Elizabeth Kenny
(Warrialda, 1886-Toowoomba, 1952) Australian nurse, pioneer in the treatment of polio, also known as Sister Kenny .His system for treating polomyelitis caused great controversy in the medical circles of his time.This method was based on the rehabilitation of the affected organs, instead of the immobilization that had been practiced until then, which together with Kenny's lack of academic instruction did not allow until well into the 1940s that American Medical Association will accept your way of acting.
Elizabeth Kenny
Her interest in the structure and functioning of muscles came to her since she was little, because at the age of 13 she broke the doll and, with the help of the attending physician, she obtained the necessary bibliography to specialize in the subject.In 1910 Kenny was a nurse and was appointed to help a child who could not move and was in great pain as a result of infantile paralysis, which today is known as polio.
Kenny's therapeutic method consisted of covering the areas affected by paralysis with skeins of wool, which had previously been placed in hot water and then drained; Moist heat treatment was intended to overcome the muscle spasm that occurs during the acute phase of the disease.Then, once the painful phase was over, Kenny practiced passive mobilization of the affected muscles, until the patient could move these muscles himself; She encouraged them to mobilize by performing gymnastic exercises.
This treatment was applied to other children with great success, however, the doctors of the time rejected the advantages of these treatments and continued to immobilize the patients, quite the opposite of what Kenny proposed, with the intention of preventing the immobilization of the diseased muscles from dragging the healthy ones into their contraction.
With the arrival of World War II, doctors were able to observe the impressive results that were obtained with the method applied by nurse Kenny to the men of war, and the treatment of polio changed overnight up to date.When applied during the early stages of the disease, it was even possible to avoid paralytic sequelae.In 1943 the Elizabeth Kenny Institute was established in Minneapolis (Minnesota), with the intention of training new professionals to follow in its footsteps in the treatment of this painful disease.His publications include Treatment of Infantile Paralysis in the Acute Stage (1941) and an autobiographical work entitled And They Shall Walk (1943).
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