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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com Body by Blower - Dr. Brian Blower DC
Our feet are an anatomical
wonder and we take them for granted.
We
take it for granted that they are what they are and will just do what feet do,
always.
With foot pain it’s hard to
keep up with the pack and that means an immediate solution to the pain becomes
first on our list of priorities.
Towards this end, that of
immediate relief of pain and restoration of foot function or foot health, we go
and seek out an expert and willingly initially, comply with the suggestions.
Therein lies a great dilemma
for most sufferers of foot pain.
Conventional appraisals and diagnosis of foot pain come up way too short
all too often.
Foot pain is of interest, but
the cause of it should be of concern.
The gnarling and binding of the small bones at their distal ends just
short of the beginning of the toes is common.
The ball of the foot.
While walking our anatomical
weight transfer should sequence across the ball of the foot smooth and
painlessly.
The bones of the healthy
foot slide and glide alongside each other without binding and jamming.
Dyskinesis from loss of
correct and healthy long linear axis of our foot or other abnormal changes in
the vertical axis of our foot creates fasciitis, tendonitis and swelling.
The ligaments and tendons upon straining from
a weak axis may damage the periosteum of the bone and create the telling foot
pain upon pressure through the area.
Often the diagnosis is one of
“Morton’s Neuroma.”
Many of the cases
chiropractors treat with great success are previously mislabeled Morton’s
Neuroma.
A “Neuroma” is a tumor of a
nerve, either benign or malignant.
It is
supposed that the space occupation of the enlargement of the nerve at the tumor
site wedges in between the closely fitting foot bones.
The resulting pressures on the nerve cause
the pain.
Often a nerve Neuroma just
isn’t the case.
Many times foot pain is
telling of a physical binding of the foot bones, a subluxation complex.
Bone pain, from the
periosteum covering the bone, is a familiar cause of our symptoms and our foot
incapacity.
The failure of our muscles
to hold up the vertical and true up the longitudinal foot axis and arches
preceded the cause the symptoms.
There are twenty six bones
and thirty six joints in each of our feet.
They form up four distinct arches both longitudinal and transverse.
Underneath our foot we look not unlike a
stone arch of a bridge or doorway.
There
is a key bone forming the apex of each arch, locking in and supporting the
return of the foot arches to a “podular” shape.
Sometimes the key bone drops.
Muscles from our foreleg starting
at the knee run down alongside the leg bones, the tibia and fibula and continue
as tendons after traveling underneath a firm ankle wrapping ligament.
Some of these muscles turn their tendonous
attachments under the instep of the foot and firmly grip the arch bones
centrally, underneath.
As our front
foreleg muscles contract, their pulling up helps lift our arches, returning our
tension taking ability by resetting the leaf spring like apparatus of the foot,
ready to take on another punishing step.
Beautifully functioning by
design our foot step begins on the outside small toe edge and sequentially
rolls inward from the 5th to the 4th, 3rd. 2nd
and finally the 1st or great toe.
We stand up to or push against resistance with our large toe.
And after our stride we slap our foot down
upon it’s outside edge again ready for the next “roll across the toes” step.
Failure to efficiently
transfer the weight of our stepping across and through the joints of our
forefoot forces changes in direction of the forces of weight.
The distal joints of the
metatarsals or foot bones are designed to align in tight fitting
positions.
Left with little room for
error any changes upon weight transfer through the joints of the distal
metatarsals soon cause unbearable focal pressures bruising and tearing at some
of the cartilage and bursal sacs.
Symptoms ensue and the diagnosis often offered incorrectly, the Neuroma
isn’t the problem.
Rather the symptoms
are from faulty foot mechanics.
Nerves nourish and the
foreleg muscles require an adequate nerve supply to activate them, to have them
contract and pull up our foot while walking.
Only with an adequate nerve supply can the muscles hold our feet and
return the arches to healthy functions and positions.
Often upon further
chiropractic examination a subluxation or misalignment of the lower spine or
pelvis is found, revealing a “sciatic” nerve impingement.
This low back nerve reaches the toes.
Failure of the sciatic nerve
to nourish the muscles of the leg, those positioning and stabilizing the foot,
preclude our inability of the foot to withstand normal loads when the bones of
the arches subluxate.
There may have been
absolutely no prior indication from back pain but the foot failure is often
caused by the “silent killer,” the subluxation phenomenon of our bodies spine
and extremity joints.
There is a further phenomenon
of this type of foot dysfunction that reflects subluxation of the spine quite
distally from the site.
There is an
autonomic component to the foot that requires the moderating involvement of the
phrenic nerve.
This nerve root in the
anterior upper neck region is associated with the working of the tibialis
anterior and the peroneal muscles of the front of the foreleg.
These are the muscles that go to the inside
of the foot and lift the arches.
Subluxation of the anterior
or
front of the spine is common
especially post trauma like whiplash,
But in practice many cases of foot conditions such as “flat feet’
reflected in young children may be related to difficult births where the head
is used to support the extraction of the fetus thereby causing subluxation of
the neck and developmental compromise distally.
Treatment of the foot with
manipulation to restore the arch integrity and reduce other bony subluxations
in the foot and ankle lay the foundation for therapy, especially in the acute
stage of foot pain.
Reducing and
restoring the spinal segments that are subluxated is a must for ongoing health
and function of the whole of our body.
Consult your chiropractor and
have your subluxations found and eliminated.
Only a chiropractor is educated for eight years while being trained in
the science, art and philosophy of removing the subluxations that are
interfering with your health.
About the author:
Dr. Brian Blower has been a licensed chiropractor for 35 years
practicing Applied Kinesiology and has been in private practice on
Grand Bahama Island for the past
10 years. He is a founding member of Applied Kinesiology Canada and was
educated at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. He has treated
many celebrities and also specializes in sports medicine. Dr Blower is
currently in practice at the Family Wellness
Center on Coral Road, Freeport. He can be reached at 242-374-5424. You
can also find Dr. Blower on Facebook HERE
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How many many times patients
have hobbled into my practice with a painful foot.