Correcting Causes of Deformities
In the second place, where there is a special deformity of a part, there is a weakness or lack of control in the muscles of the part. Exercise acts directly on such muscles, and, in strengthening or correcting them, lessens or removes the de¬formity. By exercise weak muscles are strengthened, short ones are stretched, and stretched ones shortened, and the con¬trol of all is improved. All muscles have what is known as “tone.” There is a slight contraction of the muscle fibers which make them quick to respond to stimuli. If two oppos¬ing sets of muscles are not equally well developed, therefore, the general tone of the one set will exert a greater pull on the adjacent joints and bones, and will bring about some kind of deformity. This loss of tone in certain muscles is frequently the result of disease, or of neglect of diet, fresh air, exercise, and other health-preserving factors.
Among the more usual deformities are: bow-legs, which generally result from rickets, but which may occasionally be due to over-weight at the time when the child was learning to walk; chicken-breast, the result of spinal curvature, rickets, or interference with respir¬ation in babyhood; clubfoot, congenital or acquired, usually as the result of infantile paralysis; flatfoot, or weakened arches, generally due to improper shoes, combined with bad habits of walking; hernia, or rupture; hollow-chest, due to lack of vitality and poor posture; knock-knees, caused by weakness in the leg muscles, aggravated in many cases, by over¬weight; paralysis; prolapsus; uneven shoulders; spinal curva¬ture; and strabismus, popularly known as crossed eyes, and other eye troubles.