Confessions of a loved up physio
Hello lovely people it’s Jonny here again and by do I have a story to tell you….
Walk a mile in my shoes:
I haven’t long been back from a weekend away for my stag do in lovely Dublin! and yes for those who don’t already know I am getting married early on next year :-).
Anyway I had a great time (what I can remember anyway!), great bars, great food and lovely people. But what stood out the most was how much my feet hurt the next day.
Why Jonny, of all things did that stand out the most I hear you ask…. Well let me tell you…. My lovely friends forced me to wear an extremely fitting and short dress!, topped off with some very classy girls ballet shoes (and no I didn’t already know the name of that particular style of shoe, I googled it!).
As the saying goes “before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes”. Well I did, I walked many miles in those shoes that night and I am DEFINITELY going to criticise people who wear them!. The next day I woke up, at about 1 pm of course, and my feet were in agony! My heels were sore, my calfs were tight and my back was aching!. I don’t know how you ladies do this day in day out but this is certainly not good for your WHOLE BODY!.
Think of the feet as the foundation of your body. As you know if the foundations of a house are poor then you can expect serious structural problems In the future.
The same applies to your feet. Shoes such as ballet shoes and various other “fashionable” shoes offer very little support to the arch of the feet and very little support to the ankle allowing it to completely move about in turn increasing the chances of an injury.
Ok it is true that there are people who present with quite well balanced feet, having not too low and also not too high of an arch although from my experience with clients at Paul Gough Physio Rooms many do in fact present with unbalanced feet and require adequate arch support.
THE DOMINO EFFECT:
The most common type of unbalanced feet I see on a regular basis are over-pronated feet (flat feet). Having no support to already flat feet (like mine), can lead to long term problems, not just the short term pain I experienced. Having over-pronated feet can often mean you are pushing off the outside of your big toe instead of the front of the foot when walking.
Over time this causes the big toe to move across closer to the other toes eventually leading to BUNIONS. Unfortunately bunions are a very common condition and in serious cases can affect the types of shoes you are able to wear.
Another knock on effect of unbalanced feet are knee problems, particularly knee cap tracking problems.
Think of the knee as a train on a train track…
The train represents the knee cap and the track represents the groove on the thigh bone that the knee cap Sits in. As the knee connects via the shin bone to the feet, If your feet are over pronated then your knee will also turn inwards. When the knee turns inwards the knee cap moves to the outside and can rub more on the outside track that it sits between. Over time this area wears away causing pain and increasing the chances of arthritis!.
There are many other knock on effects of unbalanced feet however I won’t bore you with all the grisly details!. The main thing is that you know how to fix them!.
If you are concerned that you might have unbalanced feet then the best course of action would be to come in for a Biomechanical assessment where a physiotherapist will assess your foot position and from the assessment decide wether physiotherapy intervention or PRESCRIPTION ORTHOTICS (specialist shoe inserts), would likely improve your foot position.
Notice how I said PRESCRIPTION and not just orthotics. The reason for this is that like how eye glasses have prescription lenses because both eyes are different the same also applies to your feet.
Putting a generic pair of insoles in your shoes often won’t make a great difference as they must fit and correct both feet individually.
So don’t let your foundations crumble and don’t make the same mistake as I did in my ballet pumps… 🙂
Feel free to ask me about what else went on at my stag do… it’s quite interesting, promise 😉
Jonny Corner
If you have enjoyed this read, you should check out my other blogs rights here…
Paul Gough is an internationally known Physio and Founder of The North East’s Leading Specialist Private Physiotherapy Practice for People in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, who want to keep healthy and active.
You might know Paul as an expert Columnist who writes weekly health articles for TWO of the North East's biggest daily Newspapers, The Northern Echo And The Hartlepool Mail, he is a regular Speaker at Industry Seminars around the globe and a Radio Personality, often heard on the BBC. Paul has been an expert guest on dozens of Radio shows and regularly interviewed in newspapers, magazines and trade journals all over the world, including the Guardian.
Paul’s background included working extensively in the Premier League with a Top Professional Football Team, and since quitting his job in Professional Football in 2007, his Physio Practice has become the fastest growing in the UK and biggest in the North East. So successful, that companies like BUPA, ASDA, The Vela Group And Coast & Country, repeatedly retain his Physio company's services to keep healthy their own staff and workforce. Paul Gough Physio Rooms is now a large multi-physio, multi clinic speciality practice in Darlington, Durham, Guisborough and Hartlepool.
You might know Paul as an expert Columnist who writes weekly health articles for TWO of the North East's biggest daily Newspapers, The Northern Echo And The Hartlepool Mail, he is a regular Speaker at Industry Seminars around the globe and a Radio Personality, often heard on the BBC. Paul has been an expert guest on dozens of Radio shows and regularly interviewed in newspapers, magazines and trade journals all over the world, including the Guardian.
Paul’s background included working extensively in the Premier League with a Top Professional Football Team, and since quitting his job in Professional Football in 2007, his Physio Practice has become the fastest growing in the UK and biggest in the North East. So successful, that companies like BUPA, ASDA, The Vela Group And Coast & Country, repeatedly retain his Physio company's services to keep healthy their own staff and workforce. Paul Gough Physio Rooms is now a large multi-physio, multi clinic speciality practice in Darlington, Durham, Guisborough and Hartlepool.
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