Massage : a primer for nurses / by Sarah E. Post.

  • Post, Sarah E., 1853-
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Massage : a primer for nurses / by Sarah E. Post. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    IO sweeping and the like, should upon first thought give strong capable hands; but as a result of experience this inference has not been proved true. Hands much occupied in domestic duties are apt to be, on the contrary, stiff-jointed and to have little spread of the fingers and but little strength of grip. House- hold duties do not develop the smaller muscles and the finer movements of the fingers and hand. The use of the pen and the needle also produces a hand which is inclined to be stiff. Almost any hand may however be trained and developed by perseverance and care. A large hand is an advantage if it is also pliable, but a small hand may often be made to do more work by means of greater reaching power. An opinion is often requested in regard to the physique for the operator in masage. The main source of fatigue in giving massage is very probably unaccustomed positions and unaccustomed muscular strain. Here again any physique can be trained to endurance, provided first that the vital capacity be good and by this is meant the working capacity of the heart and lungs. To ensure a good operator the difference of chest circumference during inspiration and expiration should be at least 2 inches. 2 1-2 or 3 inches would suggest still greater working pow- er. To test this point take the bust measurement at the end of a full inspiration and again at the end of a forced expiration and note the difference. This is one of the best tests of capacity for physical work. It is also a good test for probable endurance under other strains such as those of privation or disease. The massage operator must not easily get out ot breath. A Superintendent of a school has said to me, Can you not elaborate some system by which the operator may spare her strength. I know of no such