We had a very curious case lately. A little girl was brought to us one
morning who had been quite blind of one eye for a fortnight. We tried
the eye with a rather powerful lens, but she could see nothing. That
eye had a squint, which was also of a fortnight's standing. The pupil
of the eye was dilated, but nothing else seemed wrong. The girl was
affected with worms in some degree, but otherwise healthy. We gave her
head a massaging, such as we have been describing, for some ten minutes
or so. She was given the first of four or five doses of santolina next
morning, which her mother said she threw up and some bilious matter
besides. She was brought to us an hour or so after, and we found that
she had forgotten which had been the blind eye. She now saw perfectly
with both, and the squint was gone. We had not tried whether the
rubbing had had the curative effect before the santolina was given, or
whether it was after the latter that the sight was restored, but we are
disposed to think that the squinting and blindness both had given way
to the head's improvement by the massaging.
Head, Skin of the.--The nerves of sensibility are very largely supplied
to the skin of the head, and many large nerves pass under it. It is
therefore an important matter that it be kept in a right condition. In
various troubles it becomes hard and dry, and even contracts and
presses very painfully upon the head, feeling as if it were dried
parchment. The pain thus caused is different from neuralgia, and cannot
be relieved by cooling, but is easily cured by soaping the head (_see_
Head, Soaping). This may be done every night, and the head tied up with
the soap lather until morning. It may then be sponged, dried, and a
little hot olive oil rubbed into the skin. In a serious case, where the
patient is in bed, this treatment may be given night and morning.
Always, in treating such a head, be very gentle, for the least touch is
often painful to the irritated skin. The use of a pure and proper
pomade, such as some preparation of vaseline, is of importance where
the skin is dry, and tends powerfully to preserve the skin and hair in
healthy condition.
Careful brushing of the hair, and rubbing of the skin of the scalp
will, too, be of use. _See_ Hair.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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