A treatment somewhat like the preceding one which is commonly employed,
is to reach underneath the patient’s upper arm, when he is lying upon
his side, with the arm extended upward across the face; then by placing
the fingers of the hand underneath the patient’s arm over the angles
of the affected rib or ribs and reinforcing the hand by the fingers of
the other hand an upward, outward and rotary movement can be given the
ribs, which pulls them out of their abnormal position and allows them
to return to their normal articulations.
An effectual treatment to spread and raise the upper ribs is to have
the patient flat upon the back, and with the fingers of one hand
underneath the angles of the ribs and the other hand upon the elbow
of the patient’s arm of the same side throw the patient’s arm across
the chest transversely and bear down upon the elbow, at the same time
spring upward and outward on the angles of the ribs with the other
hand. By throwing the arm across the chest and bearing down upon the
elbow a strong leverage can be obtained upon the upper ribs, especially
those between the scapulæ. This treatment is very efficacious in
certain lung and heart diseases.
Still another method of adjusting ribs is to have the patient flat on
his face upon an operating table with the arms hanging down on both
sides of the table and a small pillow or folded blanket beneath the
upper part of the chest; then standing beside the table, or better
still, with one foot upon a low stool and the knee of the other limb
upon the table in such a manner that one is directly over the patient’s
dorsal region one is then in a position to have full control of the
vertebral end of the ribs. If the ends of the ribs are displaced
downward, placing the thumbs over the angles of the ribs and pushing
upward and outward on the angles, the ribs can be very readily crowded
into position. If the ribs, especially between the scapulæ, are
dislocated in any direction, they may be quite readily corrected by
placing the hand over the shoulder posteriorly and throwing it outward
and upward and away from the spinal column in such a manner that the
ribs are pulled away from the abnormal position; then upon relaxing the
hold upon the shoulder with the one hand, the fingers of the unemployed
hand may push upward or downward, as the occasion requires, on the
angles of the affected side so that the ribs may be slipped into place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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