Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-08-03
w
Tight Collars

From the Literary Digest.
Much mysterious i'll health ina be
nue 10 our custom of throttling the necA
with a tight collar. We are told by Or
waiter q. Walford in an article con.
ributed to The Hospital U.ondon
May 27.) . DIR. Walford first reminds
us that In cases OF fits. fainting, ana
uncohsclousneSs generally where first
AID Is required. 1t is customary, as thu
nrst step. to unfasten the neck clothed
or the SUFFERER. So. too. the anesthetis1
knows we'll the Importance OF lxayinr
no TIGHTLY fitting neckbands. for any
obstacle to the free circulation OF the
b!c:e IN the cerebral vessels introduces
danger. 1t Is remarkable, however. nd
goes on to say, that no one seems td
nave noticed the fact that slight
OBSTACLES to the free circulation of tho
may be injurious even to those who ara
In good health. We read:
The TACT Is we'll known to veterin-
airy surgeons. who tell us that neck
construction through badly fitting har-
ness Is a causative factor i'm 'staggers'
horse of this distressing symptom by
relaxing the throat lash. 1t is equally
well known that dogs suffer n great
deal through having to wear tightly Mt
ting collars. Is 1t too much, then, to-
argue that those Of US who wear our
wv SOIAdiS SOO tightly DuIIOIle0 NAV
ind In that practice some explanation
or symptoms ascribed to other causes?
who has seen many cases,
suicidal or otherwise. of fatal neck con-
strictfon must have noticed three
things: First. the small amount of
ACTUAL construction necessary to cause,
serious results: secondly. the fact that
death i'm such cases is almost painless;
and. thirdly, that such death can not
be caused by closure of the windpipe.
as is SO commonly supposed. except
In rare instances, and Their 1t cannot
be painless. 1t Ia therefore reasonable
TO suppose that many OF us must often
unconsciously place ourselves within a
danger zone. n that ff we do this
regularly we are bound to suffer for 1t
In some way. The nerves and vessels
OF the neck are sufficiently close to the
surface to suffer from continual pres
sure such as is exercised by tightly fit
ting collars"
The writer goes on to mention nu.
merous instances where he has known
tight lila to cause headaches, .rheu-
matism,' apoplectic symptoms. verti-
go. sickness. and other evidences of
once relieved by loosening the neck
wear. He says in conclusions:
The neck is not a cylinder with
parallel sides. but is more or less canoe
shaped. an important difference which
we OlleH lose sight or. In tnveSttgat-
ing the condition of ones own collar
N is apt to slip fingers under it and
raise to a level where the circumfer-
ence of the neck Is much smaller and
where the difference between size OF
collar and diameter of neck seems less
marked. When the collar is allowed to
slip back 1T naturally drops down into
its ordinary working position where it
presses on important and sensitive
structures. The point to be remem-
bered Is that 1t is the lower edge OF
the collar that does the mischief, espe-
cially where it lies against the struc-
lures just above the clavicle
One or two hints in conclusion. 1t
is just as we'll not to relax the neck
clothing too suddenly. Also. never be
content with merely relaxing the collar:
see that there is no construction, how
ever slight. at the upper end OF the
thorax, and that the shirt bands are
never frightened. and pay particular at
tention to the collars OF the patients
night clothing. 1t is a little difficult to
get patients to see that these hints are
important. Prejudice. custom, and the
idea about catching cold are
hard to contend with. But it is worth
while to insist and to see that your adj
vice is carried out to the letter. The
resultant benefits are too great and too
striking to be disregarded.'