River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1897-02-04
SIMPLE HOME MASSAGE.
Efneac.ois Treatment That Requires LII
tie or No Science 60 Achieve.

Emcac,ois Treatment That Requires Lit
tie or No Science 60 Achieve.
A physician of high standing says
that he thinks massage vii, be used
far more in the near future than IL is at
present. and he instruc.s the families
under his charge In the art of massag-
ing each other. When practicable he
advises everyone who wants the mas
sage TO first be massaged by some good
operator, and thus learn just how 1t
feels, but he gives instructions that
alone fit one to do this work more intel
ligently 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 il you were try
ing to send tie blood out of il toward
the heart; all points throughout the
body should lac manipulated between
the palms oi the hands; the legs must be
gently grasped and the muscles knead-
ed, gentle kneading of the abdomen
and stomach follows; kneading of the
stomach is one of the most successful
ways of relieving indigestion. but it is
often done too roughly; il is a good gen.
eral rule that when massage is agree
able il is also beneficial, and when dis
agreeable it is injurious. Strength and
gentleness must go together in all
movements; il one particular method
of handling. particularly of the stom-
ach and abdomen, is more agreeable
than another, that should prevail, the
hands and arms are treated just as the
feet and legs, all these movements uni
o-nly tending upward. After this the
patient turns on his face and the back is
kneaded along both sides of the spine
throughout it's length; the palm of the
hand is used fiat on back and abdomen;
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 illustra-
ton, but a few useful movements can be
described, and nothing further should
he attempted by the novice; with the
fingers the face from the corners of the
mouth should be softly rubbed up and
outward, this tending TO prevent the
hard line that often settles from the
nose down as the cheeks tend to fall in
ward; the forehead can be rubbed with
the fingers from the center toward the
temples; for a double chin one simple
movement is invaluable. No one need
have a double chin, but the remedy
should be resorted to early, as in later
life the skin loses its elasticity, and il is
better to have double chin than a
bew-lap; rub under the chin with fin
gers. beginning under one side and
drawing them out at the other, this
done with first one hand and then the
other makes many strokes a minute
possible. and the flesh under such treat
ment will soon begin visibly to lessen.
Much can also be done TO reduce the
stomach and abdomen in the same way,
a rotary movement being most effective.
In all massage il is well to OIL the hand
with cocoa oil. In cases of emaciation
as much oil as the skin of the patien.
will absorb should be rubbed in in the
! course of tn. usual movements. Oil
also tends to soothe nervous patients.
and is often most grateful.
Massage is a mechanical and indis-
putable aid &c circulation, and as in
prostration and fatigue. the blood
| ceases to flow i'm proper quantities
/ through the arteries and is drawn off
to the veins Tin death the blood leaves
the arteries altogether), the relief of
restoring the equilibrium of the circu-
| lation is instantaneous. The japanese
| regard massage as an indispensable
feature of life, just as they and we lool;
upon a bath as a necessity, and in this
they are right, and ahead Of us.-Phila
delphia Times.