SPRAIN OF THE FLEXOR TENDONS. 



499 



will prevent the structures being stretched, or exerted when 

 the patient moves about. I have great difficulty, in cases of 

 sprain, in convincing people of the necessity and importance of 

 a high-heeled shoe. I am continually told that a shoe of this 

 kind, if fixed upon the foot of a lame limb, will cause the limb 

 to grow shorter. The objection is a ridiculous one. The 

 proper form of shoe is Fig. 29. 



represented in the an- 

 nexed engraving : and 

 the proper way it should 

 be made is described at 

 page 470. If the patient 

 be a draught horse, the animal should not be worked in the 

 shafts for some time after recovery, and the heel of the shoe 

 should be lowered gradually. 



Arnica Lotion. — Aconite Lotion. — Cold Water Ban- 

 dages. — Arnica lotion should be applied to the limb several 

 times a day ; and, during the acute stage of the injury, give the 

 patient Arnica in 2-drachm doses of the 1st dilution. The 

 dose may be repeated two or three times a day. 



After bathing the limb in Arnica lotion, it should be encased 

 in a cold water bandage. A wet hay-band is the cheapest, and 

 will retain water the longest. 



Sometimes in cases of this kind when Arnica fails to afford 

 relief, Aconite lotion proves of signal service. Use it in the 

 following proportions : — 



Aconite 4 drachms. 



"Water 1 pint. 



Apply the lotion warm, several times a day, and afterwards 

 encase the limb in a woollen bandage, saturated with hot 

 water. 



