The Physiotherapist
Mezger, the first Dutch physiotherapist, broke with the common practice of bandaging patients tightly and giving them a rest cure. Instead, he massaged people. He was successful. Patients praised his 'golden thumbs'. Respectfully, one of them wrote in a brochure, that more than 25,000 women had left his practice very satisfied. The doctor apparently preferred treating women to men
Mezger's 'hammer system'
At the end of the 19th century, Mezger introduced his hammer system, a therapy that would mainly end digestive problems. With the 1-kilo hammer, a doctor - or the patient himself - hit the abdomen to stimulate intestinal peristalsis.
However, the thing was a failure. Patients did not heal, but, thanks to the blows with the hammer, suffered internal bleeding as well as constipation.
