Elbow

“ The elbow drawn inward, signifies impotence, fear, subordination, humility, passiveness, poverty of spirit.
Modest people have a slight outward movement of the elbow. The humble make an inward movement. The elbow thrust forward or backward, indicates a yielding character.
These movements should not be taken alone; they must be verified by the torso and the head. The shoulder characterizes the expression of the elbow movements, just as the elbow verifies marked exaltation, by the elevation of the shoulder. ”

“ The upper arm, between the shoulder and elbow is short, and is buried in muscle so that one doesn’t notice it. So the first joint that shows, where the fore-leg joins the body, is not the shoulder but the elbow. ”

“ For instance, if there is a DISLOCATION OF THE ELBOW, the patient being settled, let one man take hold of his arm near the shoulder, to make counter extension while another makes extension at the wrist. You yourself being seated grasp the elbow with your two hands by applying your fingers to the anterior part and your thumbs to the posterior, press on the projecting point of bone downwards and forwards. ”

“ The elbow is more or less removed from the axis of the body, by the action of the deltoid, the long portion of the biceps, and the supra-spinatus muscles, which, being unnaturally stretched, contract themselves and tend to carry the bone outward. The pains which result from this position, force the patient, in order to relieve them, to lean towards the affected side, to keep the fore-arm half-bent, the elbow resting on the hip, so that the arm, finding a place of support, may be freed from the painful movements, and from the disagreeable sensation produced by its own weight. ”

“ Who has not felt the beauty of a woman’s arm? The unspeakable suggestions of tenderness that lie in the dimpled elbow, and all the varied gently lessening curves, down to the delicate wrist, with its tiniest, almost imperceptible nicks in the firm softness. ”

“ The elbow-joint, on account of its exposed condition, is generally regarded as the most favourable for excision. The affections of the joints of the upper extremity are much more manageable than those of the lower, and may generally be prevented from proceeding so far as to end in destruction of the apparatus. ”

“ It is a remarkable fact in natural history that one's elbow is sure to be jogged. It does not matter what you do; suppose you paint in the most secluded spot, and insert yourself, moreover, in the most inconspicuous part of that spot, some vacant physiognomy is certain to intrude, glaring at you with glassy eye. ”

“ I should also add that nearly every person who has lost an arm above the elbow feels as though the lost member were bent at the elbow, and at times is vividly impressed with the notion that his fingers are strongly flexed. ”

“ Then, by moving the hand down on the inside of the arm toward the elbow, the lessening muscle may be readily traced until it terminates in a tendon, of much less size than the muscle, but of great strength, which is inserted into the bone just below the elbow. As the fore-arm is drawn up, and especially if there be a weight in the hand, the tendon may be felt just within the elbow-joint, running toward the point of insertion. ”

“ A moment's consideration of the mechanism of the arm, having regard to the biceps muscle which flexes the elbow, will make this clear. If a weight is held in the hand it is perhaps twelve inches from the elbow. ”

“ This is a mere jest, a ribald suggestion, as with boys of a certain age among our lower classes. The right elbow is grasped with the left hand, the elbow being so flexed as to allow the hand to point upwards. ”

“ The muscle that bends the elbow acts at disadvantage, and this is greatest when the arm is nearly or quite extended, as the angle of action is then least. This disadvantage is further increased by the attachment of the motive muscles near the joint. ”

“ Elbow, el′bō, n. the joint where the arm bows or bends: any sharp turn or bend.—v.t. to push with the elbow: to jostle.—ns. El′bow-chair, an arm-chair; El′bow-grease, humorously applied to vigorous rubbing; El′bow-room, room to extend the elbows: space enough for moving or acting: freedom.—At one's elbow, close at hand; Be out at elbow, to wear a coat ragged at the elbows ”

“ The elbow is elevated by an assistant, who keeps the arm vertical and lays the fingers on the breast bone. A roller attached to the arm by a couple of turns is carried behind the back round the trunk, and over the arm above the elbow, drawing that close to the side. ”

“ Merely touching a man’s elbow is sufficient to procure from him a look of goodfellowship, which, though it does not inconveniently grow into a bow, or even into a smile, is yet always afterwards displayed in his physiognomy whenever it meets yours. ”

“ It is bad to carry the arm very far back, causing a strained look; to stretch the arms too straight out, or to confine the elbow to the side. The elbow is kept somewhat away even in the smallest gesture. While action should have nerve, it should not become nervous, that is, over- tense and rigid. It should be free and controlled, with good poise in the whole man.
Before leaving this subject, in its physical aspect, let us consider somewhat the matter of standing and moving on the platform. ”

“ We might almost as well say that the elbow ought to be made firm, to correspond with the shoulders, and thus become advocates for letting the stays or bandages enclose the arm above the elbow, and fasten it firmly to the side. ”

“ The elbow may be recognized by the sharp prominence of the bone, and the hand can be distinguished from the foot by the fingers being wider apart and more readily separated 188from each other than the toes, and by the thumb which can be carried across the palm. ”

“ This agitation, which it is often difficult to perceive, sometimes becomes very evident upon mere inspection. When the elbow is rested upon the table, and a body of considerable length held in the hand, its extremity is seen to vaccillate, to rise and fall a little at each pulsation. ”

“ For disease of the elbow-joint which has resisted ordinary remedies, and is wearing down the patient's strength, including caries, ulceration of cartilages, and gelatinous synovial degeneration.
2. For wounds of the elbow penetrating the joint, the prognosis both as to the patient's life and the usefulness of his arm is much better after excision than after endeavours to save the joint without excision. ”

“ Moderate extension for the most part sufficeth, extension being made at the leg, and counter-extension at the thigh.
38. Dislocations at the elbow are more troublesome than those at the knee, and, owing to the inflammation which comes on, and the configuration of the joint, are more difficult to reduce if the bones are not immediately replaced. For the bones at the elbow are less subject to dislocation than those of the knee, but are more difficult to reduce and keep in their position, and are more apt to become inflamed and ankylosed. ”

“ If, while holding the weight, you will grasp the elbow with the other hand, you will feel the point of attachment of the biceps, and discover that it does not seem to be, roughly speaking, more than about an inch from the joint. ”

“ The elbow joint, unlike that of the shoulder, is a rigid hinge, permitting motion in only one plane, that of the wing itself, or nearly so. The same is true of the wrist joint, which holds the hand firmly, allowing no motion save that which opens and closes the wing. ”

“ The flesh in front of the elbow will not be pinched if, the [92] forearm being fitted very accurately, the muscles of the upper arm are allowed free play, by cutting away the front of the armlet to half its height, but in this case an indirect attachment to the shoulder is essential. ”

“ The arm from the shoulder to the elbow in bending increases in length, that is in the length from the shoulder to the elbow, and this increase is equal to the thickness of the arm at the wrist when seen in profile. ”

“ When the hands are extended, the upper part of the arms (i. e. above the elbow) are held near the body, the palms of the hands are turned towards each other, neither upwards nor downwards nor forwards, the hands are held as high as the shoulders and the fingers point upwards. ”

“ This tends to bring the forearm towards the body when the elbow is bent. The elbow is a great contrast to the shoulder, as the trochlea and capitellum of the humerus are closely adapted to the sigmoid cavity of the ulna and head of the radius (see Skeleton: appendicular) ; consequently movement in one plane only is allowed, and the joint is a strong one. The capsule is divided into anterior, posterior, and two lateral ligaments, though these are all really continuous. The joint cavity communicates freely with that of the superior radio-ulnar articulation. ”

“ When the epiphysis is displaced upwards and unites in this position, it may interfere with complete extension of the elbow.
Treatment.—It would appear that too much stress has hitherto been laid on the necessity of bringing the fragments into perfect apposition, and too little attention paid to the importance of maintaining the functions of the triceps and the movements of the elbow-joint.
Massage and movements are carried out from the first, and the forearm is supported in a sling. Full flexion is the last movement to be attempted. ”

“ He must neither draw the elbow backwards, nor suffer it to approach to the side, bur, while the hand and lower joint of the arm are curving towards the shoulder, the whole arm, with the elbow forming nearly an angle of a square, should move upwards from the shoulder, in the same position as when gracefully taking off the hat ”

“ The passes develop the regularity of bodily action, the parries give force and suppleness to the wrist. You must be careful, however, not to depend only upon the wrist; in the circles especially there should always be a slight rotatory motion of the elbow. In fact, you should feel that you have an elbow. A man in perfect health never feels that he has anything; we recognise our limbs only when there is something unsound about them. ”

“ Your arm must be raised until high overhead, the hand hanging from the wrist and dropped into your lap or down at the side, letting the elbow "give," so that the upper arm drops first, and then the fore arm and hand,—like three heavy sand-bags sewed together. The arm can be brought up to the level of the shoulder, and then round in front and dropped. ”

“ If the upper arm is broken, make three splints, one long enough to reach from the shoulder to the elbow to go on the outside of the arm, one to go on the inner side of the arm, and one on the back of the arm. ”

“ Thus if the joint is a simple hinge, as at the elbow, where the only motion possible is back and forth, there will be one muscle to bend the joint and another opposing muscle to straighten it out again. ”

“ Problems on the Rise of the Miter Line.—An elbow is always measured by the degrees of the angle formed by straight lines drawn from its extremities to the center of the elbow, Fig. 77. Since all backsets in the same elbow are equal, the value of the backset can be expressed in degrees. A five-piece elbow has 8 backsets. A five-piece 90° elbow would have each backset equal to 90°÷8 or 111⁄4°. The first piece of any elbow contains one backset, the last piece one, and every other piece contains two. ”

“ Treatment.—The treatment for dislocation consists in bending the forearm backward to a straight line, or even a little more, and then while an assistant holds firmly the arm above the elbow, the forearm should be grasped below the elbow and pulled with great force away from the assistant and, while exerting this traction, the elbow is suddenly bent forward to a right angle, when the bones should slip into place. ”

“ To the lunge of the left foot add an equally full and direct and fast lunge of the left shoulder, elbow, and wrist. Your head should come forward also, above your left foot. Imagine yourself to be aiming at a ball, and see that your left wrist is in a line between your eyes and some object, say a chair’s leg in the bedroom. ”

“ For the back stroke therefore, and that the arm may not only bend at the elbow, but also extend and straighten itself with force, other muscles, the longus, and brevis brachiæus externus, and the aconæus, placed on the hinder part of the arms, by their contractile twitch, fetch back the fore-arm into a straight line with the cubit, with no less force than that with which it was bent out. The same thing obtains in all the limbs, and in every moveable part of the body. ”

“ The ipselateral reflex is flexion at shoulder, elbow and wrist. The contra lateral fore limb at the same time is extended at shoulder, elbow and wrist. When the reflex spreads to the hind limbs the hind limb of the same side is extended at hip, knee and ankle, that of the crossed side is sometimes flexed at hip, knee and ankle, but sometimes is instead extended at hip, knee and ankle. The reflex sometimes spreads to the neck, causing the head to be turned toward the fore limb, which is the seat of the stimulation. ”

“ It is the elbow-work that makes the whole difference. In bowling, all the arm from the shoulder-joint to the wrist-joint is, no matter whether the arm be straight or bent at the elbow, purely a connecting medium between the hand and the body. ”

“ But I have a left shoulder-blade that is a miracle of loveliness. People come miles to see it. My right elbow has a fascination that few can resist. ”