What The Foot!
Nothing gets people excited about health like talking about the foot. Only kidding. In reality we neglect our feet more than rest of our body. We cover them in socks and throw shoes on. We have shoes for very specific reasons or events. From sporting events, a night out, or even our at home slippers. I’m just as guilty. I know this and I love a new pair of shoes.
To keep this simple and light I want to explain why I care about how our feet work. As we are bipedal (2 feet walkers) we put all our weight on our feet with every step. Even more pressure is applied with running or even jumping. Since we abuse our feet with everyday activities, we feel the effects many times up stream. Meaning how our feet move, or don’t move, affects our bodies up above. A grumpy knee complaint can be caused by what our feet and ankles do. A bad hip and low back pain can be directly related to our walking cycle also known as your gait.
Many conditions themselves are seen at the foot and ankle. A few that I like to bring up are bunions and Morton’s neuroma. We can get into specifics on what those are and why they happen. One that we see often is more of a lack of control from a muscle strength standpoint. What that means is that we cannot control an arch in the foot.
Here is the kicker, most foot conditions can be preventable. Some of these conditions may take time to change with treatment, while others are helped with just a change in activity.
My goal is not to be just a foot chiropractor. My goal is to help you understand that there are ways to improve your overall health. During an assessment I look to the feet to see if there are issues there as well. If I haven’t then I feel like I have failed.
When looking at the foot for analysis of function and or dysfunction we assess it primarily in a loaded position, meaning while standing or walking. Reason being is that is what we do all day, we walk and or stand. A topic we will get into later is shoes and the adaptations seen from footwear.
The big question if you read this far is the SO WHAT question?
Here is my two cents, musculoskeletal conditions such as bunions or mortons neuromas or plantar fasciitis are debilitating. The popular choice of care has always been surgery. Granted there is always a need for it, but should it be your first choice? I hope not. I hope you learn from this that these conditions are preventable and treatable with non-invasive care. Each condition has a certain set of rules. That is for when you have the issue. The prevention for these conditions is more liberal.
Prevention of these conditions requires attention to your feet and tensions or lack of control in the foot and ankle.
Interested in learning more about the foot. Watch out on our social media pages this month as we demonstrate how to take care of your feet.
If you are experiencing foot related conditions and are needing care, contact us through [email protected] . Call in and make an appointment today, 801-251-6658.
Dr. Bird is a chiropractor in Midvale, UT. He works to improve the life of his patient’s from improving how they move. Dr. Bird graduated from Cleveland University Kansas City. He was a club representative for the Motion Palpation Institute while in school. He taught in that capacity to other students how to assess, palpate and adjust. Dr. Bird is Full Body Certified in Active Release Technique, RockTape certified provider, and certified in Selective Functional Movement Assessment.
Call in today and set up a consultation. Don’t wait for an injury to seek care. Prevention is key.
Check out the link below for a tutorial of using yoga toes. Yes even us big guys use them, and feel better for it.
