Muscles of Back
(Surface muscles removed on right side exposing the deeper ones).
Massaging the Back.
Massaging the Back.
Massage.—This seems a very simple thing to do, but is by no means easy to do right, and it is very desirable that any one who can see it done by a qualified person should take advantage of the opportunity. The rubber must keep his attention closely fixed on the work, and though this is fatiguing to body and mind, it is absolutely necessary if the patient is to derive full benefit from the treatment. The skin should first be lightly rubbed with olive oil; except in very special cases "friction" between hand and skin is to be avoided. The hand should move the skin to and fro over the muscles and bones beneath, and should be always elastic, so as to go easily in and out of the hollows, and avoid violent contact with projecting bones in the case of emaciated patients. The good rubber should know anatomy so far as to understand where bones and muscles lie (See Diagram, page 216). An intelligent moving of all the muscles of a part is almost equal in benefit to gymnastic exercise, and can of course be given to those for whom gymnastics are out of the question. Yet such rubbing may fatigue a very weak patient, and care must be taken not to carry it too far at one time. There should also never be any hurting of the skin. Where the hands are felt too rough, the back may be covered with a soft cloth, oiled with olive oil. All strong strokes in rubbing the limbs should be directed inwards to where the limb joins the body. The lighter strokes should be outwards. It is always well to have a light and heavy stroke, as a joiner has in sawing.
As an instance of how to squeeze, let us take an arm that has got wrong somehow. If you take this arm between your two hands very gently, you feel that it is harder than it should be. The large muscles, even when the arm is at perfect rest, have a hard feeling to your hands, and not the soft, nice feeling which a perfectly healthy arm has. Probably the muscles have been over-stretched, and sprained, or they have been chilled, and so have lost their elasticity and softness. Well, it will be so far good if you can bathe this arm in hot water. It will be better still if the hot water used is full of soap (see). You can make this bathing ten times more effective, if you only know what is meant by a proper squeezing of the muscles. You use your two hands in the water of the soapy bath, and taking the arm between them, gently press the muscles between your hands, with a sort of working upon them that makes the blood in the stiff parts rush out and in, according as you press or relieve the pressure. If you can only get hold of the idea, it will not be difficult to do this right. It may be that the cords of the arm are not only hard, but also contracted, so that the arm cannot be straightened or bent as it ought to be, but it is still so squeezable that you can squeeze the blood out of it, and it is still so elastic that when you relieve it of the pressure of your hands the blood rushes back into it. If this squeezing is kindly and slowly done, it will feel very pleasant, and very soon its good effect will be perceptible.
Massaging the Arm.