Thursday, January 21, 2010

Do your Feet Make Your Back or Knees Hurt? Orthotics May Help!

The body is an amazing machine, designed so that all of its parts work together to achieve movement, digestion, thought processes and basic life as we know it. When one part of the body is not functioning at its optimal level the repercussions are felt in other locations. For example if you have one knee that is weak, the hip, back, other knee and leg take on the responsibility of making up for that weakness. Many times you do not feel these changes immediately because your body is made to keep functioning, even if it has to change the way it does things. Walking differently, or putting more weight on one leg constantly can cause posture changes, which can affect your entire spine and even cause headaches. Odd isn't it, that your knee could cause you to have a headache? This is because our bodies need balance to work properly.

Changes or modifications in the way we move, or balance ourselves, is meant to be a temporary shift to allow the other body parts to heal. When healing doesn't or can't happen due to injury or surgery, these permanent changes can cause an imbalance in your musculoskeletal system. This change typically results in chronic pain, and often the pain is not in the spot where you would expect it to be. Of course a chiropractic adjustment and treatment can relieve the pain and put the body back into alignment, but if the cause of the misalignment is foot imbalance then the problem will surely return. People who use orthotics often find that chronic pain in their knees, back or neck disappears.


Our feet are our base, our foundation, the stability resource for our entire musculoskeletal system. If our feet are not functioning properly our body compensates for this imbalance, but our knees, lower back, spine and neck will surely suffer from being out of alignment. Improperly balanced arches and other foot problems can be caused by injuries to the foot or leg, or from years of walking on hard surfaces with little or no support.


In order to find out if your feet are working as they should, you can have your feet scanned by Lucy in our office. Our foot scan program provides a free scan to anyone who wishes to find out what the condition of their feet is. It takes about 20 minutes and you get a picture like the ones below of your own feet. It shows what a foot with normal arches looks like and compares it to your feet.





What is the solution to the foot concerns shown above ??? It's a simple thing. Orthotics, balance the foot and change the way your weight is distributed onto your feet. This in turn makes you stand up straighter, walk taller and remove the strain on your muscles, tendons and bone structures.



Our office uses Footlevelers products. You can view their website for more information if you like at http://www.footlevelers.com/index.php .



Orthotics are a cost effective way to help manage many different chronic conditions caused by fallen arches or misaligned feet.
To schedule a foot scan please stop by our office or call Lucy to make an appointment. She can walk you through the process and explain how your feet affect your performance on a daily basis. The foot report is yours to keep and it comes with a photo of the scan of your feet.

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