy and stiff. It was totally fine yesterday and I haven't knocked it or anything. But it was too sore for the gym.

Dr Google informs me that I have housemaid's knee.

I mean, really?! Wtf? I am not an apple cheeked Edwardian scullery girl.

What other ailments sound ridiculously old fashioned to you? And will someone please make me feel better by telling me that they have the King's Evil?

OP posts:
frogsareflyinginfromthewest · 07/10/2019 21:36

Used to be a common injury amongst nurses, as they snapped the tendon in their finger making beds with tight hospital corners

BroomstickOfLove · 07/10/2019 21:38

I know a couple of people who've had quinsy. Also gout. And my dad has a genetic illness where he absorbs too much iron, and the name isn't old-fashioned, but his treatment is that he needs to be bled on a regular basis.

WannabeGlamper · 07/10/2019 21:44

My GP thought I might have brewer's hands, but it turns out that I didn't.

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BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 07/10/2019 21:48

I had pleurisy in my 20s, I was very surprised by the diagnosis as I'd never heard of anyone having it outside of a Victorian novel.

Original poster
JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 07/10/2019 21:50

I am so glad I started this! Brewer's hands? Bleeding?

Sorry, I know these are all deadly serious ailments but it is cheering me right up.

DH is a pisstaking sod and is now encouraging me to try staying off work with improbable ailments like wheelwright's clavicle. Fucker.

OP posts:
Ursaminor · 07/10/2019 21:53

I had a friend who had a cyst on her Pouch of Douglas .

Venger · 07/10/2019 21:56

I was going to say Scarlet Fever too. When DD caught it I thought the GP was joking with me because I didn't think it was a thing outside of Ye Olden Day books.

Other DD had Nursemaid's Elbow, also thought the A&E doctor was joking with me. I actually laughed and asked "what the...?" so he had to explain what it is and why it's called that Blush

My youngest DC is prone to croup in the winter, that one is very definite Victorian urchin territory.

floffel · 07/10/2019 22:04

Chimney sweep’s cancer

mineofuselessinformation · 07/10/2019 22:07

I've had pleurisy, and I have tailor's bunions on both feet (bony growths on little toe joints) due to arthritis.

chesterfuckingdraws · 07/10/2019 22:14

Mothers wrist, also known as blackberry thumb, gamers thumb and designers thumb. it's actually called de Quervains tenosynovitis

It's inflammation of the tendon and the tendon covering if the thumb, it's bloody sore and I was initially treated for a broken scaphoid. Still flares up from time to time

InkyFingersInkyFace · 07/10/2019 22:16

Partner's nephew had rickets when very, very small

Buttybach · 07/10/2019 22:17

For a proper Victorian ailment don't be tempted to google Phossy jaw! Bloody horrific!

Diphtheria seemed to be rife and consumption.

I had pleurisy in my teens.

Mitebiteatnite · 07/10/2019 22:21

I've had pleurisy 3 times. It's one of the most painful things ever, genuinely feels like a knife going through your ribs whenever you breathe in.

Pneumonia also sounds like it should be confined to history books, but sadly I've had that a few times too, so I know it's not.

I had Osgood-Schlatter disease as a child, bet you've never heard of that one!

AdaColeman · 07/10/2019 22:26

An old gentleman I know has Pigeon Fancier's Lung.
A friend suffers from gout occasionally, and always says indignantly, "I never drink port"! Wine

PancakeAndKeith · 07/10/2019 22:31

A friend of mine had quinsy! I thought she was taking the piss, it was very serious!

When was the last time you saw someone with a goitre?

milleniumhandandprawn · 07/10/2019 22:35

I had Severs disease in my ankles (spongy ankle bones) when in my early teens - and then condromalatia patella in my late teens (wonky knee caps).

All caused by growing too tall too quickly :(
Seemingly all fixed now though... hopefully!

milleniumhandandprawn · 07/10/2019 22:36

Pigeon fanciers lung?! Seriously??? Off too google... something to do with bird poo dust?!

EskewedBeef · 07/10/2019 22:38

I've only seen a goiter in a biology textbook about 30 years ago!

Watto1 · 07/10/2019 22:41

Not Dickensian but a dated injury nevertheless- I had Cubist’s thumb as a 10 year old. Agonising pain in my thumb from playing with my Rubiks Cube too much!

Seventytwoseventythree · 07/10/2019 22:47

My favourite is Ludwig’s angina (nothing to do with chest pain)

DarrellMakepeace · 07/10/2019 22:47

@Leah2015 Bartolin's cyst may well be worse, but that's not the type I unfortunately have, I'll thank you very much.

PancakeAndKeith · 07/10/2019 22:49

I've only seen a goiter in a biology textbook about 30 years ago!

I remember seeing people with them. They were common enough for me to know what one was.

Pomegranatemolasses · 07/10/2019 22:50

Both DD and DS had Osgoods Schlatter too - it's surprisingly common!

ShirleyPhallus · 07/10/2019 22:55

I like the phrase “a touch of the vapours”

Also think that Syphillis should have died a death long ago

Beaniebeemer · 07/10/2019 23:07

I know a couple of people who've had quinsy. Also gout. And my dad has a genetic illness where he absorbs too much iron, and the name isn't old-fashioned, but his treatment is that he needs to be bled on a regular basis.

I had to be bled when I was pregnant as my iron level was too high. It’s called a venesection. My veins in my arms are awful for extracting blood so I had to have a pint of blood taken off me from a vein in my hand!