Monday, January 27, 2020

Status of the Feet Affects the Whole Body

  What’s happening at our feet is integrally related to the state of our entire frame---our skeleton, our bones, our joints---to its overall equilibrium or disequilibrium.
For example, people who have fallen arches or who pronate need to support their feet with orthotics, not just for comfort, but also because these conditions in the feet reverberate up into the knees, hips, and pelvis and cause problems. 
Some may need prescription orthotics, but many people will find over-the-counter orthotics can do the job.
When the inside of your foot drops inward toward the floor when you’re standing, it’s called “pronation,” and is often seen in combination with fallen arches, or “flat feet.” This often creates abnormal stress on the Achilles tendon, causing a visible and abnormal inward curving. You can see this by standing behind someone who pronates and looking at the backs of their ankles. 
Pronation can cause foot pain and fatigue, but it also negatively affects the knees, and can reverberate upward to cause abnormal stresses in the hips and pelvis.
These abnormal stresses cause wear and tear that can lead to instability, pain, impairment of function, and eventually to osteoarthritis.
     Abnormalities at the feet should be properly addressed. My treatment plan includes precise assessment of feet, ankles, knees, hips, and pelvic joints and gentle, precise corrections with the  Activator instrument,.