Neurasthenia / by Gilbert Ballet ; translated from the third French edition by P. Campbell Smith.

Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Neurasthenia / by Gilbert Ballet ; translated from the third French edition by P. Campbell Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    extremity of the limbs. To knead the muscles, the different parts of them are worked over with the carpal regions of the hands or the external borders of the thumbs; then percussion is applied with the ulnar border of the hand, the blows being slight and quick. During these manipula- tions the patient must be entirely submissive, and must refrain from resistance: her muscles must be in a state of complete relaxation, and therefore the different segments of the limb must be placed in the position most favourable to relaxation. The manipulations must be carried out successively on the different segments of the limbs, and on the muscles of the back and abdomen. The muscles of the face and neck only are to be spared. Massage of the abdomen acts efficaciously against constipation. It consists in a series of operations of friction and pressure, gentle at first, then more and more energetic, and carried along the large intestine, following the direction of the ascending, the transverse, and the descending colon. Finally it is necessary to apply passive move- ments as extensive as possible to the different joints. In the serious cases of neurasthenia with which we are now dealing, the applications must be short at the beginning of the treatment; twenty minutes are enough at first, and then the time is steadily increased—but it must never exceed