Smyrna times., 1881-06-08
High Heels.
THEIR RELATIONS TO FEMININE LAME
BACKS

y reporter some days ago was made an /
unwilling listener to some feminine conf /
dCnccs on bacIachc. A. ali women and
the greater part of their men folks are d. (
rectly or indirectly interested IN the sub
ject, the reporter visited a man Of science
who was named by one of the Young ladies
as having cured her trouble.
oh, yes" said the doctor. "l,aci5achc
is very common among women: more
than two-thiras Of them suffer from II
But there is one kind Of this trouble.
caused b! y prevailing fashion, which
women ought not to allow themselves
to suffer from
Are you specialist for fashionable
backachc?'
The doctor laughed. y will tell you
all about il, said he. Three wears a"o
a fashionable young lady called unon me-
saying that her back was very lame ami had
been 50 for considerable time: the nain
had lately So greatly increased that she
became frightened about herself. 81" had
been obliged to shorten her prOinrn;:,lc..
so she said. Was almost Incapable OF ,t,nc-
| ing and her life was gradually bccclming Il
! burden. She had tried every thing and
! taken medicine all the time. but and
then she broke down in such a way thlt
began to suspect hy>trria
She looked tired. and her l;,tc bore IN.
expression Of pain and dcSpondcncy hich
was not compatible wiki her wears she
was about 23--nor her evidences of consti-
tutional force which judge to be strong.
| confess | was at = loss to account Tor her
trouble. and close Questioning gave me nu
indication Ger treatment at last pre-
scrihed a t"nic-on general principles
and asked to call in about Il week
" hen She appeared again. glance ~unccd
to show that She was no better. aud /
was much puzzled as ! saw hQv walk up
and down the Office IN nervous excitement
eEclaimin@ that -ilp would never get
well. She kileM she wouldn't. etc. AS I
looked a certain pccui0rity in her walk
led me To think that there might be some
spinal trouble and | commenced a cross
examination. which She brought to sud
den clos" by saying: Why doctor. Stv-
cral of my friend, are suffering JUS IL |
am, but they are not YET 50 worn out with
pain: We cannot all have spinal com
plants, can We
Il Thought Il impossible. Of course.
continued the doctor. and the interview
| ended by my asking her to call again on
: the next day and bring one of her friend;
with her when ] would make anothe
4 effort to discover the real cause of tn,
| trouble. | had in fact. made up my minC
that some peculiarly in dress wa. II thu
: root Of the difficulty. The ladies called
and had hardly traVcrsed the office bctor
: | observed in patient number ;Wo the SAM
e idiosyncrlsy in walking which had seel
; in my first patient. WAS not long III dis
e covering that the real difficulty lay in tn
t high and tapcring heels Of my patients
CATERS. Closer examination revealed tn
o fact that there was Il difference in tn
= height of the boot heels Of the two ladies
: and l found that my first patient who wa
/ the greatest sufferer, was the one who's
n CATERS possessed the higher heels. Their
II was nothing to do but to prescribe slipper
Y and wooden stockings for week, to be fo
lowed by the wearing ui shoes having low
e broad heels :
e And II was this treatment which cure
:. the backachcE'
y, All signs of lamencss diSappcarc
|, within eleven days and my first patier
', of this kind, together with many VIII
II have followed her. regaincd their healt
Y, and strength. There are many physiOlOg
II cal reasons why undue elevation of III
heel must cause trouble. 1t will suiiiC
k to say that it serves to throw forward I'll
contents Of the abdominal cavity and IL
lie strain upon the muscles nerves and core
p more or less connected with or >urrount
N ing the back are subjected to unusui
strain in resisting the forward impuls
f. OF course, in such cases. lame back is IL
to of itself disease, but only the Indicate
h of deep-seated trouble. which is sOmctim
ly difficult to deal with. Ladies should
lie warned that this fashion in heels is ccrta
er to bring them --soQner OF latcr-gre
lie trouble, lfthey must adhere TO the pr
- yailing style they should take care to We
slippers OH every possible occasion whit
IS the sacred duties they owe to fashion IN;
permit. That person may as we'll be O
of the world as out of the fashion is Ia
more memorable in the minds of MAJ
II. women than those of nature or of hCalt
nd -Er.