Clinical essays and lectures / by Howard Marsh.

  • Frederick Howard Marsh
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Clinical essays and lectures / by Howard Marsh. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

    65/340 (page 49)
    cussion extravasated blood and lymph which have been coagulated in the tissues, and have led to brawny oedema, are broken wp and dislodged, Avhile by stroking from below upwards they are swept onwards, and brought within the reach of healthy lymphatics and a normal venous circulation, so that they can be more readily absorbed. 3. It is an efficient stimulant to damaged muscles through its influence on the nervous system. In such minor injuries as sprains and contusions, the small nerves ramifying in the injured part are probably seldom torn across, for they are tough rather than brittle, they are well protected in the subcutaneous tissue and the deeper structures, and their course is tortuous so that they are not easily put on the stretch. Nevertheless they are not infrequently so far injured that their functions, for the time being, are more or less suspended, and massage is then a very useful agent in their restoration. It probably acts in a similar manner on the vaso-motor nerves which preside over the arterial system of the j)art. 4. No one who has watched its sedative effect when applied in cases of recent injury, can doubt the influence of massage in reducing muscular spasm and relieving pain. In such instances it must be used very gently, and be limited to stroking and light friction, for short periods three or four times a day. 5. Probably massage promotes the absorption of recently formed adhesions, provided they are not too extensive and firm. This is a matter of considerable interest. Just as provisional callus, formed in the repair of fractures, is absorbed, so is much of the new ])