But there is yet another reason, which we have found out only yesterday. And this is zone analgesia. Pressure over any bony eminence injured, or pressure applied upon the zones corresponding to the location of the injury, will tend to relieve pain.
And not only will it relieve pain, but if the pressure is strong enough and long enough it will frequently produce an analgesia, or insensibility to pain, or even a condition of anesthesia—in which minor surgical operations may be successfully done.
This, of course, is not an infallible or invariable result. Specialists in zone therapy have found pressure effective in obliterating sensation in about 65% of cases; while it will deaden pain, or make it more bearable, in about 80%.
In the hands of many who have tried these methods the percentage often is much lower—because they haven’t learned how to apply it. For if the operator doesn’t “hit” the proper areas or focal points he misses them completely—and also misses results.
In attempting the relief of pain by “working” from the fingers it should also be emphasized that it makes a difference, too, whether the upper and lower or the side surfaces of the joint are pressed. A physician experimenting with the method was ready to condemn it because he was unable to relieve a patient who complained of rheumatic pains which centered on the outer side of the ankle-bone. The doctor grasped the second joint of the patient’s right little finger and pressed firmly for a minute on the top and bottom of the joint. (See Fig. [3].) The pain persisted, and the doctor jeered at the method.
Fig. 3.—Illustrating method of applying anterior and posterior pressure to the finger joint.
A disciple of zone therapy smiled, and suggested that while the doctor had the right finger, he had the right finger in the wrong grip. The doctor was advised to press the sides of the finger (See Fig. [4]), instead of the top and bottom. This was done, and the pain disappeared in two minutes.