So this will be a discussion about feet. One of the most important parts of the body for efficient human movement function. Humans being bipedal mammals, our feet are the one thing we are continuously interacting with, related to our surrounding environment. If we do not pay attention to our foot position, we don’t pay attention to how we interact with the external environment, say goodbye to proper and efficient bio-mechanics.
When I assess feet, the first thing I look at is the calcaneus. This is the heel of the foot. Many experts believe the calcaneus is one of the “keystone structures” of the entire human body, let me explain. The easiest way to explain this is an analogy. The heel is almost like the rudder of a ship. If we rudder shifts or slants to on side, it will pull the ship to the opposite direction. Same with the feet. If the heel shifts or slants to the inside too much, the foot will then be shifting outwardly and usually the patient will have a weight-bearing dominance to the outside of the foot. The same goes for if the heel slants outward. That looks something like what people would consider a flat foot, where the foot is rotated inward and weight bearing is mostly on the flat portion of the arch area.
So when I go about fixing something like a flat foot, it would be faulty of me not to first address the heel position. That’s when I go about mobilizing the heel, usually in a side-lying position. If the heel is slanted outward, I am pushing in inward and vice versa. After the heel is re-positioned to a more neutral state, I then can go after the faulty foot position, whether that be too high of an arch or too low of an arch.
If you want to fix your own heel position, you first have to figure out where your heel is slanted towards. I would have someone take a picture of you from behind, with you being barefoot. You can then see which way the heel is shifted, in its relationship to the foot position. If your foot is flat, your heel is most likely shifted outward. So you can manually mobilize your heel, pulling and twisting it inward. I then would use a lacrosse ball on the back of the calf muscle. This will insure the muscles that attach the heel will not shift it back to its faulty position. I then would go about do some exercises that encourage the opposite slant of the heel. So if the heel is slanted outward, I would be doing exercises that involve slanting the heel inward + slanting/twisting the foot outward. One of my favorite ways to achieve this is using a slant board. Say if you did a split stance squat, but with your front foot on a slant board that was angled laterally upward. Doing an exercise like this would angle your foot more inward and with that, bring the heel relatively more outward. This is something perfect for someone with flat feet ! If you have a high arch, then you would do the opposite, stepping with front foot onto a downward slant board (from a side view). Let me know if you have any questions regarding these concepts and/or exercises and I would be happy to further explain!
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