The Washington herald., 1911-07-23
ARE YOU FLAT-FOOTED?
MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ARE

and ill-fitting shoes can be plainly seen
In many Of the impressions that are now
on file.
Cause of Flat-footedness.
Many doctors oelieve the whole trouble
lies in the fact that most Of US walk on
unyielding surface floors. and solid
streets all day long. There Is nothing
elastic about a concrete floor, and there
Is but little resiliency In q granitoid
walk or an asphalt pavement. Most OF
the walking Of the city man is done on
hard and solid surfaces that have no
spring to them. He does not know what
1t means to walk all day on turf or In
soft-plowed ground. His foot becomes Q
wooden and a stiff thing. and the strong
and beautiful arch begins to fatten out,
slowly at first, but faster and faster as
the ruin goes on.
There are others who assert that the
increasing tendency toward fieshiness has
caused most Of this variety Of foot trou-
bles. There is always a tremendous
weight upon this arch, and the heavier
we grow the greater the weight becomes.
There is no corresponding increase in
strength to overcome the weight. and the
arch has to go down. Many heshy folk
aroh. Their feet are weak and they
cannot walk far without firing themselves
out.
1t used to be that doctor looked nrst
OF all at the tongue Of the patient Now
he Is Just as apt to look long and care
fully at the feet after he has a glimpse
Of the pain-etched lines around the nos
trils and the mouth Of the nervous caller.
He knows that a great many Of the baf-
fling and obscure nervous disorders come
from the pain that is always with the
sufferer from fiat foot. Headaches, neu-
rasthenia, spinal troubles, and dozen
others Of the aggravating diseases that
seem to come for no reason at all have
been traced oftentimes to the fattened,
crushed. and painful fat feet of the suf-
ferer. A long train of ailments that fol-
low In the wake Of nervous disorders
have had as their cause many times the
deformed. twisted, and totured feet of
the patient.
Eject of Tight Shoes.
On the imprints kept on file in the office
Of the United States Marine Corps many
Of the impressions show plainly that the
foot bones have slipped from their places.
The flesh comes out entirely to the edge
Of the foot. even IN that middle area
where the foot should be followed out.
The tight shoes Of foolish and vain youth
have helped to ruin many feet. Contrary
to the usual idea. tight shoes do not laid
in keeping the feet from breaking down.
They help and hasten the catastrophe.
Short shoes crowd the toes back upon
the bones In the heavier part OF the foot
and grind the ends Of the bones one
against the other. The toes are shirking
their part Of the work, and the pressure
Of the body above comes down squarely
upon the meta-tarsal bones, that lie Just
back OF the toes. They slowly give away.
sinking downward as far as they can
until they have hattened out the foot
into a shapeless feshy mass.
Misshapen shoes hasten the same con-
ditions. In a country that builds most OF
the worlds footgear there are still
enough cheap shoes sold to ruin thou
sands Of feet yearly. There Il no
strength in their soles and the body
weight above them presses gradually
down upon a chain Of bones that cannot
resist pressure indefinitely. The obvious
remedy for the increase Of hat-footed-
ness is a change in the methods Of con-
structing shoe. With a solid, sti1ened
sole joining the heel the bones Of the foot
arch would be able to resist the pressure
| from above.