👣 Following on from the ‘foot is a tripod’ post. “Actually I do only stand on a small surface area under the ball of my foot… and it hurts!”
📖 “Neuroma” = a pinched nerve 📖
👣 Why don’t we just un-pinch it then? 🤷🏻♂️
👣 How do you pinch something? You apply pressure to it from multiple sides. Such as bones squeezing together and/ or pressure from below and downward pressure from above. 🔺
👣 The very nature of not having evenly distributed pressure among the metatarsals and giving access to your optimal tripod sends increased pressure towards the more central knuckles of the toes. Most likely 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th. These areas become pinched.
👣 To “un-pinch” this area then, we simply must take the pressure off it by challenging both the way our foot moves and how we choose to continuously stand on this bit of our foot. ✋🏼We do this by evenly distributing the pressure among all 5 met-heads (toe knuckles) and ensure we can unconsciously access this tripod in stance and make use of it when walking and running.
👣 Your foot must be able to then articulate in all three dimensions around these fixed points. When the heel leaves the ground, all that is in contact with the ground is the area pinching the neuroma. What you do want when the heel lifts off is for the big and little toe knuckles to remain anchored to the ground with your feet mobilising around these two fixed points. Whichever way you look at it, shifting your tripod outwards to the first and fifth metatarsals is a key step to foot health and progress.
Common Questions / Answers
Question: I have a neuroma in my left foot which happens to also be very turned out (particularly in the mornings – walking with foot not turned out makes neuroma worse). I’m a cyclist so my movements are likely far from ideal and I’m wanting to try and get rid of the neuroma to be able to run (more like jog 😉 but any impact and the neuroma flares up). Would the wake your feet programme help me try and get rid of these issues?
Answer: Turning your foot in most likely hurts as when you do the actual structure of your foot is more compromised. So for ease your body turns your foot out. It’s very clever you see. By inviting the foot bones to move more/ better through the ‘Wake Your Feet Up’ programme you use the amount of turn out as a check. The better it moves, the more naturally and unconsciously it should turn in. We watch it. We don’t force it. The body knows best and will find it’s comfortable position to adapt to all the new movement you put into it. So yes I believe it can help many people, as simply we are not doing the right things with our feet to bring them back to life.
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