Massage Its Principles and Practice Classic Reprint

Excerpt from Massage: Its Principles and Practice

Much of the success which is attending orthopaedic surgery in its applications to the necessities of our wounded could not be attained without the concomitant of massage. Manipula tion and exercises must often precede, should frequently accompany, and must almost invariably follow effective work by the surgeon. Without them his task in many cases would be either impossible or futile.

Massage is a dual agency, of prime value in either aspect. It may disclose (and aggravate, if we are not careful) latent mischief, as well as alleviate the danger which is apparent; and it can expedite, confirm, and finally give effect to the amelioration made possible by surgery. In either case the primary reason is the fact that massage can be made to originate passive movement, movement not simulated, though it may be unconscious, nor even, perhaps, the result of the patient's volition, though executed by him. At times we must gain our ends, as it were, by stealth. If movement of this kind be the first objective, the method by which it is to be induced can have little in common with the strenuous procedure in which alone some masseurs still indulge. For the present purpose, at any rate, no great aid would be expected of such an auxiliary. Methods may bear small resemblance to one another save in name and I have endeavoured to point out the vast difference that exists between what I have called relaxed and all other forms of mobilisation.

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