The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-07-17


was somewhat more complicated.
Then there was march foot" and
drill spay in" and others. Mod
ern life too has turned up its own
set of hazards tennis elbow"
railway spine" and Ford scia-
tea"
Now for the present war we
have its own individual and right
up 10 the minute-"jeep seat"
Jeep seat is an abscess, or sore
spot, with discharging sinus right
at the end of the spine. | will not
insult the intelligence Of my au-
dience by explaining how it is
caused, but invite anyone who is
troubled with doubts and curiosity
on the subject to take a ride in a
jeep and you do not have sore
sensation in a certain part Of your
anatomy afterwards either you
had very gentle driver or you
are impervious to all of the finer
human emotions.
The underlying cause of jeep
seat is somewhat more complicated
than would at first thought APP
pear. Everybody doesn't get it.
The real condition is what the
surgeons call al infected pilonidal
cyst.
Cause of Pilonidal Cyst
In the course Of the develop
ment of the human body before
birth there are a good many turn
ings and twistings of the skin
around the lower part Of the spine
and whereabouts. And sometimes
a dimple of skin gets engulfed
under the surface. There is nor
mally an unfolding movement
here and often a little crevice, or
dimple, can be seen. Boy babies
have it more often than girls. 1t
may iron out in adult life, but
especially if there is growth of
hair in those parts it may fold in
permanently.
Sometimes quite tuft Of hair
energies from this spot and baby
of this kind gets into the news
papers or the sideshows as THE
TAILED BOY OF INDEPEND-
ENCE and is used as a living proof
that Darwin was right.
Anyway that is what a pilonidal
cyst is. At least when it gets all
closed over so that there is a sac
below the surface of the skin and
no opening or just a single hair
sticking out it is pilonidal cyst.
Jeeps Brings Cysts Out
They were supposed to be very
uncommon until the jeep came
along. The massage the jeep gives
them brings them out; as the de-
veloper. brings out the image on a
Photographic plate, as the sun
shine brings out the green chloro-
phyll in the plants, a pin-up girl
brings out inconsistencies in Hol-
lywood boy, as Sinatra brings out
swoons, as Jack Benny brings out
bum jokes on Fred Allen, so the
jeep makes pilonidal cysts sprout.
Far from uncommon, the Army
doctors say there are literally
thousands of them. And the jeep
makes them infected, causes them
to abscess and to lump and swell
and to get sore. The situation, I am
informed got so serious in Italy
that when they began to try to
cure these disabilities by surgery
the hospitals were so full Of them
there was sometimes hardly room
for the wounded.
Any sort Of vestigial, or semi
vestigial tissue, such as that go
ing into the makeup of pilonidal
cyst, is extremely liable to make
trouble, either by infection or de-
generation. The prime factor in
turning them into troublemakers
is repeated slight trauma. And,
brother, if you don't know what re-
peated slight trauma means once
more invite you to take a ride in
a jeep, with kind Of soured, hard
hearted, go-as-you-please driver
over hilly country.
They can be cured without any
great difficulty by surgery.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
d. c. p: Can a cleft palate be
corrected so that there will be no
defect of speech? Can a harelip
be reduced by plastic surgery?
Answer: 1t depends on the Sc
verify Of the case. Very few cleft
palates can be so completely cor
rected that there is no defect of
speech. Harelips can be reduced
by a good plastic surgeon, so that
1t looks as if nothing were the
matter