This post is based upon my own research into my own health issues. I'm not an expert. I'm not a doctor. I never went to medical school. I may or may not be right in my understanding of the issues discussed, so please take some time to do your own research.
Did you know each of your feet contain 26 bones? There are 206 bones in the body, 1/4 of which are in your feet. There are 33 joints, and over 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments. That's a lot of stuff packed into a part of your body that you don't think about often.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have anatomical issues that I'm working to correct. I damaged my body through years of being obese, and have scar tissue from acute injuries and chronic inflammation. Some of the issues I'm now working to correct I never even noticed because it wasn't causing me "direct" pain. It may have been an aggravating factor in other pain I was experiencing, but I never made that connection for some reason. I can tell you that all my "issues" are interlinked. Here are some of the connections I see in my own body.
Would it surprise you to know that your feet might be a factor in the pain you experience in your knees, hips, back, shoulders, or neck?
The arches in your feet are made up of muscles, tendons, and ligaments holding bones in a way that acts as a shock absorber. Years of poor footwear, being overweight, and muscle imbalances in my legs caused my the muscles in my ankles and feet to weaken, which put more pressure on the arches of my feet causing them to flatten. That, in combination with weak/imbalanced leg muscles caused my knees to angle in and touch. This is called a genu valgum, or knock knee. I didn't even realize I had this issue until Miki mentioned it in passing a few months ago. That got me researching (something I tend to do). I will discuss my knee issues in a later post.
Besides affecting my knees, fallen arches are also an aggravating factor in low back pain I've been having on and off since 2010. There are other things I can now link together, but I think you get the point for right now. If you have foot problems, it might be causing other pain you're not even considering.
So, what am I doing about it? First, weighing less helps tremendously. The muscles in my feet and ankles are under less stress since there's less weight pressing down from above. I considered whether I should make strengthening the foot a priority, or if I should fix the issues with my knees first. I decided to focus on the knees first since they are actually causing pain.
Am I ignoring my feet then? No. For now, I'm using custom made orthotics molded by a podiatrist to help support my feet. They force my feet into a more correct position which changes the angle of my ankle. This makes walking more comfortable. Walking correctly causes less stress in my knees, and helps prevent the hip and back pain I was dealing with previously. ALL these issues are being treated simultaneously when I do DDP Yoga workouts daily. Once some of the other issues subside, I will probably lose the orthotics and work on further strengthening the arch.
So how does DDP Yoga help my feet? Let's start with ignition... Remember when DDP says pick up your toes and curl them into the mat? You're trying to engage the muscles in your feet. If you notice you have fallen arches, you may want even try pulling your big toes up while curling the other 4 toes on each foot into the mat. Then, slowly curl your big toe without disengaging the foot muscles. When I do this, I can feel the correct arch, and focus on strengthening it. Try to focus on this every time you're in a standing position during your workouts.
You're also working the feet when you're in lunge, and every warrior position. Ever wonder why you're supposed to keep a flat, flexed foot when you're doing standing split, broken table, or other positions? Yes, it's to engage your knee muscles and calf, but it's also working the foot.
Some of you out there may have very inflexible toes. Mine aren't bad, but I am working to correct some neuromuscular issues in the toes of my left foot due to another injury I'll discuss later. I also injured the joints between my metatarsals and phalanges in my right foot in April of 2014. I was running around the yard barefoot with my nephews when I stepped on a rock at full speed (right on the ball of my foot). It mostly healed, but it gets irritated once in a while. I really never expected a "minor" injury like that to still be bothering me 4 months later (even if it is very minor).
Buy high quality footwear. Use orthotics if recommended by a medical professional. Work on your toe/foot strength and flexibility. Take your foot health seriously. It's an important part of your overall health. If your feet are in really bad shape, you might consider doing some foot specific exercises or rehab. Here's one I learned through rehab that I'm using again to strengthen my feet and make other corrections.
This is a really long post about feet, but I thought it was a good place to start. We all have our own issues with injuries, pain, and mobility. A lot of pain you're dealing with is probably caused by one of more of these reasons: being overweight, weak muscles, imbalanced muscles, inflexible muscles/tendons/ligaments, scar tissue, and inflammation. Here's the good news... you can fix it.
You can lose the weight, strengthen the muscles, get balanced, get flexible, break up the scar tissue, and reduce the inflammation. It really takes only takes an average of about 30 minutes a day to get all that done. Since I know how much I'm benefiting, do you think I see this as a chore? No. That's why I don't have to struggle to get myself to do a 60 minute workout some days. I think it's a wise use of my time.
TLDR: Do DDP Yoga daily, you'll fix stuff.
Until next time...
BANG!
-CJ
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