Being archless seems to be a surprisingly common sight here in Hong Kong. Many of my Chiropractic and Podiatry colleagues agree that for many Asians it must be a hereditary factor. However the statistics suggest that only 3% of flat-footers have what they call “rigid flat feet” which is more structural in nature. The functional form of flat feet, has developed along the way due to wrong shoes, weakness of the foot invertors (Tibialis posterior) and very tight Achilles and calve muscles.

The alignment and symmetry of our structure is dependant on the hugely neglected foundation of our anatomy, our feet and ankles. Our relationship to the ground we stand on determines our so-called vertical geometry. It’s very much like the foundation of a tall building. Mess up those solid foundations and everything else weakens all the way to the top!!

Our foot is a complex array of 26 bones (a quarter of the bodies bones are found in the feet`) 33 joints, 56 ligaments, 38 muscles and 7,200 nerve endings. All these structures provide the foot with extensive strength and Range of Motion. Our Ankle bones (tarsal bones) are used for ankle rotation, the long bones of the foot are called the metatarsals, and they are part of the instep and are held-up by the muscles that give us the arch. Then finally at the metatarsal heads are the phalanges or toes that provide us with the lift and balance assisting us in the all- important push-off when walking or running.

It is worth noting that each time you take a step your body is absorbing 570lbs of pressure that adds up to a staggering 5.7 million lbs of pressure on those much neglected feet each day!

Not surprisingly when doing range of motion testing on our client’s ankles and feet, well over 80% of them are hugely restricted in mobility and during manual palpation around those 33 foot- joints and 100 ligaments we find multiple trigger points and therefore high pain levels suggesting all is not well with their posture and gait patterns( i.e. how you walk)

What to do?

It is important to analyze not only your postural symmetry but also to have a gait analysis to see how hard you land and whether the foot roles-in too far, causing over-pronation which will overload the inside knee (runners knee), shin splints, Plantar fasciitis, heel spurs and numerous other ailments all the way up to the neck. I was told at a recent stretching seminar in Florida, that I personally bounce too much when I walk which will over tighten the calves and shorten them, causing the connective tissue at the instep of the foot to over lengthen and weaken. I needed to use my gluteal muscles more to create a better forward glide when I walk. We all need someone to take a closer look at our individual gait patterns.

Becoming more aware of your own posture and where you weight bear (you should be placing 75% of your weight on your heels not the mid-foot!)

Then you need to lengthen out all the tight musculature, we place special attention on stretching the Calves, Soleus and Achilles tendon, which will help you to push off more effectively. Finally we use special Active Strengthening methods to build up and support the ankles and arches, with special attention given to strengthening the Tibialis posterior. (Foot Invertors)

If you are working on every joint and muscles that ties into the foot it can take well over an hour to stretch and strengthen each foot. Well worth it for the budding athletes and all those that let their foot pains go unnoticed!!

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• read more about this subject
  • strong and supple feet
• footloose stretch session
• Plantar Fascitis and Archilles tendonitis

 

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