club foot

club foot is a deformity of which the most common form, known as talipes equinovarus, is characterized by the foot being turned upwards and inwards and bent towards the heel. It is frequently congenital, and less severe forms, often believed to be caused by an adverse position in the womb, may be treated with splints, plastercasts, or manipulation: all therapies used since Hippocratic times. Nowadays surgery, to cut restricted tendons and to reposition misplaced bones, may be required for more severe forms. Neurological disorders, such as poliomyelitis and cerebral palsy, can also cause acquired clubfoot. One of the most famous sufferers was the poet Lord Byron (1788–1824). Contemporary and later accounts differ greatly in their assessment of his lameness, one writer suggesting that he was lame in both legs, the left being severely withered below the knee. However, the consensus opinion seems to be that he had a mild form of talipes in his right foot. He received no treatment until he was ten, when he was put into the charge of a quack called Lavendar who forcibly manipulated and twisted the misshapen foot, and forced it into a vice-like machine. The pain and fruitlessness of these procedures convinced Byron's mother to consult Dr Baillie, a well-known London practitioner, in whose care the boy's foot was straightened to such an extent that he walked thereafter with a slight limp only, although he remained acutely conscious of this small infirmity for the rest of his life.

E. M. Tansey