The Feet

CHAPTER VII

THE FEET

TOO many women are inclined to forget that
they have feet until something happens to call
their attention to them. A beautifully formed foot
is as charming to the eye as a beautifully shaped
hand. Shoes, of course, have much to do with
preserving or distorting the natural foot outline,
and in this connection several practical facts should
be remembered.
First, that every woman's shoe should be broad
enough to let her toes rest flatly and naturally on
the sole. Second, that a low heel throws the weight
of the body on the instep. If you feel that broken
arches are a slight penalty to pay for tottering about
with the silly helplessness of a foot-bound Chinese
woman of the old type, by all means wear high-
heeled shoes. If you will have "French" heels—
and to the average man a woman looks ridiculous
in them, though politeness bid him disguise his
feelings—there is nothing more to be said.
Do not wear old shoes about the house. They
will make your feet shapeless. The dyes in cheap
stockings often run. If you have a slight skin
abrasion or a cut, you may get blood poisoning.
Hence pay more for your stockings (silk, lisle or
silk and wool) rather than risk infection.


FOOT MANICURING

Always cut your toenails straight across, using
a nail clip, or nail scissors. Ingrown nails always
result from cutting away the corners of the nail
which support its forward part. If you smooth the
nail edges with emery, a good deal of darning will
be saved.

FOOT AILMENTS

Calluses.—Calluses very often develop on the
sole of the foot. They also form on the toes,
where they turn into hard corns, or between
the toes, where they become soft ones, and are
capable of causing severe pain. Like bunions, flat
feet and fallen arches, calluses and corns are a
logical result of the wearing of tight or ill-fitting
shoes.
Good corn plasters give relief. There are also
good acid solutions for corns, but they must be
applied to the hard skin of the corn only. It is
best, however, to have a good chiropodist remove
corns, since he is able to take out their core. The
"vascular" corn (made up of small blood vessels),
which is less common, should always be taken out
by a chiropodist.

Bunions.—Bunions are beyond proper home
treatment. They are produced by pressure on the
big toe, causing inflammation of the second toe
joint. A preliminary callus turns into enlarge-
ment of the joint, and, in many cases, motives
much suffering, and inability to wear a shoe.
If the shoe pressure which causes the bunion be
removed, the callus will disappear, but not
necessarily the bunion. When bunions are long-standing
it is not always possible to cure them permanently.
A bunion should at once be referred to a chiropodist.

Ingrowing Nails.—Their origin has already been
mentioned. Treatment should consist in bathing
in hot water, then raising the injured portion of the
nail, and inserting pieces of lint or absorbent cotton
as an artificial support. Then scrape the nail
longitudinally. The lint or cotton support must
be renewed from time to time, until the nail has reverted
to normal. If a proud flesh condition has
developed it will be best to go at once to the
chiropodist, instead of attempting a cure yourself.

Flat and Fallen Arches.—Both these foot
troubles are beyond any home treatment. Fallen
arches, once they have definitely dropped, cannot
be completely cured. Both diseases, in most cases,
result from improper footwear, high heels, and
shoes wrongly balanced, and each and every case
usually needs individual treatment.

Chilblains.
—Chilblains, one of the most common
of foot disorders, can usually be cured at home. It
comes from cold or frost, and does not start in
feet which have a good blood circulation. Soaking
the feet in hot water, rubbing and massaging with
warm spirits of rosemary and turpentine, and exer-
cise are the remedies. Exercise, especially, restores
the circulation, and alleviates the redness, the burn-
ing feeling and the intolerable itching which are the
signs of the ailment

FOOT PERSPIRATION AND PERSPIRATION IN GENERAL

Foot Perspiration.
—Perspiration we associate
more directly and more perceptibly with the feet
than any other part of the body. There is a reason.
There are more perspiration glands in the feet than
anywhere else on the body, save in the palms of the
hands. Daily bathing, night and morning, is the
best preventive of excessive foot perspiration. It
is well, when you are thus troubled, to add a little
alum to the water (it should be warm), and after
drying to powder the feet with boracic powder. Or,
if you prefer, use a soothing lotion for "feet that
are weary" and perspiring, made up of equal parts
of alcohol and witch hazel. Hot water, however,
is a sovereign specific for all sweaty feet.

Perspiration in General.—We are perspiring all
the time. Our perspiration glands are constantly
throwing off the waste matter of the body, and
bathing serves the double purpose of keeping the
pores open so that this matter may be discharged,
and removing it in order that no disagreeable odors
result from its presence. The soles of the feet, the
armpits, at times the forehead, chest, and neck are
perspiration centers.
Perspiration is usually not excessive when a
woman is in good general health, or when it is not
a result of violent exercise or unusual temperature
conditions. But when it is habitual and unchecked
it robs a young woman or girl of all that charm
of daintiness and appeal which is her right and
privilege. There is no odor more immediately and
more resentfully noticed than that of dried per-
spiration. It clings not only to the body, but to
the clothes. Perfumes and scented powders do not
hide it, and it always awakens disgust.
Frequent bathing, frequent change of undergarments
and stockings, and a free use of talcum
powder or "odorono" are all indicated. Never
imagine that the use of talcum instead of soap and
water will do away with this unhappy scent. After
washing, always and invariably after washing, is
powder to be used. The poet has coined the phrase
"honest sweat." But there is no such thing as
"honest sweat" in feminine beauty's bright lexicon
of charm. Perspiration, especially at evening affairs,
dances, etc., steals away that natural freshness
and fragrance of aura which should surround woman.

OTHER ODORS

There are some natural feminine odors which
also need to be guarded against. When women
are troubled with certain disorders, there are apt
to be discharges. Those occasioned by leucorrhea,
for instance, often cause a slight yet perceptible
odor. Proper medical advice can easily recommend
a douche which will destroy any odor of this sort.
Menstruation, too, is often responsible for the giving
off of a somewhat strong odor. This can be
almost entirely obviated by frequent warm bathing,
repeated change of dressing (no girl can be too
particular in this respect!) and the use of good
deodorizing powders and disinfectants

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