Page:Why the Shoe Pinches.djvu/33

 shoe, and the influence is first felt on those two points which primarily receive the pressure or its immediate consequences, i.e., on the point and root.

At the point of the great toe the pressure falls in the first instance on the nail, and on it therefore its greatest effects are experienced. This pressure principally affects the anterior part of the inner edge of the nail, and must, since it forces this part outwards (towards the smaller toes), displace the whole nail from its natural position. It first becomes oblique in its direction, and is then forced over the margin of the skin which ought to cover it on the side next the small toes, and thus slight inflammations (Fig. 16, a) are constantly excited in the displaced fold of skin, giving rise to more or less pain.



At the same time the matrix of the nail fixed under the skin (Figs. 15 and 16, b) is forced more firmly into the skin, whilst exactly on the point into which it is so pressed, there is constant pressure of the upper leather from above, and the nail can thus only be disposed of by