Massage Of The Liver And The Spleen

VII. MASSAGE OF THE LIVER.
Position. - The patient is lying half way turned over on his left side. The operator sits at his right side.
1. Friction with the palm of the hand in large circles covering gradually the entire organ.
2. Kneading with the heel of the hand.
3. Clapping over the entire organ, firmly over the right hypochondriac region, more gently over the epigastrium and left hypochondrium.
4. Palmar vibration over the different lobes.
5. Digital vibration, working the separated and bent fingers gradually under the curve of the ribs and costal cartilages.
Deep respiratory exercises are very important in connection with massage of the liver.

VIII. MASSAGE OF THE SPLEEN.
Position. - The patient should, of course, lie on his right side. This treatment is performed in a similar way as massage of the liver.

IX. MASSAGE OF THE STOMACH.
Several methods have been proposed to reach the ventricle by massage. They are all more or less dangerous, and we mention one of them only, for the completeness of the system.
Position. - The patient is lying flat on his back, as described in Fig. 17.
1. The operator sits at his side, and quietly placing his right hand, with abducted thumb, about two inches below the ribs of the left side, he performs strokings and frictions of the organ, from left to right. Friction with the tips of the fingers is the most convenient form to use.
2. Kneading with the two thumbs may also be used, but the operator should always remember that he has to deal with very sensitive parts, consequently his pressure should be moderate.
3. Vibration with the tips of the fingers.

X. MASSAGE OF THE HEAD.
Position. - The patient is sitting, comfortably supported.
1. Stroking. - Beginning with the back of the head, keeping the left hand firmly on the forehead, and with the right in a V-shape, stroke downward. In stroking the forehead place the thumbs between the eyebrows and stroke firmly over the temples to the ears, both thumbs working together, so as to act upon the supraorbital nerve (see Fig. 20).
2. Friction with the one hand, the other supporting, on the diagonally opposite part of the head.
I have always found it best and most expedient to divide the head into four divisions for applying this manipulation, always beginning with the back part of the right side.
3. Friction with the tips of the fingers pressing firmly so as to move the scalp and to prevent breaking off the brittle or weakened hairs. This manipulation is particularly valuable when we work in a hair tonic. By working the scalp we draw the blood to the hair-roots.
4. Hacking is used with both hands striking together, making circles over the head, beginning on the top and moving backward, downward, and forward to the starting-point.

For increasing the hair growth the author has never found anything to equal the following treatment. Shampoo the head freely with a good, pure tar soap and let the lather remain for two hours, then wash it off with warm water, adding a little of some good tonic. Now massage the scalp thoroughly with crude petroleum and allow that to stay on over night. Of course the patient must wear a night-cap or in some other way protect the pillowslip. The author has experimented lately with the new oxygenated petroleum product, " Petrogen" (Wyeth), as a base for a hair tonic and the results have been so exceptionally good that he begs to call the reader's special attention to it.