The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-08-02

IN IlrSt class cOnOlC1On are eSSenl1aI TO
efficiency; for even if your occupa-
ton does not require much walking,
| you cannot work while suffering the
| discomforts of corns, bunions Or fall
en- arches.
ToAhave sound feet, it is necessary
| first of all to learn how to use them
correctly, and how to avoid abusing
them. You must also know how to
| choose footwear, how to care for your
| feet, and how to attend to their minor
! ailments.
| We have to get over the idea that
the foot is a prop. 1t is not Il prop
and the less we use it as a prop and
i the more we use it to get about with,
| the better off we are. 1t is the ten
| dency of modern life to use the foot
a great deal for standing. In primi-
| tive life it was used very little for
| standing. Among savage tribes when
men are not walking they are sitting
| but in modern life a great many oc-
equations require standing and stand
| ing without rest for a good many
/ hours in the course of the day. The
waiter is a well known instance of this
| type of occupation. He is on his feet
and standing stiff for great deal of
| the time. The butcher and tho gro
Ger are other instances and a great
| deal of clerical work is done standing
on the feet. OF late years efforts
have been made to give people the
| opportunity to sit down whenever it is
/
underneath the body. but is placed at
a considerable angle~to the outside;
| consequently, in standing, the foot is
| only kept square by constant effort
of the muscles on the other side. You
| tire out these muscles and Hgaments
and then, instead of letting your
weight come down on a definite
arched surface, you gradually turn
| the foot over more and more, the lig-
aments gradually give way, and pres
q n f1e
make no further effort. The foot is
consequently painful, and it has lost
| ITS shape, that of an arch. This is
the great trouble in standing for any
great length of time, and is a thing to
be avoided just as much as possible
| When we have to stand we should try
to shift the weight from one foot to
the other so as not to Overture one set
or muscles. Sit down when possible.
Walking is, of course, a fairly sim
pie motion and what the foot was pri-
narily designed for, but a great many
| sople walk badly. 1t is a common
| expression to say that a person is
good walker or a poor walker. Diff
Guilty in walking often starts very early
| in life, with small children. Children
are either SO heavy that the foot gives
way, or they have been sick for a long
| time and the muscles have not de-
veloped, or they have been walking in
| improper shoes The last is one of
me CiIel reasons Tor DIFFICULTY in
walking in adults, and to great ex-
tent in children. So we should con-
slder always, both in walking and
standing, that we should strain the
foot just as little as possible In
standing as well as in walking, the
best position is with the foot parallel
The old idea of standing with the feet
spread out has been given up
If bad habits have been developed,
II the foot is rolling over to one side
and is very weak and easily tired out.
how are these habits to be overcome =?
The best way is to practice walking
by the proper method. That seems
very simple, but it is not as simple as
you would imagine. The movements
OF the foot require regular training In
the proper way. In the first place
!. you should walk with the foot straight
ahead, one foot parallel to the other.
Practically all savage tribes walk with
one foot almost directly ahead of the
other; the Indians, for example, never
toed out Walkire should not be a
sun, neavy gait, but spring on the
anterior arch of the foot. The springy
gait is the important thing, for that
brings into play both the big muscle
i. OF the calf and the other two muscles,
SO with all the muscles functionating
properly and normally, they keep in
their normal condition. If one walks
slowly, he forms the habit of making
all the muscles from the knee work
and the foot becomes simply bal
ancing apparatus. OF course. in walk
ing in the footgear that we do the
| forepart of the foot is not allowed 70
develop as much as it would IN nor
mai, primitive conditions There the
front part of the foot is spread out by
; the muscles of the arch, so that in
walking the toes and the arch grip
the grouid, and consequently these
muscles are very 1I-uch developed I'M
: ! DER primitive conditions
: There are various ways of training
the loot by shoe arches, etc, and this
? Is often necessary if the foot has de-
generated beyond certain point. In
order to get rid of this support, we
should get into the habit of exercising
the muscles that have become weak
by improper use, and there are sew
eral simple exercises which accom-
plish great deal, altho most of US are
5 too lazy to spend ten minutes day to
make the foot do it's own work.
One simply exercise is simply to
stand with the foot parallel and the
S knees straight and try to rotate the
D leg outward without moving the foot
any more than necessary. That brings
into play the fine muscles.
The second exercise is to stand with
l. the foot over a sharp edge and bend
j the toes down just as far as possible
| If they are more or less stiff, you will
> | have to help them by pressing them
= down with the hand. but get free play
e of the toes up and down.
d Then stand on an ordinary surface
and bring the toes up from the bal
y of the foot and try to spread the toe:
n as much as possible. This is very diff
: ficult, but under primitive condition:
+ it is just as easy to separate the toe:
: as it is the fingers. All these exercise:
Il tend to get that snap into the gait
S which is the sign of a good walker.
d Now as to shoes: The first thing i!
to have the front part of the sho'
loose and to have the heel fitted snug
n ly and the instep snug. Another thin
y is that the shoe should be long enough
g for it is very important not to hav'
the ends of the toes rub. 1t is very i'm
portant. too. to have the stocking boo
e long enough. If the stocking is tot
n short it interferes with the circulation