Cluthe's Advice to the Ruptured.

by Chas. Cluthe & Sons.

_+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 gla.s.ses 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 Inst.i.tute 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.