HEALTH NOTES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1665, 27 January 1904, Page 74 (Supplement)

HEALTH NOTES

if@sy Dr. Andrew Wilson, F.R.S.E.) gg THE CAKE OF THE FEET. spA the hot summer Weather a very coneidterablo number o’f persons are apt to be troubled by certain- jiiih.br ailments of

Hie feet, which, whilst ;thev can in. no ‘sense be called dangerous, are never the•lels/S ’ -sufficiently annoying to 'entail a large amount of worry, asf well as actual pain, o*n the subjects who suffer - . The recent development of. walking matches must be responsible for a very considerable number of cases of the troubles to which‘.l allude. Many-,of these matches have been undertaken by persons without the slightest ; 'pr©imratioh“i; : and, as every pedestrian, knows, .care of the feet forms bue,of. the most important elements for - the success of the- competitor. It need; hardly be said that just as the body requires to be trained for athletic exorcises. and more ©specially for those involving a considerable amount of bodily tear and wear, so the feet require to be guarded, thoroughly' attended to when eixtra labour, so to speak, is placed upon them. Apart from walking competitions altogether, people in the holiday season are apt to overdo their walking exercise, and to suffer accordingly; The sedentary man finds a very strong temptation to go for long walks, and in this determination he is perfectly right. Nothing can contribute more directly to health aiid vigour than walking- exercise discreetly undertaken. Hike all . other things in this world, however, there must be limits observed, and from the health point of view, as in so many other affairs . of lif-e, we have to c/ut our coat according to our cloth. Excess even ill' holiday making is apt to be followed by consequences more or lass injurious. . • ; THE -STEBCTTJRB OF THE FOOT. While we must certainly admit that man owes a very great deal to his head and its brain furnishing for his high rank in the animal series, we must not -neglect to consider the foot as a part o£ his anatomy, which quite as distinctly as the head sots forth the characters that are of a peculiarly human nature. He the only animal who can assume the erect position, 'easily. Anyone wlio has watched. that very highly intelligent ape. the chimpanzee, walk knows that he does so with bent spine, supporting himself tipan the knuckle joints of his hands. His foot, while suited for grasping, ,is not adapted for supporting the body in the erect position, in man w© find, first of all, a flat solo with a very considerable leverage to the side of the. big toe. Second, if we look at the skeleton of the foot, we find that the heel projects at much more behind the lag bone relatively to the size of the foot than in any other animal. A prominent heel is, therefore, a truly'human, character, inasmuch as it gives a support to the body, and, so to speak, keeps "1.19 from tumbling backwards. I do.not here allude to the muscular arrangements of the logs nor- to the spine which are all elements to be' considered when we ask how we .easily retain the erect position, but. one may add as regards .the foot that it exhibits a beautiful double arch. There is, first of all, the'arch from before backwards, and there is also a second arch running acrosia the foot with the beautiful structures called ligaments, which bind the bones of the ankle. If such ligaments are strained from one cause or another, and the arch destroyed, we then find the condition, painful in itself, known as “flat foot.” .SOME OF THE AILMENTS. I do not propose in this article to enter into the consideration of the treatment of these ailments of the foot which more ©specially include some alteration of its structure. Corns and bunions are no doubt extremely annoying, -and even painful things. With them I may deal in a future article. To-day I propose to say something regarding some troublesome affections liable to affect the feet, ' especially in the hot weather. There is, first of all, for'example, the condition of an extremely troublesome nature known as “-excessive perspiration/’ This is a condition which may affect the body at large. When it does so it is usually a sign of ill-health of one land or am other. We know, for -example, that in certain wasting diseases -1 the skin at large secretes an excessive amount-of perspiration. In. the case of the. feet there is probably some condition present depending not m much perhaps- on the person's general health as on Ids treatment pf hid lower members. The habit, for example, of wearing tight boots or of-wear-ing garters which obstruct the circulation in the legs may be responsible for excessive sweating of the feet. Also frequently the socks may be of too thick a character. To whatever cause this sweating of the feet is due the remedies to be applied are -simple, and there is -no reason why they should not be as effective as they are simple Persons &a troubled should be careful, first of all, to change the socles frequently. They should obtain from any -chemist a feet powder. There is a very good, preparation of this kind known as Herman foot powder, so called, I believe, because it is so largely used in the German army. But any ohem-ist will compound a powder composed, amongst other things, of boracic acid, - which : should be dusted not merely upon the feeb' after washing, but should also be ■ 'dfisjted inside the socks before they are r: put‘ bn. They should be regularly washed in tepid water to which a little Iza-1 has added.. Some persons have cured 1 ''themselves by bathing the feet regularly, i e-night and morning, and sometimes i. ,'througli the day as well, in water in which salt has been dissolved. . A few crystals -of permanganate of potash dissolved in tepid water will make a solution of a deep purple colour. This solution may often be found effective, in the - treatment of such cases.,, ANOTHER AILMENT.

More annoying than simple excessive perspiration of the feet is an affection, attended by a disagreeable odour: of the secretion of the skin. Here also we find a condition which may affect other parts of the body. This - trouble may sometimes I have no doubt, proceed from neglect of the skin and its duties,; but it occurs , frequently in who are scrupiilously careful’/ of the skin, and who in eveiy way act up to'the motto that cleanliness is nofctinerely desirablefrom a social point- but is the foundation of all health. It. will be found-where disagreeable nerspiration

exists either in the feet or in other parts -of the body, that some ©omdtion of body exists which is responsible for the disagreeable odour attaching to the secretion -of the -skin, I have known of cases' in which this trouble arose from some' digestive disturbance. Constipation, for example, is a condition which many physicians regard as causing the ailment -we are discussing, since when this com dition has been corrected the disagreeable odour has disappeared. It will be well, therefore, that an examination of the general health should be made in all cases in which the perspiration has a disagreeable odour. Physicians are accustomed iu such cases, in addition to looking after the general function of the body, to prescribe certain internal remedies. One remedy which is in high favour is ah assafoetida pill taken each night or every second might. For the purpose of checking the excessive discharge of perspiration from the skin ten

drops or so of the liquid extract of ergot may be taken in water once or twice daily.- This, however, is not to be continued for any Length of time.., If it is to produce , any good effect, that effect ought to be speedily apparent, l.neect hardly reiterate the opinion that m all affections in which the skin and perapiration are involved the use of baths must be rigidly insisted upon, A tepid bath is probably better than a cold one. and a little bicarbonate of soda may be added to the water by way of aiding the action of the bath it/elif.