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Body Biomechanics - Bottom of the Foot
I have personally dealt with aches and pains of the foot especially when I was dealing with the worst of my muscular dysfunction. I still do from time to time, and it amazes me how bad foot problems can throw off your day. Your foot is the first and last body part to touch the ground throughout the day and it supports the body when walking and running. So when it comes to addressing the foot and its functionality, should we just be looking at the foot or should we be looking at the muscles that control how the foot is going to function?
Natural range of motion in the foot is a beautiful thing when you have it, I think we all take this for granted.
As we age range of motion in the foot is lost and dorsiflection of the foot can be reduced dramatically. There was a time when we all walked tall and confident only to find ourselves years later shuffling along to get through the work week no longer relying on the foot and ankle for movement rather you concentrate on the knee and hip to propel you body forward.
Elasticity - the ability for the muscle to lengthen and rebound back to its natural state.
As our biomechanics break down so does our body's muscular structure or elasticity, once this happens it is incredibly important to regain the muscular structure otherwise the cosmetic makeup may be compromised forever. If the muscle is stretched past its capacity you can cause irrevocable damage to the muscle and insertion point.
Your muscles are better off resembling a bungee cored rather than a rope. You can't stretch a knot out of a bungee cord or out of a rope but you can knead or massage a knot out of a bungee cord or out of a rope.
Body Biomechanics For The Bottom Of The Foot:
Aches and Pains of the Foot,..... in the heel or around the heel,.......in the bottom of the foot....... can be a very challenging situation that can stop the best of us from walking, running, playing sports, and some doctors occasionally put you in a cast.
What you've got to realize and it took me years to understand this....... your foot is really a puppet. If you really think about it,
......the muscles in your foot for the most part are designed to move the toes, they base themselves in the bottom of the foot and they attach somewhere in the toes,
Now there are other muscles that give the foot range of motion all of these muscles do attach in the bottom of the foot but they house themselves above the ankle and below the knee. Resulting in the foot being a puppet to these muscles.
Now as we talk about foot dysfunction and aches and pains in the bottom of the foot one word that always pops up is Plantar Fasciitis. I think our society is obsessed with this condition. For purpose of this article I want you to take the mental imprint off of PF and just define it as aches and pains of the foot in general or just look at it as a loss of functionality in the foot.
This article is not addressing PF per se, we are addressing the muscles that attach in the the bottom of the foot that can cause all kind of problems for the foot's functionality. So get this;
Plantar - pertaining to the bottom of the foot, (wikionary.org)
Fasciitis - inflammation of the fascia
Fascia adj. fascial (from latin: a band) - is the soft tissue component of the connective tissue system that permeates the human body. It interpenetrates and surrounds muscles, bones, organs, nerves, blood vessels and other structures. Wikipedia.org
So if you put these two words together you can have plantar fasciitis anywhere in the bottom of the foot where you feel aches and pains.
Myofacsial release is a form of massage to aid in fascial disfunctions
Myofascial Release Massage - Myofascial release refers to the manual massage technique for stretching the fascia and releasing bonds between fascia, integument, and muscles with the goal of eliminating pain, increasing range of motion and equilibrioception. Myofascial release usually involves applying shear compression or tension in various directions, or by skin rolling. - wikapedia.com
The question is where does this myofascial release massage need to occur?
Take a look at this, you have a muscle called the posterior tibialis, it bases it's self between the tibia and fibia and starts just below the knee and just above the ankle,
There are really three main muscles that contribute to aches and pains within the bottom of the foot, or at least for principles sake, these muscles force the foot to lose its ability to function properly and can cause discomfort as a result; the posterior tibialis which we have discussed, then we have the solues
....which is just above the posterior tibialis then we have
....the gastroc or calf which of course is on top of the soleus
Now there are other muscles within the lower leg that connect in the bottom of the foot, we'll get to those later right now I am trying to get to the greatest rate of return. What areas can I massage, strengthen and tone to get the maximum amount of flexibility, range of motion, and prevent injuries from occurring?
Grab the back of your leg and squeeze firmly....after you've got a good grip on the muscle rotate your foot in a circle, you may find that it is difficult to rotate your foot in a circle due to the calf area being over worked, tight, and pulling on the insertion points that connect in the bottom of the foot.
Please notice how the thumb on inside of the soleus not on the bone and the for fingers are on the outside of the soleus.
So what we are saying:
All the muscles in the calf region connect in the bottom of the foot. Once they get overworked and underpaid, they will pull from their insertion and origin points. This not only causes loss of flexibility in the foot and ankle, but also creates aches and pains within the bottom of the foot.
Take a look at the image below. Look at how the tendons are supporting the ankle then attaching in the bottom of the foot. Remember all of these tendons are parented by the muscles they are associated with. The muscles are much bigger than the tendons, so you can imagine the damage a muscle can do to a tendon if it is not taken care of.
Follow me here for a minute, due to life and dehydration and repetitive motion and poor biomechanics, while moving, sitting or even sleeping muscles can stick together.
If you track back to where I said the posterior tibialis attaches in the bottom of the foot and the actual muscle is located in the back of the leg beneath the Soleus and gastroc.
If all of this muscles within this region, did stick together, the insertion point in the bottom of the foot really doesn't have a chance now does it.
Here's where I have to talk about a few more foot dysfunctions because the reality is there are more muscles below the knee and above the ankle that are going to influence the bottom, side and even top of the foot. I believe that once one muscle goes dysfunctional more will follow suit once over influenced.
We'll start with the muscles that base themselves to the left and right of the Posterior Tibialis , Flexor Haligus and Digitus.
The significance of this is once one or both of these two muscles lose their range of motion and elasticity they are going to force the region in the front of the foot and toes to become challenged, once these muscle start to adhere themselves to the other muscles that surround them then we have the same situation as we do with the posterior tibialis. There is to much muscle for the insertion point, this can cause or exacerbate situations such pulling the toes into one another. Myofacial release or massage on the bottom of the foot would be helpful in this situation, while also massaging, strengthening and toning the muscles of the lower leg.
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Tips for Success
Hydration:
Hydration is one of the most important aspects of healthy muscle tissue. I don't know this for sure but if we were never dehydrated I don't know that we would have the muscular dysfunctions we have today.
You see once you get dehydrated the muscles looses its elasticity. Elasticity is defined as the muscle rebounding to its natural state, if the muscle that was once pliable and supple gets dehydrated it turn to something more like beef Jerky, not a pretty picture but it is realistic.
So when you hydrate, think electrolytes versus just water electrolytes are what push out the toxicity within the muscle and replenished it with health
In Order to know if you are hydrated use the easiest method there is; check the color of your urine.
Light shade of yellow you need water darker shade of yellow you need electrolytes....brown you might want to go get checked out.
High heels:
Let's talk high heels for a minute, any time the heel is above the toes you allow the muscles in the back of the leg below the knee to bind up or go into spasm, as soon as you take the high heels off you are potentially in a world of hurt being that the muscles want to go back to their original length.
This will cause strong pain in the bottom of the foot being that all of the insertion points for the muscles in the back of the leg bellow the knee are in the bottom of the foot.
Once weight is applied to the muscles they try to lengthen resulting in the insertion points being pulled upon.
Now, take this same principle and apply it to running shoes, same story different shoe. If you have trouble walking without shoes on, don't just say you'll never walk without shoes again, treat the problem, the muscles in the back of the leg below the knee rather than compromising your quality of life.
Orthotics:
All I have to say is that if you've got a flat foot not a bad idea, if you have a nice healthy arch why compromise it, and really, what are all the shoe companies doing making these expensive shoes catering to foot differences if were not going to rely on them to work.
What is the arch to do if you build a bridge beneath it; you take all the compression of the arch out of the equation.
I mean come on. the real problem is that people are putting a stability orthotic into a stability shoe then they have an SUV wrapped around the foot and they want it to perform like a formula one car.
Not the best idea, everything starts to rattle of the body slash car.
Once again there is a time and a place for everything so think wisely before throwing an orthotic onto your shoe.
Oh, one more thing, If you are wearing orthotics and the pain isn't gone, the orthotics aren't working; End of story.
Stretching:
If you stretch a cold muscle with no elasticity you are more prone to tear something or jeopardize the insertion points of the muscle. I am not a big fan of stretching before exercise being that the muscle is cold, if you feel compelled to stretch wait till your into your run or walk, build some circulation through the area first. By creating elasticity you are really doing what you're trying to accomplish when stretching.
Sleeping:
your body repairs the damage that has been done throughout the day at night while you are sleeping, so it is very important that you go to bed hydrated, this will allow the body to replenish the muscle tissue with health. If you go to sleep and you are dehydrated you are just going to recirculation the toxicity within the muscles. If you wake up sore every morning try some electrolytes before going to bed, it might make a huge difference.
As it pertains to the foot and sleeping there are a few things that you can do to help assist in the lengthening with out forcing any strain to the muscles that control the foot. If you sleep on your back make sure you un tuck the sheets at the end of the bed so that you don't apply added pressure to the foot.
If you sleep on your stomach go ahead and push your body to the end of the bed and let your feet hang of the end at a 90' angle, this will allow the muscles to stay lengthen throughout the course of the night.
You can also sleep in a compression sock, this will force feed blood and oxygen through the muscles while you sleep, allowing you to rid any unwanted waste product out of the area, and increase circulation. Typically the socks compression should be between 20-30 for best results. This is the same principle Doctors use for post surgery.
I've even gone as far as to have athletes run and walk in compression socks to aid in the recovery and for general circulation.
Posture:
Over 90% of injuries we see here in the us are on the left side of the body except for New York City. Why? Because the way you sit in the car, the leg goes out towards the door panel and the foot turns up towards the sky, this does two things.
One your posture allows the soleus muscle on the left leg to ball up or retract forcing you to loose range of motion in the foot, the second is you pool blood in the piriformis, a muscle in your but, this in return effects the stability in the leg and eventually contributes to the pelvis tilting and sciatic issues.
Next time you are sitting think 90' ankle - 90' knee - 90' pelvis. You sit more than anything else in life so it's imperative that you asses the way that you site and change it. You can use the Baller Block in the car between the car door and your leg not to allow the external rotation of the hip, or you can use he block between your knees when sitting in a regular chair so that you can adhere to the 3x90 rule.
You really need to be careful not to over ice, the more you ice the more circulation you take out of the muscle. If icing is necessary I'd suggest limiting the to 8-10 minutes versus 30. Think about it if you put a steak into the freezer it takes a considerable amount of time to allow the steak to thaw out before you can eat it!!
We want to increase circulation within the muscle 9 times out of 10 not take it out.
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