Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1902-10-15
CROSSING THE LEGS.
0usss rrsasure On the Arteries
which Ny Rssuh In seriOus
Injary.

-
The back Of the knee, as well as the
front Of the elbow and wrist the groin
and the armpit contains important
nerves and vessels which are not 80
well protected against direct pressure
- similar structures IN other parts Of
the body. The space behind the knee,
bounded above by hamstrings, or ten
dons Of the plexar muscles and below
By the heads Of the great calf muscle,
- called the pophteal space and con
tains two large nerves, the external
and the internal pophteal nerves,
which are the divisions Of the great
~scrotic, together with the largepoplit-
cal artery and its vein, which carry the
blood to and from the leg. Besides
there are numerous branches supply
ing the joint, and also a number Of
small Emphatic glands These struc-
lures are beneath the skin, embedded
in fat and connective tissue, and the
p~ulsation Of the artery ear often be
felt, while Of the nerves the external
can be made out just inside the exter-
nal hamstring, says the Troy Times.
Now, it is the pressure upon these
vessels and nerves, brought about by
improperly crossing the legs, that
often gives rise to serious trouble.
Fortunately most Of us throw the
crossing leg so far over the leg
crossed that the thigh Of the first rests
well up on the other, and popliteal
space is left free. But very often the
legs are crossed in such a way thatthe
knee-pan Of one hts accurately into
the popliteal space Of the other, thus
throwing the weight of the leg upon
the vessels and nerves which it con-
tains. The leg and foot become numb
OF ego to sleep" as we say, and the
foot is seen to jerk up and down with
q definite rhythm. This means that the
nerves are compressed and the artery
IS CONSTRUCTED. If the jerking of the
foot be watched, one will see that il
beats in time with the pulse, which
means that besides the h%ydrostatic
pressure in the blood vessels heheart
IS overcoming, to a certain degree.
the weight of the leg, and the walls Of
the compressed artery are strained
The vein, too, is CONSTRUCTED, and our
feet feel big and swollen, and the SUI
perfcial veins on the back of the LEG
often stand out in black lines.
That these symptoms are unfavor'
able is beyond a doubt. A compressed
nerve, If long subjected to such condi
tions, is bound to rebel. Seiatica, as
cending paralysis, chronic numbnesa
and cramps have often beentraced di
rectly to the pressure caused by cross
ing the legs. Many menNg lame" il
one leg, or shave a bad knee" and il
Is found that they very often habitu
ally their legs in a definite way
Construct an artery or a vein and pen,
atty is SURE and often swift. Throm.
bosis, or a blood clot in the vessel
aneurism, OF a morbid dilation of the
vessel; improper venous return anC
~varicose veins, to say nothing Of swol
len feet and poorly nOurished muscles
are some of the graverills.
Fortunately not all or necessarily
any of these affections are inevitably
entailed by crossing ones legs. How
ever, if the danger signals Of numb
ness. swelling and Jerking Of the foo.
appear, we may rest assured that IL
long kept up we may and probably viii
suffer from one or more Of these
troubles.