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The Word Chiropody
The word appears in the English language in the 18th century, when a London corn cutter by the name of David Low wanted to write the definitive text on care of the feet. Unfortunately Low was a plagiarist and translated the thesis entitled L'Art de Soigner les Pieds (1781), previously written by Frenchman, Nicholas-Laurent LaForest. To avoid detection Low renamed the works "Chiropodologia". By combining both Greek and Latin prefixes. "Chiro" Greek meaning hand and foot; and Pod Latin for foot. No one was really sure whether the new study chiropody was treatment of the hand by the foot, or visa versa. Most scholars have accepted Low intended to promote care of the foot by the hand. 'Ch', in Greek is written as a 'x' and pronounced with a silent 'h.' "X" when translated into English becomes a harsh sounding 'k'. The proper and correct pronunciation is therefore 'kir-opodist'.
We can see the same phonetic translation in the word Xmas. Contratry to popular belief the abbreviation for was not for the convenience of greetings card manufacturers but instead a celebration of "K" or Christmas mass. During the depression years of the 1930's, chiropody and chiropody services became very popular within the UK and were patronised by the Royal Family. On a random visit to the Edinburgh School of Chiropody and Foot Clinic, the Royal researchers were concerned at the origins of the word chiropody and set to out find an alternative derivation.
Breaking Down The Word Chiropody
Chiron was a Greek God, a centaur, half horse, half man. He was a mentor to many Greek heroes and taught Asclepius his medical arts. Chiron lived as recluse at the bottom of Mount Pelion, and dedicated his whole life to caring for the crippled. After his half-brother Pholus was killed by Heracles, a stray arrow wounded Chiron. His wounds were painful and he agreed to exchange his immortality with Prometheus so he could die, peacefully. Zeus immortalised the centaur, who became a bright light for many with the constellation (Sagittarius).
Alternatively according to Runting (1932), Lewi the US podiatrists considered the word chiropody was originally written 'Chirurgpodist" or surgeon of the foot. He believed for the sake of euphony the word "chiropodist" was coined. Whatever its origin US chiropodists changed their name to podiatrists in the 1950s. The term podiatry came to be used in Australasia about thirty years ago and more recently the term has been adopted by many UK, practitioners. However chiropodist still exhausts and can be found in State Acts in Australia as well as the UK e.g.
The Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists. Practitioners. Europeans refer to themselves as podologs. The term podology means the study of feet (in health and disease) and may be considered a specialised branch of zoology. According to Harper Davis (1932) the term podogeny is used to describe the science or the serial phenomena of foot history and the origin and modification of foot types. Podogeny may refer to the individual or to the racial development of feet. Podometry relates to the measurement of feet and podometry is crucial to finding the right sized footwear for you.
There are still a lot of foot health specialist calling themselves chiropodists and opening a chiropody clinic to provide chiropody services. In order to practise foot health care professionally, you will enroll yourself into chiropody courses and get professional chiropody training for a few years before you can practice. Chiropody treatments are common nowadays so it might be a wise choice to train to become a chiropodist.
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