Are you walking the right way?
I was very flat-footed and loved running. My legs were not happy. I had suffered shin pain, calf pain, ankle instability, foot pain. A doctor suggested I get some orthotics, but at $400 a pair I wasn't rushing out to get them.
I tried some cheaper half orthotics which just transferred my weight onto the outside of my foot. This caused more shin pain and a lot of blisters on the arch of my foot. I did persevere with them and they got a little softer but were never comfortable.
A few years ago I attended a workshop on ankle and foot pain. I was doing it in order to gain some needed continuing education points for my little Myotherapy & Massage clinic in Doncaster East, Melbourne. The presenter was a physiotherapist named Phillip Brownrigg. I learned a lot.
He talked sense. He started off by telling us of how he used to make and sell orthotics, lots of them. That was until he realised that they weren't necessary. My thoughts exactly. I always thought it was unnatural for people to be reliant on these things. Now someone who was an expert in that field confirmed it.
Phillip went on to say that people are born knowing how to walk correctly. They just learn to walk incorrectly by watching others (parents, siblings). Incorrect walking results in back, hip, leg, ankle and foot pain. Phillip now teaches people how to walk correctly.
The correct way of walking is as follows:
1) Heel hits the ground
2) Roll along the outside of your foot to the ball of your little toe
3) Roll along the balls of your toes to the ball of the big toe then push off.
Easy as that.
Most of us will be walking on the outside or the inside of our feet which puts unnecessary strain on different parts of our body. Just take a look at the bottom of the shoes you wear the most and see where it is worn out the most. That is where all your weight is going. If your shoes are worn out evenly, then you are walking correctly.
Only a short while later of practising the correct way of walking, I threw out my half orthotics. I have not suffered my normal leg pains. I enjoyed running more.
Years later I am still walking correctly. It's quite natural now. I have even developed a nice little arch in both feet! I advise a lot of clients on how to walk correctly as part of my treatment. Those that listen do feel the benefits.
Questions and Answers
Article Tags:
walking
,fitness
,myotherapy
,massage
,orthotics
,foot pain
,shin pain
,physiotherapy
,back pain
,hip pain
,leg pain
In Neuro-scientific medicine, applied studies more popularly generally known as translational research. It aims to supply plausible diagnostic, preventive or treatment strategies. This research practice is anticipated to create technologies, drugs and methods aimed at prevention and treatments for diseases
Sports tape, elastic therapeutic tape or athletic tape is a strip of cotton with acrylic adhesive used for treating injuries related to sports, athletics as well as other physical disorders. It is porous, non-elastic and lightweight but it also has a high tensile strength which makes it ideal for giving compression and firm support for the body.
Every time I stroll through a herbal or scented garden, I'm entranced by the way it calms my stress and relaxes my anxious mind. It's almost as if Nature laid the plants out especially for me. Parks and gardens are as old as civilization itself. In fact, even Adam and Eve are said to have had their own garden to explore.
Ma Huang is also known as ephedra. The acrid, slightly bitter and warm herb has been used in TCM to promote urination and sweating, and rid of cold, sooth wheezing asthma, etc. as it calms dyspnea, asthma, cough, etc., by enhancing the functions of lung and bladder channels.
Melatonin with valerian is considered to be a top notch pill which can surely assist a lot in getting rid of various sleep disorders and it is primarily utilized for better sleep when you are going through insomnia. Sleep is very important and one should get a proper sleep every night in order to stay perfectly alright in all perspectives. Life can surely excel in a better way if a good and healthy sleep is attained every day though people who are unable to get it on regular basis have to go thr
Benefits of Coenzyme Q10 - CoQ10 (also known as ubiquinone). Where is it found? What conditions do benefit from CoQ10.
First Zumba experience with my girlfiends. It's an all female night. Result: I failed miserably at Zumba.
Discuss this Article
