Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-08-08
Hon. to TreQt
VUrlcose Veins
By ROBERT WATSON.

Life" said Emerson in an essay.
"is a series of surprises. The simplest
words-we do not know what they
mean, except when we love and
aspire. 4
And what he said of life might be
applied to our weekly batch of let
tiers. 1t is a series of surprises. My
measure of love and aspiration, also
must be inadequate, or the simplest
words in some of these epistles-l
do not know what they mean.
Here, for instance, is a letter. Ap.
propriately the writer signs it "Folls
Farine."
"My muscles" she says, "are behav-
ing badly; can you give me cure.
please? l have varicose on the right,
but it seems the ankle and boot-bones
i can't sleep at nights-they are so
sore and burn inwardly; no breaks of
any kind or marks other than the
varicose. I prefer troy weight to
avordupois. Troy is lighter. Can
rub the ankles with anything? l have
been walking eighteen miles weekly
l take a walk every night of three
miles," 5--
Now, what is one to make Of that
screed? A measure of significance
may be apprehended, but only by
allowing words an unwarranted
range Of meaning. The picture dimly
holds a woman, debilitated and weary,
fighting through days of Homework.
all the time conscious of weight and
discomfort about her legs and feet,
The veins feel full. They show
up as swelling cords, which meander
erratically, look perilously overfull,
and bulge painfully at odd spots
when she tries to do much. And she
is always doing too much. At the
end of each day, when her whole
sore system cries for rest and relaxa-
ton, sense of duty drives her out
along the lane for three miles Of
ply culture-sheer agony-be-
fore she goes to bed. And bed disap-
points her. She is so tired that sleep
will not come, and the strained ves-
sells and overweight muscles ache
and burn.
But her letter-its medley of mus
Giles and bones and "the varicose:' the
occult aside about weight simply
"darkeneth counsel by words without
knowledge"
! am inclined to dip beneath the
surface of her writing, and seize the
word she failed to write, and make
it the key to her complaint and my
answer. There is no such thing "a
varicose any more than there can
be "a beautiful or "a purple" or IAN
urgent" for "varicose" is an adjective.
You may have varicose ulcers, vari-
cose eczema, varicose veine, even
varicose formation upon shells. Her
varicosity evidently disfigures vein
or veins.
If that reading be correct, and the
inability purely result of
defects in her circulation, the con-
duct of "Folle Farine" needs reform
and her idea of rubbing with some
thing is full of risk.
Her days work should be light
ened. The less she stumps about on
her weary legs lover and above, the
demanded by inevitable
dut,es) the better for her d:stended
veins. Always when she sits down
she should if possible extend her legs
upon a couch or high stool or chair.
This eases the circulation, helps the
return of blood from her extremities,
the wearing, tearing ten
sion upon vein walls. Three miles,
performed six nights out of seven, is
gratuitous cruelty, mischievous med
ding. And to rub the irritable veins
with anything or nothing is to invite
disaster. Inflammation would almost
certainly follow. 1t might already be
present, and inflammation in vein
means that clot is to be expected
inside the tube-a plug of CONCEALED
blood, held by nothing but its own CO.
hesion from journeying off with the
blood stream which soaks its edge
and that journey involves death, pa
ralysis, or fearful fight for life.
Therefore, there must be no rub.
bling.
The best "Folle Farine" can do is
to live simply, quietly and pay par.
ticular attention to the avoidance Of
constipation, which notably aggra-
Yates congested and yaricose veins.
To sponge her legs and feet, night
and morning, with cold water would
tone up the walls of these poor veins
and improve her condition. And she
may also gain by wearing upon the
right leg Cor each leg) crepe ban.
dage or elastic web bandage from the
foot to just below the knee--putting
il on before she dressed in the morn