Elizabeth Kenny

Sister Elizabeth Kenny was a self-trained Australian bush nurse who developed an novel approach to treating polio. Though controversial at the time, as it went against immobilisation recommendations, her principles of muscle rehabilitation became the foundation of physical therapy or physiotherapy in such cases. Her method, promoted internationally while working in Australia, Europe and the United States, differed from the conventional one of placing affected limbs in plaster casts. Instead, she applied hot compresses, followed by passive movement of the areas to reduce what she called "spasm". Even an initially hostile medical community "had to acknowledge" that Sister Elizabeth Kenny's polio treatment helped thousands of children all over the world.