The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1943-01-14

III AAGu1tilAhb Will dHeHNI
questions Of general interest
only, and then only through
his column.
Judge from the outburst Of arti-
cles both in the professional and
lay press on the care Of the feet.
Ny esteemed colleague, Mr..
Damon Runyon, with his usual
good sense has called attention to
a need for chiropodists or foot
specialists in the Army. / have
advocated this before and still do
so. The United States Army does
not recognize the need for chiropo-
distS. The German army does and
the British army does and even
the Navy is beginning to come
around 10 that point Of view.
There is an average Of about
100000 man days lost per l,0O0,-
600 men in the Army due 10 foot
trouble alone. The morbidity in
the civil population is probably
smaller, but still enough to be rec
ogniZed.
Causes Of Painful Feet
The two largest groups Of causes
Of painful feet are corns, bunions,
Calluses and bursae Of various
kinds; the second is fiat foot.
Corns, bunions, cslluses, etc.
are all due to the same underlying
cause. They are a combination Of
shoe pressing the skin of the
foot against bony excrescence or
roughneSs underneath. The bony
excrescence is usually produced by
long-continued pressure Of the
shoe so that the ultimate cause Of
both is the same, but when any
kind of corn is persistent, COM
plete cure will not occur until the
underlying bony eXcrescence is re-
moved.
The common corn results from
compression of the soft tissue be-
tween the shoe and an excrescence
Of bone. The removal Of the hard
ened, thickened skin brings only
temporary relief, but by taking =
few days off and removing the
lony excrescence and also correct
ing the shoe, permanent relief will
result.
The soft corn is caused by pres
sure Of one toe against a project
ing portion Of the next. Here also,
a complete removal Of the projec-
ton or correction of it is the only
form of permanent help.
Tailor's Bunion
Tailor's bunion occurs at the
root Of the little toe and is due to
an overgrowth Of bone caused by
continued pressure such as an old
fashioned tailor made on his feet
as he sat cross-legged on his bench.
Dorsal bunion occurs at the root
Of the big toe and is caused by
tightly laced shoes. II padding
and changing to strap shoes does
not give relief, surgical removal
Of the head Of the bone is indi-
Gated.
Painful heels are usually infam-
nations Of the bursa in the foot
due to pressure Of the bony excre-
scence against the skin. Shoe cor
rections can relieve this pressure
and injection Of novocaine into the
painful tissue will extend relief.
Some forms Of painful heel are
relieved only by surgical opera
ton, however.
Metstarsalgia means pain along
the ball Of the foot at the root of
the toes. II occurs almost entirely
IN women who wear shoes with
heels that are too high and which
throw the weight on the metatar-
sal arches, pressing them against
the sole Of the shoe. A return to
fat-heeled, well-fitting shoes usu-
ally relieves this condition.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
J. Z. N: How do you think sex
IS determined? Is it due to the fact
that one or the other parent has
the most blood! Do you have any
good exercises TO take after child.
birth to reduce the abdomen?
Answer: According to the best
scientific advice we have, sex is de-
termined by the fathers reproduc-
tive cells and there is no known
way to influence whether the fe-
male cell will be fortified BY a
male-bearing or a female-bearing
male cell. Bending exercises and
lying on the back and raising the
legs with the knees stiff are both
calisthenics which will strengthen
the abdominal muscles.