Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Woman : her diseases and their treatment / by John King. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![sisting of certain movements, when employed as an aid to tlie treatment heretofore recommended, will be found very advan- tageous. I will brie% make known some of the more com- mon Motorpathic manipulations, the mode of action of which will be readily understood by the professional reader, who will, no doubt, be able to improve upon them, or adapt them to the peculiar circumstances attending each individual case under his management. In practice, it Avill be found that some of the manoeuvres may safely be dispensed with. The best time for manipulating will be in the morning, after the bowels and bladder have been evacuated ; and during the pro- cess the pcssar}^ must be removed. At the Water-cure estab- lishments, t^ve time required for a patient to pass through all the manoeu\fes varies from twenty to forty minutes, and in no instance is any exposure of the person necessary. The manipulations may be divided into, ], Those intended more especially to give tone to the abdominal muscles, uterine ligaments, &c.; 2, Those designed to invigorate the levator ani and perineal muscles; and 3, Those which impart strength and health to the general system. 1. To strengthen the abdominal muscles, uterine ligaments, ^c. a. Place the patient upon her back in a slightly inclined position, having the pelvis elevated; then, with the thumbs, press upon various parts of the abdomen, impelling the viscera upw^ard toward the diaphragm, with as much force as the patient can bear. This is to be followed by repeated manoeu- vres with the base of the hand, (its metacarpal portion) still carrying the abdominal viscera toward the diaphragm. h. Sitting beside the patient, the abdomen is to be pressed upon with the base of the hand, so as to direct its contents from side to side, and which, if done with sufficient force, will roll the patient from the operator. Then, still sitting by the patient's side, the bowels are to be pulled upward, as it were, by the fingers,—manipulating more especially about the hypo- gastric region. E. B. In some of the Water-cure establish- ments, these manipulations are recommended to be performed previous to replacing the uterus, as well as on subsequent occa- sions. c. Having the patient seated in a chair, the operator stands 15](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21061932_0229.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
