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Heat and Light Treatments Hot and Cold Packs
Hot earth filled fabric packs or ice wrapped in towels were pressed onto painful joints for pain relief
Cold and Hot packs were both used in the Pump Rooms for physiotherapy treatments. In 1958 hot packs were by far the most popular treatment with around a hundred people seen each day. This was around half the daily attendances for the medical department in 1952-3. The hot packs were fabric pouches filled with a stuffing to retain the heat. Until at least the 1970s these packs were made on site and filled with Fuller's Earth bought from a chemist. The Minutes of the Pump Room Advisory Committee for 1947 report peat being bought for medical packs. The packs were simmered in ten gallon boilers and handled with wooden tongs. There is little information relating to the cold packs except that ice was crushed and wrapped in damp towels. These were then placed on the affected part of the body and a physiotherapist made frequent checking visits to the patient. They only applied the packs for two sessions of five to ten minutes because of the temperature. Infra Red / Radiant Heat Large standard type lamps could treat large areas of the body, and was thought to be able to treat diseases of the liver, stomach and kidneys. Infra Red or Radiant Heat was used to treat gouty and rheumatic conditions, stiff and painful joints, diseases of the liver stomach and kidney, and nervous conditions. It was often used to treat large superficial areas or could be applied locally to promote healing of uninfected wounds, or relieve pain following trauma. The visitors' book from the beginning of the twentieth century contains several very positive experiences of using the Dowsing Radiant Heat treatment.Erasmus Galton wrote in 1901; 'On October 3rd my age being 85 – I was pulling with all my strength at a rope – I nearly ruptured the ligament that joins the small bone of both my arms to my wrist. Shortly after I had much inflammation on each hand and wrists – causing the fingers and metacarpal and bones to swell and distort my fingers greatly. Without the power of opening and closing the fingers properly, by medical advice I tried several plans, without a cure. On January the 17th I tried the Dowsing Electric Bath for half an hour, then massage of the hands… At once a marked change took place. And after taking eight baths with one or two days intervening between each bath I am now cured – all swelling of the hand gone and I am about as strong and well as I was before my accident.' Herbert Sprott wrote this poem.
Radiant
heat treatment was available from the Pump Rooms from the late
19th century. By the late 20th century the 'Sollux' Infra Red
lamp, on a tall stand about the size of a standard lamp was
used. Maximum effect could be gained by having the lamp at ninety
degrees to the area to be treated. Treatment lasted between
ten and twenty minutes, followed by a needle shower or
Ultra Violet Ultra Violet light was used to treat acne, as a general tonic or to speed up the healing of wounds or ulcers. The 'Mountain Sun' Treatment was first introduced to the Pump Rooms in 1926. UV treatment was intended as a tonic, although over exposure could lead to headache, redness and irritations or slight depression. Later treatment lamps were known as ‘Alpine-Sun’ and were fixed to a base, that was used for both ultra-violet or infra-red treatments. Like infra-red treatments, treatment over a large area of the body was with a standard style lamp, bathing the patient in the light. Smaller areas such as a wound or ulcer were treated by placing a semi-cylindrical frame with rows of lamps on the inside over the part of the relevant. Patients were treated up to three times a week. Wounds and ulcers healed more rapidly with the treatment, especially varicose leg ulcers. Boils and acne were frequently treated, and the light promoted the beneficial production of vitamin D within the skin. The Krohmayer lamp was another form of ultra-violet light. This looked rather like a hairdryer with a nozzle on the front that could be aimed at wounds or for treatment of internal areas such as the throat. This lamp could also be used on the skin as a counterirritant, to take the pain away from other areas. Protective goggles had to be worn, and care taken not to over-expose the patient. In case of irritation after treatment it was recommended that the patient should rub the affected part with olive oil or boracic powder, but take care to remove any oily or greasy preparation before the next treatment. In fact the peeling and redness so often caused, for example in the treatment of acne, meant that the treatment went out of fashion in favour of antibiotics.
Paraffin
Wax Hands or feet were repeatedly dipped in a bath of molten wax to build up a thick layer of wax that slowly released soothing heat into the limb.
Molten wax was used to treat general limb pain, stiffness, or more specifically chilblains. Wax, as a poor conductor of heat, releases heat slowly into the limb as it solidifies during a fifteen minute treatment. The bath sat in a vat of hot water on a timer and was switched on at to be ready for the first patients.
During treatment, carried out by a physiotherapist or hydrotherapist, hands and feet were dipped in baths of molten paraffin wax several times until an insulating layer built up. The limb was then wrapped in paper towels and a blanket and treatment would be followed by a massage. Blocks of wax could be sterilised for re-use up to three times. Early baths were very uncomfortable. The patient sat leaning forwards, hands immersed, with the heat from the wax rising into his face. The wax bath is shown in a photo of the electrical treatment room in the mid twentieth century.
Berthollet Steam Cabinet A steam box to cleanse and improve circulation in arms and legs The Berthollet Steam Cabinet was a wooden box filled with steam with four holes in the front that a patient put arms and legs into to treat conditions such as osteoarthritis of the knee joint. The steam cleansed the skin and improved circulation. After quarter of an hour in the cabinet the arm or leg was massaged, and movements carried out. This treatment was first introduced into the Pump Rooms in 1926, and carried out in the electrical treatment room alongside the paraffin wax bath. History
- later medical treatments |
