The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-12
HOT-AIR BATHS.
New and Successful Treatment for
Rheumatism and Lameness.

Philadelphia Inquirer.
By means of a new hot-air apparatus,
which is being used with great success at
several hospitals in this city, it is now pos
sible for those suffering with all the tor
lures of rheumatism to come limping and
hobb3ling to the hospital and then after re-
is nothing more nor less than a hot-air
bath. to walk home smiling and without
pain. Sprains, swellings and all affections
of the joints and ligaments are made to
disappear like magic, and sometimes this
is accomplished by one treatment.
For thousands of years the value of hot
water baths from pathological standpoint
has been known and appreciated by man,
but not uptil very recent time was it
known that a hot-air bath was infinitely
greater in it's curative qualities, and now
the hot-air apparatus is the realization or
this fact.
The apparatus was first used in the sur
gical out-patient department of the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania, where some three
hundred baths were given in order to test
its efficiency. The cases that were treated
included acute and chronic articular rheu-
matism of all kinds, govt and SynovitiS,
and the results were most satisfactory. In
most cases where pain was the prominent
symptom it was greatly relieved; where
there was swelling in the joint it was
greatly diminished Obstinate cases of
sciatica were also cured in one treatment,
and with a temperature of 212 to 232 de-
greeS Fair
Being made of copper cylinder, sitting
on four short legs, the apparatus looks
ian vendor to roast peanuts than it does
the useful machine 1t is. The cylinder is
about twenty-four inches long by sixteen
inches in diameter. Attached to the bot
tom is a Russian iron fire box, in which
there are about thirty ordinary gas burn
ers. long rubber hose runs from the
machine to the gas jet by means of which
heat is furnished When all the burners
are going it is possible to generate neat
of over 400 degrees.
on one end of the cylinder there is a
large door, which can be instantly opened,
and to the other end is attached flexible
sleeve of cloth, with double draWstr1ng,
so that 1t can be drawn firmly and closely
around the limb.
The upper two-thirds of the cylinder is
lined with sheet asbestos, which is riVeted
directly against the copper. The lower
third is also lined with asbestos. On this
asbestos sheet rests a very thick magneSl,t
cradle, stiffened and strengthened with iron
bands and covered with suitable material
to prevent the limb from coming in actual
contact with the magnesia. This cradle IS
therefore perfectly insulated from the Oh
rect supply of heat by the air space, thuS
allowing free circulation of dry, heated air.
At ST Agness Hospital some very good
results from the use of the apparatus were
reported by DR.. OHara. One was that or
a young woman who had sprained her leg
by falling from a bicycle. Her limb was
swollen to twice its natural size ana she
was suffering greatly from the pam In
addition to the torture the young woman
was enduring, it was Impossible Tor her 70
walk. and the probabilities were that 1t
would be several weeks before she would
be able to use her limb. She was removed
to the st. Agnes Hospital, where the at
fected limb was well wrapped in blankets
and placed within the hot-air cylinder.
The young woman's limb was kept with
in the cylinder for nearly an hour, during
which a temperature of over 300 degrees
was maintained. That this great heat does
not roast the affected member to a crisp
is due to a small vent. which carries on
the moisture in the cylinder. AT the end
of an hours time the heat was turned Off,
when It was found that the swelling had
gone down, and the young woman had no
difficulty in walking to her home without
the least pain. Had she not been treated
by this new method, 1t is claimed, 1t would
have been impossible for her TO use the
limb for several months. Many cases OF
rheumatism were treated there with equal
success.
The curative powers of the new method
lie in the action of the hot air on the af-
fected limb. The enormous temperature
causes an increased blood supply to the
limb. the circulation of the blood is quick
ened, the heart beats ten times more to
the minute, and a profuse perspiratiOn
takes place in the member, which results
in great quantities of poisonous matter be-
ing thrown off.
During the treatment the temperature of
the patients body remains normal, or
nearly so, the greatest variation recorded
being 100 degrees Fair.