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Show Advice on Your Health By Morris Fishbein, Editor, Journal American Medical Association At lesst one-fifth of all of the patients with Buerger's disease who have developed gangrene bad to have minor operations on their feet in relationship to tiny infections in-fections around the toes. The investigators recommend that patients with this disease should be taught to avoid crushing crush-ing or bruising the feet or toea and that they should be Instructed Instruct-ed in the proper car of bruises, cuts, corns, scratches and similar injuries. Every little abrasion on ths feet should b carefully treated treat-ed and in these people should be regarded aa a serious injury. New shoes should be worn only a half hour to an hour on the first day and plenty of time should be spent in breaking in every pair of shoes. In cold weather, aoft woollen stockings should always be worn. Car of th toenails I (specially (special-ly important and becomea more important a troubles with the , blood supply develops. The toe-naila toe-naila should be cut straight across after the feet have been soaked in warm watsr and carefully cleaned. Corns, callouses, and bunions should be auitably pro tected against further Irritation, but ahould not be cut. Indeed, every minor surgical procedure should be avoided. Dr. Bayard T. Horton who baa atudied these cases, emphasizes that people with this disease are mor likely to have injuries than other people because of th poor blood supply. They are also more likely to suffer ill effect from en-posure en-posure to cold. In the care of th feet, the tissues tis-sues should always be washed carefully and dried with a aoft towel. Especially must person afflicted be careful in drying the akin between the toes. Caaes were reported in which rubbing briskly with a rough towel has produced an ulcer. If the feet are excessively exces-sively dry or if th akin has a tendency to crack or to scale, greases or ointments may be rubbed on gently to aoftea the ekin. However, ointments containing strong disinfectants, chemical compounds or corn cures have caused the beginning of gangrene In auch oases. Particularly I it dangerous to use some of the very strong remedies which are used to treat athlete's foot. |