Beware of the Perils of the High Heel 



Listen to the warnings of Pro- 

 fessor Quenu and Doctor Menard 



AT one of the recent sessions of the 

 £-^ Academy of Medicine of Paris an 

 interesting communication upon the 

 subject of high heels was submitted by 

 Prof. Quenu and Dr. Menard, closing with 

 the ominous warning : " Ladies, if you 

 value your health, give up the high 

 heels of your shoes!" 



Several years ago Dr. Dagron, a 

 noted French physician, called atten- 

 tion to the injurious effects of wearing 

 high heels, but his warning made 

 but little impression. Since then, 

 however, the subject has been more 

 thoroughly studied with the aid of 

 X-Rays and iTio\'ing pictures by Quenu 

 and Menard. These two investigators 

 have found that an unnatural strain is 

 placed upon the muscles and tendons of 

 the foot, as well as upon leg muscles 

 forced to accommodate themselves to the 

 task of maintaining the equilibrium of a 

 body unnaturally raised by the heels. 

 The strain caused by this effort is so 

 great that fatigue is experienced even 

 after a short walk. 

 The effects of wearing high heels are 

 even farther reaching than was suspected 

 heretofore. The change of the position 

 of the foot disturbs the equihbrium of the 

 whole body. As there is a tendency to 

 bend the knees the upper part of the body, 

 the head and chest, is thrown back, while 

 the abdomen is forced forward beyond its 

 normal position. The physicians state 

 that the disturbances caused by the 

 wearing of high heels, the disarrange- 

 ment of the articulated bones of the 

 foot and the throwing out of their nor- 

 mal position of the different parts of 

 the body are serious enough, but that 

 in walking these effects are so aggra- 

 vated, that they produce the most 

 serious internal disorders. 



the left 

 poise of 



The skeleton on 



shows the graceful 



the normally supported body 



The skeleton on the right 

 shows how high heels change 

 normal position of the bones 



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