{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T18:15:23Z","timestamp":1785176123146,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,30]],"date-time":"2015-09-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1443571200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"funder":[{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["The Laryngoscope"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2016,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives\/Hypothesis<\/jats:title><jats:p>Throughout the latter portion of the 19th and early 20th centuries, pneumomassage devices were widely used by otologists to treat a variety of ear diseases. The so\u2010called <jats:italic>eardrum massagers<\/jats:italic> produced a regular, repetitive, oscillatory movement through modifying the air pressure in the ear canal.<\/jats:p><jats:p>The goal of this study was to trace the invention, clinical use, technological diversification, abandonment, and ultimate resurrection of tympanic pneumomassage.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Method<\/jats:title><jats:p>Review of the 19th\u2010 and early 20th\u2010century medical journals, texts, and trade catalogs concerning the tympanic pneumomassage.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>In 1884, the Belgian otologist Charles Delstanche introduced what he called a <jats:italic>rarefacteur<\/jats:italic>, and 5 years later he introduced the <jats:italic>masseur du tympan<\/jats:italic>. This lead to a frenzied development of imaginative mechanical and electrical pneumassagers with a goal to exercise the tympanic membrane and ossicles to overcome contraction and rigidity. Tympanic pneumomassage rose to prominence in mainstream otology as a treatment for otitis media, chronic deafness, and tinnitus. After gradually fading out of the otological practice by the 1930s, pneumomassage was reintroduced in the 1980s after a half century of obscurity, this time as a novel invention notably for the treatment of Meni\u00e8re's disease.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The golden era of pneumomassage illustrates the ingenuity of otologists and medical instrument makers in creating a proliferation of clever devices, as well as how highly touted treatment methods may become widely adopted by practitioners despite the lack of efficacy. It also noteworthy that historic therapeutic methods are sometimes reintroduced for purposes not envisioned by their original makers.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Level of Evidence<\/jats:title><jats:p>N\/A. <jats:italic>Laryngoscope<\/jats:italic>, 126:1180\u20131186, 2016<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1002\/lary.25556","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,30]],"date-time":"2015-09-30T13:53:13Z","timestamp":1443621193000},"page":"1180-1186","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Ossicular calisthenics: Pneumomassage of the tympanic membrane"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"126","author":[{"given":"Albert","family":"Mudry","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology\u2013Head and Neck Surgery Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford California U.S.A"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Santa Maria","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology\u2013Head and Neck Surgery Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford California U.S.A"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Robert K.","family":"Jackler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology\u2013Head and Neck Surgery Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford California U.S.A"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_4_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/01.mao.0000187050.04286.80"},{"key":"e_1_2_4_3_1","first-page":"848","article-title":"Instruments to remedy some kind of deafness proceeding from obstructions in the external and internal auditory canal","volume":"41","author":"Cleland A","year":"1744","journal-title":"Philos Trans"},{"key":"e_1_2_4_4_1","first-page":"363","article-title":"Der pneumatische Ohrtrichter, ein neues Instrument zur Untersuchung des Trommelfells","volume":"37","author":"Siegle E","year":"1864","journal-title":"Deutsch Klin"},{"key":"e_1_2_4_5_1","first-page":"83","article-title":"Ueber ein neues Heilverfahren gegen der Schwerh\u00f6rigkeit, infolge von Unwegsamkeit der eustachischen Ohrtrompete","volume":"13","author":"Politzer A","year":"1863","journal-title":"Wien Med Wochenschr"},{"key":"e_1_2_4_6_1","first-page":"163","article-title":"Die Accommodation and Accommodationsst\u00f6rungen des Ohres","volume":"11","author":"Lucae A","year":"1874","journal-title":"Berlin Klin Wochenschr"},{"key":"e_1_2_4_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1055\/s-2007-997621"},{"key":"e_1_2_4_8_1","first-page":"269","article-title":"Sur quelques instruments et appareils destin\u00e9s au traitement des maladies de l'oreille et du nez","volume":"11","author":"Delstanche C","year":"1885","journal-title":"Ann Mal Oreille Larynx"},{"key":"e_1_2_4_9_1","first-page":"51","volume-title":"Comptes\u2010rendus et M\u00e9moires. 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