Account of a singular effect produced by acupuncture in a case of protracted lock-jaw / [William Seller].

  • Seller, William, 1798-1869
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Account of a singular effect produced by acupuncture in a case of protracted lock-jaw / [William Seller]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    minutest particular, as on the first day. The convulsion con¬ tinued after the needles were withdrawn, ceased and became renewed again after a few minutes, and returned spontaneously in the evening on both occasions. Some increase of voluntary power over the jaw followed both applications of the remedy. After this the acupuncture was interrupted for a week, owing to some derangement of the stomach and bowels, produced probably by the opiates administered with the expectation of preventing or diminisliing the spontaneous movement of the jaw. During this period the joint retained all the motion it had acquired. On resuming the remedy, several leeches were apphed to both sides of the head, about four hours after each acupuncture, with the effect sometimes of preventing the spontaneous con¬ vulsion altogether, and always of lessening its severity. After each trial of the acupuncture, some improvement was observ¬ able ; but as the spontaneous convulsion was almost always followed by a slight loss of motion, the progress made was but slow. The needles were usually inserted to the depth of half an inch, and sometimes to the depth of an inch ; most commonly, as above mentioned, one was placed on each side of the mesial line, between the chin and hyoid bone, while sometimes two or three were introduced, one above another, as near as possible along the mesial line in the same region, and when they were withdrawn about the end of one minute, the effect never de¬ viated materially from that before described. It would have been altogether unwarrantable to make trials with the mere view of ascertaining what variations of effect might result from different methods of using the needles; there was, however, sufficient evidence that the convulsion continued longer, and was more severe when the needles were allowed to remain beyond the usual time, and on one occasion when the needles were in my absence introduced into the masseter of each side, the convulsion was reported to have been more severe owing to the greater violence of the upward movement. No effect was pro¬ duced on another occasion, when a needle was inserted above the zygoma into the temporal muscle. It must be confessed, how¬ ever, that the modus operand! of the needles in the production of the convulsive movement is far from having been made out in a satisfactory manner. In combination with the leeches, as above described, the acu¬ puncture was persevered in for ten days, and at the end of that time the patient could open her mouth nearly to the extent of two fingers’ breadth, and with a moderate force draw down the jaw somewhat farther, while she could chew soft substances with tolerable ease.