Notes on the nature and treatment of flat-foot / by T.S. Ellis.

  • Ellis, Thomas S.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notes on the nature and treatment of flat-foot / by T.S. Ellis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    NOTES ON THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF FLAT-FOOT. Atf By T. S. ELLIS, CONSULTING SURGEON TO THE GENERAL INFIRMARY AT GLOUCESTER. (Reprinted from the Edinburgh Medical Journal for January 1890.) I HAVE myself personally suffered from an extreme condition of flat-foot, the result of an accident twenty-two years ago. My recovery, long since practically complete, was the result of a six- months’ application of principles which 1 had, after anxious study, myself determined. This is my apology for now offering these notes, suggested by Mr Miller’s paper in the November number of this Journal. To relate my own personal case would be to tell an oft-told tale1 To point out wherein I differ from Mr Miller and other writers would be an uncongenial task. I prefer to set forth the guiding principles which have, for many years, directed my treatment of flat-foot. These I have never before fully formulated. (1.) The foot is supported not only in but also by the exercise of its functions. The muscles, which by action move, in action sustain the structure. In early life they also develop the form. (2.) Ligaments are insufficient to resist tension when continuous or prolonged. On the other hand, intermittent tension promotes their strength. (3.) Muscles, developed by action, tend to remain taut and firm when not in action, and so, by keeping up continuous pressure, modify the bony contours. (4.) As failure of muscular support tends to deformity from yielding of ligaments, so a renewal of it, in specially active degree, will renew the form. (5.) In good walking the heel is raised from the ground by the calf muscles and by the long flexors, acting, with the peronei and tibialis posticus, at the same time. (6.) While the long flexor muscles press the toes against the ground, they tend to lift up the heads of the metatarsal bones (forming the anterior pillar of the arch), which thus dance, so to 1 Lancet, February 9, 1884, and September 25, 1886. Brit. Med. Journ., June 30, 1888.