Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2021 August 18

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August 18

Feet getting smaller

Someone on Hacker News[1] writes that after having a concussion at age 12, his feet shrunk to two sizes smaller. I'm assuming that's for real: how does it manage to happen? He says he also became shorter. Feet getting smaller was a plot point in the movie The Return of Martin Guerre. According to the shoe maker in the French town where the story took place, sometimes people's feet became larger, but never smaller. Is this something new? 2602:24A:DE47:BA60:8FCB:EA4E:7FBD:4814 (talk) 04:22, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

Why do you assume it's for real? HiLo48 (talk) 04:47, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

Well, it was on the Internet.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:07, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

Of course. My mistake. HiLo48 (talk) 10:32, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

This article says that feet can shrink if the joints degrade, the most common cause being diabetes. I couldn't find anything that suggests it's a side effect of head injury though. Alansplodge (talk) 11:37, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

I think they can shrink if they've been in the water too long. 14:01, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

Quite a contrast with Gracie Allen's nephew, who had three feet. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:02, 21 August 2021 (UTC)

Post hoc non propter hoc. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.197.27.112 (talk) 16:27, 18 August 2021 (UTC)