Volume 2

Spinal curvature : its consequences, and its cure ... / by John B. Serny.

  • Serny, John B.
Date:
[1840]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Spinal curvature : its consequences, and its cure ... / by John B. Serny. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    74/144 (page 42)
    The next vertebra below was also rather depressed; the remainder manifested nothing extraordinary. oe By my advice, Miss I. I’. has had her spine stretched and pressed in the usual manner, every other day since the last report. She has also worn a firm belt, and, for the greater part of the time, next to her back, a wooden shield, properly constructed and well stuffed. Her loins rest upon a firm pad put under the shield. All the dorsal and lumbar bones have already sunk considerably. The natural hollowness of the loins is nearly restored. The two depressed bones have visibly risen. The intermediate one is sensibly sunk, and nearly in a line with the rest of the vertebral column. The distressing uneasiness left her soon after the com- mencement of the new process. She is become constantly cheerful, and sleeps well. Appetite natural, and digestion no longer pro- duces any increased heat. ‘The limbs are warmer, more sensible, and admit of being freely moved. On the day of my first visit, which was at the end of last May, she, on being raised a little from her crib, became tremulous in every limb, and, immediately afterwards, violently convulsed in them, and in every feature of her countenance; so that after enduring these painful commotions a few seconds, she was, at my desire, replaced on the couch. During my third attendance, she was more elevated than on the former occasion, and remained longer in that position without experiencing any uneasiness, except slight pain in the first lumbar vertebra. Last Sunday she was put into the sitting posture, with her legs hanging from the couch. After remaining in this situation about five minutes, without suf- fering the slightest pain, convulsive agitation, or inconvenience in the back, she was again laid down.—July 19th, 1821. November 6th, 1821.—Al]l the projecting vertebrae are sensibly fallen, and have apparently regained their natural situations. The first and third lumbar are visibly risen. The spinal column has in consequence a more natural appearance, and the chest in front looks much better. She was this afternoon assisted from her couch, and permitted to walk about in the room for five minutes, a pleasure which she had not enjoyed for nearly seven years. She -