In a paper quoted in the Philadelphia Medical Times, January 31, 1880, a most minute account of the modus operandi, the duration, and the suffering attendant on this process are given.
Strapping of the foot by means of tight bandages requires a period of two or three years' continuance before the desired effect is produced.
There is a varying degree of pain, which is most severe during the first year and gradually diminishes after the binding of all the joints is completed.

During the binding the girl at night lies across the bed, putting her legs on the edge of the bed-stead in such a manner as to make pressure under the knees, thus benumbing the parts below and avoiding the major degree of pain.

In this position, swinging their legs backward and forward, the poor Chinese girls pass many a weary night.

During this period the feet are unbound once a month only.

The operation is begun by placing the end of a long, narrow bandage on the inside of the instep and carrying it over the four smaller toes, securing them under the foot.