By Dustin Boudreau, Health and Wellness Columnist
We do not think about our feet often, unless we are doing our nails, or they are in pain. We should pay more attention to our feet, think about it, our feet carry an average of 100-200 pounds all day, everyday.
There are lots of studies recently on the stability of our feet and the impact they have on the rest of our body when there is an issue. I have spoken a few times about the connective tissue “fascia” that is in our bodies. Fascia is like a unitard (morph suit) under our skin -it connects the soles of our feet to the top point in on our head. If you now have an image someone wearing a unitard, picture what happens when a handful of the material is grasped and pulled – the fabric stretches and will pull different areas of the morph suit. That is how our whole body is connected – one thing/or issue in our body effects another.
Our feet are created in a way that the weight of our body’s can balance on the small bones with out crumbling. Did you know that our toes and the main part of our feet spread as we walk – dispersing the weight. Are your shoes too tight? Not enough space to allow your bones and tissues to spread out with each step we take? The arches under our feet play an important role as well – as we step, the arch will lower a bit as the bones spread out. Flat feet (no or low arch) prevent a springboard action from happening – the opposite (high arches) prevent the movement from happening as well. When the mechanics of our feet do not work like they should, they impact of our steps travel up our bodies. Often this is felt in the knees, then we compensate with hip imbalances – which depending on if the hips are over tilted forward or backwards, our spine is the curved more (one way or another).
Many clients come to see me with hip, low back, or neck pain. One of the first things I check is their feet (how are the arches, do the feet bones move easily, etc.), and I look at the bottom of their shoes. Look at the bottom of your shoes – how are the treads wearing away? Is one side of the shoe more worn then the other?
If you are experiencing knee, hip, low back, or neck pain (feet pain as well), get assessed by a professional. Our feet connect us to the world!
Photo by Anete Lusina: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-therapist-massaging-foot-of-client-5240677/
