Footnotes: Foothealth

People who have neglected their feet all winter, suddenly expect us to turn them beach ready in one treatment.

Well, we all love a challenge don’t we…. Bring them on!

Last week I went to lunch with two retired Chiropodists. We had a lovely meal, and afterwards the conversation turned to the old days, I was amazed at some of the stories they told.

At the start of the day, they were issued one scalpel. This had to be sharpened on a stone, in between customers. It was kept in a jar of disinfectant to clean it. They used the same set of instruments for all their customers, these were also kept in the same disinfectant jar. No gloves were worn.

Chiropodists were targeted not only for the number of customers they saw per day, but also for the number of accessories that they sold. These ranged from creams, toe props, to shoes and stockings.

They had 20 minutes per customer to complete this.

If a customer did not rebook the next appointment, they had to be able to tell the store manager the reason why not.

Makes me glad to be self-employed!

If there are any old school Chiropodists, Podiatrists, or Foot Health Practitioners out there who have any stories about days gone by, I would love to hear them.

By Beverley Wright

It is thought by Morton (1935) that Australopithecus afarensis, which possessed a hindlimb adapted to terrestrial bipedalism, with a rigid ankle (Latimer et al, 1987: DeSilva, 2009) and an arched, nongrasping midfoot were tree climbers like our closest relatives, the apes. Not surprisingly the biological and adaptive significance of human climbing is still possible with the evolved modern human foot. Although, as climbing goes homo sapiens are more adaptive for activities in the central core of trees. However, there are many cultures today that are still competent tree climbers, especailly vertical climbing to gather fruits and honey, and evading dangerous animals and predators.

The foot’s most important tendon is named after the Greek hero Achilles. When Achilles was a baby, his mother tried to make him invulnerable by dipping him in the river Styx. But she held him by the heels, which remained unshielded (GreekMythology.com, 2021). It was there, in the back of his foot that was hit by a lethal arrow from his enemy, Paris, during the siege of Troy (Homer, 8th or 7th BCE).

According to popular legend the practice of foot binding emerged in the 11th Century China after Empress Taki was born with club

feet. Her father issued an edict requiring all high-class woman to bind their feet so that no-one could discriminate against her. Small feet became a status symbol, mark of beauty, and a way to marry well. For centuries, Chinese women had their feet broken and bound to make them small and known as ‘lotus feet’.

In 1902, the Empress Dowager Cixi issued an anti-foot binding edict, but it was soon rescinded. However, following the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, foot binding was completely abolished, and Chinese women today do not bind their feet (Preskar, 2021).

In medieval times walking in long pointy shoes was the height of fashion. The gait was much more toe focused, where men would walk like ballerinas, touching the ground with the toes and balls of the feet instead of the today’s common gait of walking with a heel strike first. Toe walking allowed individuals to put their toes down first to feel for any obstacles such as rocks, before placing their whole weight down, to lessen the chance of injury. In addition to developing good shapely calf muscles, which could be seen under the hosiery of the times. It was also very fashionable for young men to waggle their toes as a sign of appreciation to passing ladies. An early precursor of the wolf whistle (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2015).

The sensitive soles of the feet are vulnerable to more than just tickling. One medieval torture said to be used in France involved pouring salt water over the victim’s feet and then bringing in a goat to lick the salt-water off the feet with its rough tongue (Yamey, 2001).

Jack Daniels is famous for his sour-mash whiskey and distillery in Tennessee, USA; and for the way he supposedly died. It was said that when he couldn’t remember the combination of his safe, he kicked it in frustration and broke his toe. The toe became infected and later the toe was amputated, and then his foot due to blood-poisoning. Sepsis was said to have caused his death. Ironically, if he had just doused his toe in his own whiskey, the infection might never have occurred (Freeth, 2005).

Many early religions linked the soul to the sole, Sir James George Frazer (born January 1, 1854—died May 7, 1941). British anthropologist, folklorist, and classical scholar, reported in the Golden Bough that the followers of the Greek Philosopher Pythagoras were forbidden from piercing a man’s footprint with a nail or knife.

In 1991, Louis Hollis of Compton, California, had toenails that were on average more than 6 inches long. She holds the Guinness Book of World records the combined length of all ten toenails was 220.98 cm (87 in). It was stated in the Guinness Book of World Records (2007): “She rarely wears shoes, but when she does, they must be open-toed and have at least 7.62 cm (3 in) thick soles to prevent her nails from dragging on the ground.”

Devendra Suthar a 46-year-old carpenter from Western India, holds the Guinness Book of Records for having 14 toes and 14 fingers, more than any other living person. He was born with polydactyly, which affects around one in every 700-to-1,000 births worldwide and occurs in the womb during the sixth or seventh week of pregnancy.

Jeison Orlando Rodríguez Hernández from Maracay, Venezuela has the Guinness World Record for the biggest feet on a living person, which are US size 26 feet. The 22-year-old has a right foot measuring 40.55 cm (1.33 ft) and his left foot has reached 40.47 cm (1.32 ft). This excludes cases of elephantiasis, and giantism (Guinness Book of World Records, 2018)

Footballers tend to have many metatarsal injuries, usually fractures such as Jones and/or March fractures. The ‘Jones’ fracture is a transverse fracture of the proximal metadiaphyseal junction of the fifth metatarsal bone involving the 4th-5th metatarsal articulation. The fracture is believed to occur because of significant adduction force to the forefoot with the ankle in plantar flexion (Theodorou et al, 2003).

By Personalo at English Wikipedia.

The ‘March’ fracture was derived in 1855 because of the effects of Prussian soldiers marching. The marching often caused stress fractures affecting one or more of the metatarsals of the foot. This occurred because of overuse and repetitive actions of the feet (Van Demark and McCarthy, 1946)

The foot has been a rich source of idioms, the Free Dictionary lists more than 276 examples, from ‘Put your best foot forward’ to ‘one foot in the grave’. It’s enough to make you fall head over heels (Free Dictionary, 2003-2022).

Chair of Ethics and Vice-Chair of Education

Please see page 20 for the References for this article

Amber Jenkins

Ellie Phillips Heather Holder

Martin, Anthony & the Graduation Group Karen Tweedie

Premjid Clays Richard Cortis Una Ennis

Yvonne Nelson