It’s officially summer, and you know what that means…. Sandal time!
Except that many of us opt for cheaper footwear during this time of the year – easy to slip on and off – which means less support, thinner soles, gripping toes, and generally flimsier material.
While there are brands out there that offer built-in support and a more rugged sole (I’m looking at you, Birkenstocks), because we tend to wear this form of footwear less frequently throughout the rest of the year we often opt for more affordable options. It’s easy to walk into any drugstore, big box chain, or dollar store and find something that will cover the bottom of our feet so we can slide in and out of our shoes in a hurry. Hey, if it keeps the hot ground from touching my tootsies, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Here’s the thing, though: feet are complex!
Just one foot comprises 33 joints, 26 bones (28 if you count all the parts of your ankle), 20-some muscles, and 112 ligaments; together with your hands, your feet contain about half of the total of bones in your entire body! That means your body’s foundation – 1/4 of your bones and 66 of your joints – is walking on cheap plastic, firm fake-cork, cushy foam-like material, or some other generic variation. Sure, we can splurge for the higher end brands with all the built-in supports, but that support is still generic, and not designed for your particular foot.
Everyone has their own unique anatomical design, and that extends all the way down to the feet. There are different heights of arches (and your foot actually has 3 arches – who knew?), different widths and lengths (even between the two sides of the same person!), different degrees of mobility, and different degrees of musculature.
So why does this matter in a chiropractic context?
Because your feet are your foundation. They are the first part of your body to make contact with the ground, and all the forces of normal movement are translated from the bottom of your feet up through your spine. Every step you take resonates through your skeletal system, and if that foundation has a crack (not literally), the strain can be felt on the higher levels.
The biogeometric tensegrity of the human body transfers forces through tissues. Arthrokinematics (the movement of joint surfaces) in the feet affects the biomechanics (the interaction of bones, muscles, and joints) in the lower leg all the way up to the top of your head. In simpler terms, if the joints in your foot are not moving properly, then other parts of your body receive the forces that would otherwise be absorbed lower in the chain of movement – meaning your knee pain, hip pain, back pain, or even neck or shoulder pain could be coming from your feet!
So how does that tie in with footwear (get it?)?
A lot of our footwear options have stiff soles, narrow toe boxes, and prescribed support that may or may not work with your individual anatomy. This means that joints don’t have the space to move, room to play, or generally just get confined to a smaller area in your shoes (this is where bunions can come from). Over time, joints that don’t move through their available range stiffen up, which means muscles aren’t put through their available range and stay in a shortened or lengthened position – and when it comes to muscles, “use it or lose it” applies to not only size, but also strength and neurological feedback.
What can I do about it?
Getting your feet adjusted is one way to help restore the range of motion to these joints – and it tends to feel great afterward! Most people describe a feeling of “lightness,” and if they have complaints higher up in their body, they often feel changes in those regions as well.
Combined with foot stretching, rolling, and strengthening exercises, it is possible to restore the natural motions of the foot – but those joints need to be able to move first. So get those feet adjusted!
Want to learn more about foot anatomy? This is a great comprehensive resource: https://www.orthopaedia.com/anatomy-of-the-foot-ankle/