162 APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY 



When you sprain a joint, you should put it at once in 

 hot water for an hour or two. This will relieve the pain 

 and swelling. Then you should keep the joint at rest for 

 a few days. 



325. Bones out of joint. When the end of a bone is 

 out of its socket, the bone is out of joint. Then move- 

 ments of the limb will be painful or impossible. If a bone 

 gets out of joint, the ligaments become badly torn and 

 will heal slowly. A bone out of joint is as bad an injury 

 as a broken bone. It will be necessary to put the bone in 

 place and keep it there by splints and bandages. It is 

 treated like a broken bone. 



326. Effects of improper positions. When a bone or 

 joint is bent, it will return to its former shape. If it is 

 kept bent in one direction a large part of the time, it 

 slowly grows into that shape. If you always lean to one 

 side while sitting at the desk, the backbone will finally 

 become curved in that direction. If you sit round-shoul- 

 dered, after a while your bones and joints will make you 

 keep that shape. A round-shouldered person has small 

 lungs. He is apt to be short-winded. 



327. Tight shoes. If your shoes are tight, they will 

 cramp your toes and make them grow out of shape. The 

 big toe of a baby points forward in a line with the inside 

 of the foot. It points forward in very few men or women, 

 for their tight shoes force it inward until it stays in that 

 position. The ends of the toes should be square with the 

 sides of the feet. Tight shoes cramp the toes and make 

 them pointed. When the tight shoe rubs the skin, it causes 

 the epithelium to thicken and form a corn. If it forces the 

 big toe inward, it harms its joint, making it swell and be- 

 come painful. This forms a bunion. The cure for corns 

 and bunions is to wear loose shoes of the shape of the foot. 



