French Heels and Rheumatism
“THERE’S another of those women with broken-down feet,” said the shoe-store man as he walked back to the case for a particular shape of shoe. “Didn’t you know there was an epidemic of that sort of thing? No? Well, there is, and the French heel is to blame for it. There’s a whole lot of women who think they have rheumatism in their feet, but they haven’t. It’s simply a case of the arch of the foot being broken down. They wore French heels that threw their heels up in the air, and the next season they went to the low heels. The change threw the bones of the instep out of place, and now, when they walk, the bones cause them pain. “I have fixed up any number of feet for them. Some of them have been to springs, where they treat rheumatism, and some of them even to Europe. When they come in here to buy shoes, they speak incidentally about their troubles, and generally a silver plate and a shoe that will hold the bones in place fix them up. “Often I can tell what is the matter with a woman’s foot just by seeing her walk. You see that shoe, all worn off at the side? And this one, worn at the toe? Well, that is because the women have tried to ease the pressure on those broken-down bones. A foot that is formed right, and that is in perfect health, will wear the shoe evenly across the sole. If women only knew what was the matter with their feet, the doctors would miss a lot of fees for treatments for rheumatism.”—Selected.