Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-08-12
A TALK WITH A CHIROPODIST.
Tight Shoes Given as a Cause for COrns, Bun
ions, and How they are Treated.
BROOKLYN Eagle.

Tight Shoes Given as Cause for Corns, Bun
ions, and How they are Treated.
Brooklyn Eagle.
Chiropodists have of late years become
necessary to residents of cities. 1t is but
recently that the art has been taught in
the medical colleges. Unlike dentistry
the student is not obliged to pass an ex-
animation in anatomy, but can simply
briuo his mind exclusively to bear on
learning to treat and care for the feet.
Formerly Brooklynites were compelled to
patronize New York Chiropodists or else
attend to their own pedal extremities
Within few years past, however, a dozen
or more individuals who made speciali-
ty of wrestling with hard-shelled corns,
or alternating the sufferings of those who
have big or little bunions, have signifed
their readiness to attend to the feet of
suffering residents. / called recently at
the Office of local chiropodist and fond
him busily engaged in compromising a
mixture which he guarantees to cure
all manner of diseases of the feet. He
said
Gone of the chief causes of bunions,
corns, ETC., is tight shoes. The maj Ority
of my customers are ladies. COrns come
in two varieties-sOft and hard. The
ton of the feet, and first appears in the
shape of white blister, whose edges cas-
lily peel off. Ladies who wear shoes large
enough for them seldom, if ever, suffer
with corns. Stumpy or short shoes cause
corns to form easily. / have frequently
known cases where a soft earn would af-
feet the whole foot and ankle. / hav
many patients who have corns which have
festered into the bone. BuniOns are Of
ten mistaken for hard corns. A buniOn
forms, usually, on the side of the foot or
between the toes. A bunion is nothing
more or less than a strained joint caused
by narrow shoe. French heeled
boots and shoes have been the cause of
untold misery to ladies, and / have MOTTO
ed, since the cOmmOn-sense shoe has be-
come fashionable, the wearers of them
have had fewer cOrns. Narrow dancing
pumps are also very injurious to the feet.
OperatiOds on tibrOus and nerve cOrns are
difficult"
'At what age does a corr begin to
grow?"
Il have known children whose mothers
would insist upon having them wear tight
shoes to have corns at the age of about
three years. Many children have in
growing nails and are suffering from
corns."
Talking about manicures, my informant
said:
Manicure is a new innovation and is
now practiced by all chiropodists. The
most expert manicures are young girls,
who have been thoroughly drilled in the
business. 1t is now the custom to engage
young women to do this work, and the
pairing and identifying of nails is usual
ly performed amid elegant Surroundings.
In the city of New York many fashionable
young men have their nails polished twice
a week"
The doctor With whom [ talked explain
ed the methods used in treating buniOns,
which may be of service to BrOOklynltes
who perform their own chirOpOthy. First,
the bunion if softened with a camel's-hair
brush to destroy the soreness, and then
the hard callOus is removed by means of
double-edged knife. At this point in
the operation the fibers of the buniOn are
killed and a large ring of lambs wool APP
piled.
From appearance it would denote that
!. the cavering lambs wool would make it
impossible to get on the shoe. The
latter, however, easily slips on the foot
and the patient walks with comparative
freedom.
Double-edged knives and scissors, large
and small, are used by chiropodists in
their work.
Il have extracted twenty-five corns
from both feet of a lady," continued my
informant. Large shoes have the same
effect as small ones. One to be perfectly
free from corns must wear a neat-fitting
shoe, which much neither be too large nor
too small. IngroWing nails are difficult
to treat, and are always accompanied by
growth or proud flesh. Large or big toes
often have ingrowing nails. Disease of
the sweat-glands or perspiring feet
which emit an acid smell, can be cured,
but the treatment must be both internal
and local. The disease known as sweat
glands originates in disordered system,
or in weak and diseased functions. In
the disease mentioned great care should
be used in the style of the hose worn.
Only the cheap lines of hosiery have
seams on tee sides. These should be
avoided and only socks worn which have
seams in the bottom"