Fig. 12.—This illustrates one method of treating the bones and deep seated conditions generally. Pressure on the tips of the fingers influences both anterior and posterior aspects of second, third, fourth and fifth zones.
Our pupil then started to work on the other hand. The patient insisted that this was merely a waste of time, as the “biggest” ear specialists in Europe had failed upon this. However, the attempt was made, and within ten minutes the patient heard a clock a foot away, a watch held three inches distant from his ear, and he further was able to repeat words spoken loudly two feet away. During the experiments with his right ear, the left was tightly plugged with cotton, still further wedged in the canal by the physician’s finger. So this was a rather conclusive test.
A lady, aged forty-nine, deaf since she was six years old, came to the office of a specialist who had studied zone therapy. When the physician applied a comb to one hand, she put the other to one side of her lips—the side the doctor was on—and whispered to her friend “Crank.” Twenty minutes later, being then able to hear ordinary conversation, she whispered again. This time she said “Wizard.” A few days later she asked a friend riding with her in a street car if the bell always rang when the conductor pulled the strap. She was hearing it for the first time in her life.
One lady came to this doctor with her husband. They were both deaf. But the baby in her arms was not deaf—and most decidedly was not dumb either. In less than a fortnight’s treatment both parents could hear the baby cry every night, which was a great satisfaction to them—in one way. But they don’t know yet whether to laugh or cry about it.
Dr. Thomas Mournighan has given me the details of two remarkable cases, one a veteran of sixty-eight, who, since the Civil War, has been deaf from gun concussion. This man had never heard through the telephone, the perfection and general use of which dates since the war.
After making pressure with a probe (applicator shown in Fig. [6] may be used) on the gum margins near the angle of the jaw this gentleman was able to hear through a ’phone—the first time he had ever experienced this pleasure. That it was a pleasure was evidenced by the fact that the old soldier danced around the office in a perfect transport of glee.
The Doctor’s own father, whose condition was similar to that of the other patient, also developed a very material increase in his ability to hear.
It is but fair to say, however, that the patient’s “home treatments” must be persistent in order to maintain this improvement. If these treatments are discontinued for any appreciable length of time the condition seems to relapse. We are not yet prepared to say why this should be so.
I would emphasize also that, in ear trouble, the condition of wisdom teeth be carefully looked after. For, I am convinced, many cases of loss of hearing, or middle ear trouble, have their origin in some pathological condition of these teeth.