The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-02-20
SIMPLE HOME MASSAGE.
Efiicacious Treatment That Requires
Little or No Science to Achieve.

Little or No Science to Achieve.
From the Philadelphia Times.
A physician of high standing says
that he thinks massage will be used far
more in the near future than it is at
present, and he instructs the families
under his charge in the art of mas
saying each other. When practicable
he advises every one who wants the
massage to first be massaged byssome
good operator, and thus learn just how
it feels; but he gives instructions that
alone fit one to do this work more in
teligently than it is performed by
many who pretend and only pretend to
know the business.
A general treatment should begin
with the feet, the subject lying down;
each foot should be taken and rubbed
and squeezed all the time rubbing and
squeezing up, just as If you We're try
ing to send the blood out of it toward
the heart; all points throughout the
body should be manipulated between
the palms of the hands, the legs must
be gently grasped and the muscles
kneaded, a gentle kneading of the alb
domen and stomach follows; kneading
of>the stomach is one of the most sue
cessful ways of relieving Indigestion,
but it is often done too roughly; it is
a good general rule that when mas
sage is agreeable it is also beneficial,
and when disagreeable it is injurious.
| Strength and gentleness must go to-
| gether in all movements; if one par
| ticular method of handling, particu-
| lary of the stomach and abdomen is
more agreeable than another, that
should prevail; and the hands and arms
| are treated just as are the feet and
| legs, all these movements uniformly
tending upward. After this the patient
turns on his face and the back is
kneaded along both sides of the spine
throughout its length; the palm of the
hand is used fiat on back and abdo-
men; the muscles of the limbs are
| grasped, and after the back is treated
the chest is gently tapped and pressed
with the ends of the fingers.
Massage of the face cannot be com
pletely taught without visible illus.
tration, but a few useful movements
can be described, and nothing further
should be attempted by the novice
with the fingers the face, from tn,
corner of the mouth, should be softly
rubbed up and outward, this tendine
to prevent the hard line that Otter
|
cheeks tend to fall inward the fore
head can he rubbed with the fingers
from the centre toward the temples
for double chin one simple movemen
is invaluable. No one need have
double chin, but the remedy should b.
resorted to early, as in later life tn
skin loses it's elasticity, and it is bet
ter to have a double chin than
dew-lap; rub under the chin with tn
fingers, beginning under one side AM
drawing them out at the other, thi
done with first one hand and thel
the other makes many strokes q min
ute possible, and the flesh under sue
treatment will soon begin visibly t
lessen. Much can also be done to re
duce the stomach and abdomen in tn
same way, a rotary movement bein
most effective.
In all massage it is we'll to oil tn
hand with cocoa oil. In cases of ema
citation as much oil as the skin of tn
patient will absorb should be rubbed i
in the course of the usual movement!
Oil also tends to soothe nervous pa
tients, and it is often most grateful.
Massage is a mechanical and indis
putable aid to circulation, and as i
prostration and fatigues the bloc
l ceases to flow in proper quantte
: through the arteries and is draw
, off to the veins Gn death the bloc
= leaves the arteries altogether), the re
= lief of restoring the equilibrium of I'll
I circulation is instantaneous. The Jar
t anese regard massage as an indisper
e sable feature of life, just as they an
Y we look upon a bath as a necessity, an
r in this they are right, and ahead