Chapter 1

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[Transcriber's Note: Illustrations without captions are described in the accompanying text.]

CLUTHE'S ADVICE TO THE RUPTURED

BY

Chas. Cluthe & Sons

CLUTHE RUPTURE INSTITUTE

Bloomfield, New Jersey (A Suburb of New York City)

COPYRIGHT 1912 BY CHAS. CLUTHE & SONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page One of the World's Most Terrible Burdens 5 Our Forty Years of Experience 9 Rupture Always Brought On by Weakness 12 How to Overcome the Weakness Which Causes Rupture 16 How Your Rupture is Kept from Coming Out 20 The Care and Attention We Give You 23 Able to Work While Being Cured 30 Don't Let Yourself be Scared into Risking an Operation 32 Why Ordinary Trusses Do More Harm Than Good 34 Law Should Stop the Sale of Drug-Store Trusses 38 Physicians Advise Cluthe Truss Instead of Operation 44 Ruptured People Swindled Out of Thousands of Dollars 46 What We Have Done for Over 290,000 Others 50 Costs More to Do Without it Than to Get it 52 The Special Advice You Get in Connection with the Cluthe Truss 57 Forms and Conditions of Rupture 60 Let Us Send You a Cluthe Truss on 60 Days' Trial 65 See How Little it Costs to Get Relief 68 Don't Let Yourself Keep on Getting Worse 70

_+One of the World's Most Terrible Burdens+_

Why So Few People Know of Anything That Will Do Any Good

In a good many ways, rupture is one of the world's most terrible burdens.

It is almost as common as poor eyesight.

And the cause of far more trouble, far greater suffering and worry.

For, while it's easy enough to get glasses that will improve the _sight_, only a small proportion of the vast host of sufferers have ever been fortunate enough to find anything that would even keep _rupture_ from growing worse.

And about all a doctor can do is to suggest an operation.

Though there are plenty of good physicians, plenty who can conquer other ailments, there are mighty few who can do anything whatever for rupture.

But that is no fault of the physicians.

[Sidenote: Medical Treatment is Powerless]

This affliction, like trouble with the eyes or teeth, falls entirely outside the physician's province; for medicines, the physician's chief means of cure, are utterly powerless either to relieve or overcome it.

And, unfortunately, scarcely one sufferer in a hundred knows of anyone else to turn to, with the exception of the surgeon, after finding that physicians can give no relief.

For the proper treatment of rupture has received little attention as a specialized profession.

Scientific treatment of the eyes and of the teeth have both become special professions; you'll find good oculists and good dentists in nearly every town.

But, in all America, the Members of the Cluthe Rupture Institute are probably the only men who have honestly and conscientiously taken up the scientific study and treatment of rupture as their exclusive profession.

There have always been plenty of places where a ruptured man could go for a truss; surgical supply houses, truss manufacturers, truss dealers, drug-stores, etc. But at these places, though their intentions are good, the men who undertake to fit you have made no special study of rupture, and therefore can do little or nothing for you.

And the trusses they give you, because not based on a scientific study of rupture, don't make proper provision for your requirements.

Then many sufferers, in their search for relief, have been handicapped by wrong ideas about rupture.

[Sidenote: Many Wrong Ideas About Rupture]

There has grown up a general impression that rupture is something to be ashamed of.

But a badly mistaken impression.

For the plain fact is that rupture, if you don't let it go till complications set in, merely indicates a weakness of certain muscles, and is no more to be ashamed of than a weak stomach or deafness, or poor eye-sight.

Such wrong ideas-- and the false modesty they have bred-- have made rupture a tabooed subject; one to be talked about in whispers, one to be discussed with blushes.

This lack of frank discussion-- lack of light on the subject-- has kept people in the dark.

So the majority of sufferers haven't known just what was needed; in seeking relief they have had to trust largely to luck.

That is why rupture has heretofore been such a terrible handicap.

[Sidenote: The Misery It Has Caused]

It has ruined the health of hundreds of thousands, simply because they couldn't find anything that would do any good. Kept them from getting much enjoyment out of life, sapped their strength and vitality, left them more or less helpless, robbed them of the ability to provide for themselves and families.

It has probably kept more people from doing their best work than any other one affliction.

It has kept many from doing any kind of work whatever.

It has cheated American workingmen-- all those who have been its victims-- out of vast sums of wages. For there's a big difference between what a badly ruptured man can do and earn, and the earnings of one who is sound and strong.

Some employers won't even hire a man if they know he is ruptured-- afraid he'll have to be so careful of himself that he can't do a good day's work.

Rupture has kept lots of business and professional men down--

By robbing them of part of their efficiency, it has robbed them of the chance to get farther along; robbed them of money they might have made. For no man can be at his best in any capacity if his rupture is bothering him-- the drain on the strength is too great.

It has interfered with the pleasures of thousands.

Deprived them of recreation, kept them from taking part in athletics, kept them from getting proper exercise because they have known of no way to escape the danger that lies in sudden movements.

It has made the lives of many women a burden; made it hard for them to do their work or to enjoy social affairs; deprived many of them of the blessings of motherhood.

It has seized upon countless children; filled their days with suffering, robbed them of childhood's happiness.

[Sidenote: Not Hard To Get Rid Of]

But in spite of all that, when taken in time, rupture is no longer a hard thing to get rid of.

So easy to overcome that many ruptured people can now be cured while _working_.

And those who can't be cured, can at least, unless in the last stages, keep their ruptures from giving any trouble.

The main point about rupture is that it requires very different treatment than any other ailment humanity is heir to.

_Medical_ treatment, as everybody knows, can accomplish nothing whatever.

_Surgical_ treatment or operation, as later explained, is usually dangerous.

There remains only one means of relief. That is _mechanical_ treatment.

Now, hundreds of methods of mechanical treatment-- trusses, "appliances," etc.-- have at different times been devised.

But most of them absolutely worthless.

For to perfect a beneficial mechanical treatment requires, in addition to considerable mechanical ability, a thorough knowledge of rupture; something few have ever taken the pains to acquire.

But here at the Cluthe Rupture Institute we have had over forty years of day-after-day experience-- and successful experience-- in the study and treatment of nothing but rupture. And this has given us a thorough knowledge of the needs of ruptured people.

As with all the great discoveries which have done so much for suffering mankind, there were many weary years of disappointment before we finally perfected the simple mechanical treatment which has since brought complete recovery to thousands.

And, as shown in the following chapters, this simple, inexpensive way to relieve and overcome rupture is within the reach of every sufferer.

Moreover, as explained on page 65, every sufferer can easily prove its merits by trying it sixty days at our risk.

_+Our Forty Years of Experience+_

Day After Day We Have Dealt With Every Form and Condition of Rupture

Like his father and grandfather before him, Chas. Cluthe, founder of the Cluthe Rupture Institute, made his start in life in the Surgical Instrument business.

Learned his trade in the old country-- over in Germany, where the world's finest surgical instruments are made.

Learned the business under the old-fashioned German apprentice system; and got a mighty thorough training, as most men do over there.

When still a young man he came to this country; and in course of time, he started up for himself.

Now, nearly all surgical instrument houses-- in those days same as now-- make or sell trusses.

And Chas. Cluthe soon saw the utter worthlessness of all the trusses then in existence.

[Sidenote: He Saw The Need For Something Better]

He saw what a multitude of people were ruptured. Saw the great need for something better than ordinary trusses or appliances, something better than operation.

He decided that by supplying that need he could be far more useful than by manufacturing surgical instruments.

And from that day to this-- now over forty-two years-- the scientific study and relief of rupture have been the one aim of his life.

That led, later on, to the founding of the Cluthe Rupture Institute.

And there are now five of us-- father and four sons. For as we sons grew up, we were trained in our father's work in the field of rupture; and have become Members of the Institute.

We four sons have all had the benefit of our father's forty years of experience. And the youngest of us has now had seventeen years of individual experience.

And here, day-after-day, we have dealt with rupture in all its forms and stages.

Altogether, at this writing, we have treated, by mail and in person, over 290,000 cases.

All kinds, from infants in their mothers' arms to men and women over sixty and seventy. Among them some of the worst cases on record.

We have made impartial, fair-and-square tests of every known method of treatment.

We have had experience with all kinds of medical applications, and all kinds of mechanical appliances.

We have fitted belt and spring trusses in all their variations. We long ago found just why they all fail to hold or relieve rupture-- just why they usually cause the wearer untold torture.

We have had the co-operation of some of this country's most noted physicians and surgeons.

We have studied the effects and watched the results in hundreds of operations.

We have found just why operations are frequently fatal. Why they are nearly always dangerous. And why the rupture frequently breaks out anew, after the operation apparently heals.

Every remedial means in existence for the relief of rupture has been tried.

[Sidenote: The Result Of Our Study]

And the result of all this study and experimenting was the invention of the famous Cluthe Truss and Automatic Massager.

Something so vastly different from everything else for rupture that it has received _eighteen separate patents_.

Something far _more_ than just a _truss;_ something far _more_ than merely a device for holding the rupture in place.

Yet the _simplest_ truss ever invented.

* * * * *

The Cluthe Automatic Massaging Truss is so utterly unlike anything else for rupture-- so much more than just a _truss_-- that sometimes we feel we should have adopted some other name.

For the country is full of _worthless_ trusses; and so many people have tried truss after truss without being in any way benefited that they think that nothing called a truss can do any good. Although when people get an inferior article of some other kind-- like clothing or shoes-- they don't condemn everything similar.

This fear of anything called a truss has kept lots of people from answering our advertisements; lots of people, because of disappointing experience with other trusses, won't even take the trouble to investigate; give themselves no chance to find out about the merits of the Cluthe Truss.

We would like to have these people believe in us and have them believe in our truss; but, by being so suspicious, they lose far more than we; they lose the chance to get better, and probably the chance to get well.

We sometimes speak of the Cluthe Truss as the Cluthe Automatic Massager; both names are necessary if we would do our truss full justice.

But we have decided never to give up the word truss; in spite of the fact that its use makes it harder to get people to believe our advertisements.

We don't want to fly under false colors.

We don't want to do any of the things done by those who have _worthless_ trusses to sell; those who have cheap contraptions which they call "appliances," "methods," etc., in order to deceive ruptured people.

If we were willing to call the Cluthe Truss by some other name, we would probably disarm much of the suspicion many people have against the word truss.

But we don't want to adopt any subterfuges. And there are now so many people wearing Cluthe Automatic Massaging Trusses, or who have worn them until cured, that simply by one man recommending the Cluthe Truss to another the prejudice against the word truss is bound to be overcome in time.

_+Rupture Always Brought On By Weakness+_

The word _Rupture_ is _wrong_; a relic of the days when no one understood the real nature of this affliction.

In its true definition, the word means a _break_ or _tear_. And that is how this ailment got the name _Rupture_-- people used to think the muscles had broken or torn in two.

But we have examined hundreds of ruptures under the searching X-rays.

And we long ago found that rupture is _not_ a break or tear; something all physicians and surgeons now concede.

The muscles at some point have simply lost their _strength_-- lost their _elasticity_-- like a piece of old rubber which has lost its "_stretch_."

[Sidenote: The Cause Of The Weakness]

Sometimes this weakening is due to general poor health; sometimes to lack of exercise; and sometimes the weakness is inherited.

Now the bowels are always _pushing_ or _pressing_ more or less against the abdominal wall-- any one, whether ruptured or not, can plainly _feel_ that pressure when coughing or sneezing; while lifting or other exertion greatly _increases_ the pressure or strain.

When in a healthy or sound condition, the abdominal wall is _elastic_; and when the bowels push against it, the muscles which form it simply _stretch_ until the strain on them is over.

Just as when you pull at your cheek, the flesh falls back in position the instant you let go.

[Sidenote: Why The Muscles Give Way Under Strain]

But if the muscles of the abdomen are in a _weak_ condition, they can't _stand_ much strain-- can no longer _stretch_-- any quick movement is often enough to cause them to spread apart, forming an opening through which a part of the bowels _pushes out_ or _protrudes._

Now there is only one way to _overcome_ that weakened condition; only one way to get rid of rupture without undergoing the dangers of operation.

As a first essential, proper artificial _support_ must be applied at the point of rupture.

Comfortable mechanical support that can be depended upon to hold the bowels always in _place_.

Just as a broken bone must be held in place, while healing, by a bandage or plaster cast.

Dr. Birkett, of the famous Guy Hospital of London, and one of the world's most eminent medical and surgical authorities, says this:

[Sidenote: What Dr. Birkett Says]

"The expediency of judiciously pursuing the mechanical treatment of every variety of hernia (rupture) cannot be too strongly urged upon the laity by the profession. In both sexes it should be carefully conducted the moment that the slightest protrusion shows itself; whether the hernia occurs in infancy, youth, middle age or at later periods of life, if properly watched and judiciously supported, it usually gives but little trouble; in many cases it is even cured. But on the contrary, if it be neglected, increase in bulk and, sooner or later, diseased states of the rupture, often leading to the death of the individual, will almost infallibly occur."

And there is only one thing in the world that can _give_ the mechanical support which Dr. Birkett and other famous physicians say is essential.

That is the right kind of _truss_.

Any system of treatment (except operation) which claims to relieve or cure rupture _without_ the use of a truss is simply a fraud.

[Sidenote: Why You Need a Truss]

The weak muscles at the rupture opening can't possibly get strong without the aid of a truss that will do what the muscles themselves are _too weak_ to do; a truss that will hold the bowels in place.

But trusses which will do _that_ even _half_ the time are mighty _scarce_.

Thousands of sufferers have tried truss after truss in _hopes_ they would finally get one that would do it; and to this day haven't found such a truss.

All trusses and "appliances" _claim_ to hold you together.

But ordinary trusses-- those with bands or belts or springs around the body, those with leg-straps, those sold by drug-stores and "Hernia Specialists"-- are absolutely _wrong_ in principle, construction and action.

They are like trousers worn without suspenders or belt-- continually slipping-- you've got to keep adjusting and "hitching them up."

The "harness" shifts or pulls the holding pads _away_ from the rupture opening.

Thus your rupture is continually coming out-- Nature never gets the ghost of a chance to start any healing process.

But even if such trusses _did_ hold the rupture in place, that _alone_ could never result in cure; couldn't even result in improvement.

Because that alone does nothing whatever to _strengthen_ the weakened muscles, or to overcome the muscle _lifelessness_, the conditions which _cause_ rupture.

No man ever made his _arm_ strong by not _using_ it.

And if a truss does nothing _more_ than hold the rupture in _place_, the _muscles_ at the rupture opening are never _used_, get no _exercise_, so they grow constantly _weaker_ instead of _stronger_.

We have had cases here at the Institute where, for lack of _activity_, the muscles around the rupture opening had withered almost completely away. And usually, in addition to lack of use, the deadening, benumbing pressure from a wrong truss was partly responsible for that withered or deadened condition of the muscles.

We can do nothing in cases like that. Neither can an operation or anything else. It is entirely too late.

Like a man whose _arm_ has been _broken_.

While carried in a sling or plaster cast, the arm tends to lose its _strength_-- loses it through lack of use.

And if, after the bone has knit, the arm is still carried in a sling, never used, its muscles would soon _atrophy_ or become _dead_, weaken and waste away until useless.

A _doctor_ would insist that the arm be _used_ or _exercised_ as soon as the bone had knit, thus gradually restoring it to strength.

Same way with rupture. It can be _cured_ or made _better_ only by _strengthening_ the weakened muscles, gently _exercising_ them, giving them support which takes the _strain_ off them while _helping_ them do their work until, gradually, they _regain_ their _full_ strength and _need_ no help.

Yet we of the Cluthe Rupture Institute are the only people to-day who take that physiological fact into consideration.

How to _apply_ our knowledge of that physiological fact, _how_ to exercise and thus strengthen the weak ruptured parts while at the same time _supporting_ and holding them in _place_ wasn't the easiest thing in the world to discover.

However, the Cluthe Truss or Cluthe Automatic Massager provides a way. And is the _only_ thing ever invented that can both _hold_ the rupture and give Nature the necessary assistance in the process of _strengthening_ the weak parts.

Just _how_ it assists Nature is explained in the next chapter.

_+How to Overcome the Weakness Which Causes Rupture+_

A New Way, But Based on a Principle as Old as the Hills-- A Principle Recognized by all Doctors

As everybody knows, you can make most any part of the body _strong_ simply by _exercising_ it.

Exercise is a wonderful thing.

Keep a child cooped up-- give it no place to play-- and it will probably grow up puny and sickly.

While a boy on the farm-- with the big out-of-doors for a playground-- is usually a picture of health.

Or take a blacksmith. He is constantly _using_ or _exercising_ his _arms_. So you'll find _them_ as hard as nails.

While his _legs_-- because he doesn't _use_ them so much-- aren't likely to be nearly so well developed.

A man in an office or store usually has soft, flabby, _weak_ muscles.

But let that man take up some form of _exercise_, like tennis or base ball, and his muscles will soon be strong.

It is a law of Nature that our minds and muscles grow by proper use, building themselves up to meet any demands made on them.

That is why, after any sickness which leaves the body _weak_, doctors nearly always tell you to take plenty of _exercise_.

Until recent years, the only way to develop strength was by _active_ exercise; movement of the muscles by their own force, as in walking, chopping wood or playing some game.

But nowadays there is a _substitute_ for exercise.

[Sidenote: Massage Is a Substitute For Exercise]

Called _Massage_; a sort of _artificial_ exercise; a way to strengthen muscles _without using_ them.

In simple language, massage consists in alternately expanding and contracting the muscles by applying a gentle force _externally_, instead of moving them by voluntary and _internal_ force.

Now massage-- like ordinary exercise-- is so _strengthening_ that it will overcome almost any kind of _weakness_.

So _invigorating_ and _beneficial_ that many well-known physicians say the day is coming when it will be an almost _universal_ method of _cure_ for every trouble in any way due to weakness.

At the Vanderbilt Clinic in New York, many cases of weak _ankles_, weak _backs_, etc., have been cured by massage.

Now Rupture, as shown in the last chapter, is _also_ a weakness.

But massage, as given at hospitals, can't be used to advantage for rupture.

Too _expensive_-- requires an _expert_. And could be given only when you are lying flat on your back in _bed_; therefore couldn't be given very _often_; and it would take years for only _occasional_ massaging to overcome rupture.

Moreover, hospital or hand massage could be used only in combination with a truss that would keep the rupture from _coming out_. A protrusion every day or so, as happens with most trusses, would _undo_ all the beneficial effects of the massage.

But the invention of the _Cluthe_ Truss-- the _only_ truss that can be _depended_ on to _prevent protrusion_-- makes hand or hospital massage unnecessary; it takes their place.

It massages the weak ruptured parts as well as a skilled hand-massager could, as well as could be done at a hospital. And charges nothing for giving the massage-- there is no expense beyond the price of the truss.

[Sidenote: This Strengthening Massage Given Automatically]