Do you have dorsal (top) foot pain? Think you are tying your shoes too tightly?

Do you have dorsal (top) foot pain, at the peak of the arch? Think you are tying your shoes too tightly and that is the cause? Do you have pain over the dorsal or plantar mid foot on heel rise or jumping/landing or going up stairs ?

Just because you raise your heel and load the ball of the foot does not necessarily mean you have adequately plantarflexed the 1st metatarsal and loaded it soundly/stable with the medial tarsal bone. Heel rise, and thus loading onto the medial foot tripod, must be met with ample, stable, durable, 1st metatarsal plantarflexion and the associated medial tarsal bones. Also, without this, loading of the sesamoids properly cannot occur, and pain may ensue.

The first ray complex can be delicate in people who are symptomatic. In some people who do not have a good tibialis posterior-peroneus sling mechanism working harmoniously, in conjunction with a competent arch tripod complex to achieve a compentent arch complex (ie, EDL, EHL, tib anterior and some of the other foot intrinsics) this tarsometatarsal interval can become painful and instead of the 1st ray complex being stable and plantarflexing as the heel departs and the 1st ray begins taking load, it may not do so in a stable plantarflexed posturing. In some people it can momentarily dorsiflex as the arch subtly collapses (when it should be stable and supinated in heel rise).

"Subtle hypermobility of the first tarsometatarsal joint can occur concomitantly with other pathologies and may be difficult to diagnose. Peroneus Longus muscle might influence stability of this joint. Collapse of the medial longitudinal arch is common in flatfoot deformity and the muscle might also play a role in correcting Meary's angle."-Duallert et al

Soon, I hope to show you a video of how to watch for this problem, how to train it properly, how we do it in my office.
Dr. Allen

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27015031

Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 2016 May;34:7-11. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2016.03.001. Epub 2016 Mar 10.

The influence of the Peroneus Longus muscle on the foot under axial loading: A CT evaluated dynamic cadaveric model study.

Dullaert K1, Hagen J2, Klos K3, Gueorguiev B4, Lenz M5, Richards RG6, Simons P7.

FAI: ankle instability. Proprioceptive issues

We have been saying this over and over, sorry for the repeated nature of this concept. But ankle sprains should not be taken lightly. This study showed:
"Conclusions: Individuals with unilateral FAI had increased error ipsilaterally (injured limb) for inversion movement detection (kinesthesia) and evertor force sense and increased error contralaterally (uninjured limb) for evertor force sense."

No only do they have loss of kinesthesia on the injured side, but this presents along with a reduced evertor force sense as well as contralateral processing deficits. The Brain is paying close attention to the first things that hits the ground, and noting how stable/unstable it is.
Ankle sprains cannot be taken lightly, even the mild ones. Plus, do not forget about the corruption of the frontal plane at the hip that often occurs after these events.

Bilateral Proprioceptive Evaluation in Individuals With Unilateral Chronic Ankle Instability

Andreia S. P. Sousa, PhD; João Leite, BSc; Bianca Costa, BSc; Rubim Santos, PhD

Escola Superior de Saúde do Porto, Centro de Estudos de Movimento e Actividade Humana, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Portugal

Andreia S. P. Sousa, João Leite, Bianca Costa, and Rubim Santos (2017) Bilateral Proprioceptive Evaluation in Individuals With Unilateral Chronic Ankle Instability. Journal of Athletic Training: April 2017, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 360-367.

More on landing mechanics.
Here is a recent article on landing mechanics. This article talks about the landing mechanics far past where I feel the first stage of vulnerability is, which is initial forefoot load, as i discuss in the video pertaining to landing from a jump or if sprinting (forefoot loading). IF landing occurs in low gear (lateral half of the forefoot), inversion risks are higher.
The medial foot tripod, high gear toe off (1st and 2nd mets) is where we should be taking off from, and landing initially upon. Anything lateral is vulnerable without the lateral column strength (lateral gastrocsoleus complex, peronei longus/brevis).
This article talks about knee flexion angles and ACL vulnerability, far after this initial loading response. The article some valid conclusions in that phase.

- Dr. Shawn Allen

Posture specific strength and landing mechanics.

http://lermagazine.com/article/posture-specific-strength-and-landing-mechanics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T9UzOaYxmo

Calf strength screen?  Um, maybe not. Specifics matter.
Thanks to barbellphysio.com for putting this up. We would like to take this deeper, because it is very important.
This screen in our strong opinion is mostly for testing sub optimal endurance, sure there is some strength assessment going on but if you are trying to determine strength, is it single rep strength ? Very likely what he truly meant is how does the calf strength hold up at a 20 rep endurance challenge.  This is more accurate and we are fussing about specifics here, but specifics matter.
*However, the potentially BIG HOLE here in the assessment, is that “perceived” top end calf/heel raise ROM is not necessarily top end FULL ROM. If one side is truly weak, and you cannot get to top end strength (say the heel is 10% lower than the other side) someone has to be there to assess and notice that top end strength failure (a top end ROM that could reduce as endurance challenge continues, but someone has to be there to observe. Going on just “feel” alone is a bad recipe there). One like is not going to feel that top end range loss even if it is large, you will perceive the effort which could feel the same as the good side but actually be a loss.  And is 20 reps enough? Sure, it is a start but is your test really telling you what you think it is telling you ? This is being shown as a gross screen in our opinion but it has holes even as a screen.  Top end strength, something we talk about here often, is critical to performance. Top end loss means  terminal plantarflexion ROM is insufficient, and this can lead to a whole host of injuries and biomechanical flaws including achilles tendonopathy to mention just one. Remember, the gastroc does  not play alone here (and gastrocs crosses the knee joint posteriorly, some of the other posterior compartment muscles do not). There is soleus, peronei, tib posterior, long flexors etc. So are you doing your test with bent knee or locked ? It makes a difference if you are trying to tease things out.  Are you ramming your toes into flexion to get more out of them to make up for a loss elsewhere ? Is the forefoot or rearfoot inverting or everting  on the up or down phase ? These things matter. Specifics matter.  For example, you can see in this video that the hip is a little lateral to the foot placement. This will mean that the heel rise will result in a lateral forefoot weight bearing load. Do you want to see if the peronei are doing their job during the heel rise ? Well then you should go into a hip hike to posture the hip over the foot so that you can get the weight bearing transition to occur terminally over to the big toe, the peronei and lateral gastroc help drive that last little shift and if they are weak and you are not driving that last piece of the movement the test may not show you the whole picture you are thinking it is. Clue, if you cannot feel the lateral compartment contract to finalize that medial foot weight bearing load shift, you may be weak there. You better assess then.

Can you do 20 reps at 80% of the full plantarflexion ROM or can you do 20 reps at 100% full plantarflexion ROM ? There is a performance difference, and to the client unobserved, the 80% on one side may feel and perform like the 100% on the other side. But make no mistake, there is a world of difference.  Someone has to  watch that you are comparing apple to apples, and not apples to figs, oranges, turnips or squash.
-Dr.Shawn Allen, the gait guys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=55&v=QdWiXHsI8Q8

Podcast 91: Gait, Vision & some truths about leg length discrepancies

Show sponsors:
www.newbalancechicago.com

A. Link to our server:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/thegaitguys/pod_91f.mp3

Direct Download:
http://thegaitguys.libsyn.com/91

Other Gait Guys stuff

B. iTunes link:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gait-guys-podcast/id559864138

C. Gait Guys online /download store (National Shoe Fit Certification and more !) :
http://store.payloadz.com/results/results.aspx?m=80204

D. other web based Gait Guys lectures:
Monthly lectures at : www.onlinece.com   type in Dr. Waerlop or Dr. Allen,  ”Biomechanics”

Our Book: Pedographs and Gait Analysis and Clinical Case Studies

electronic copies available here:

Amazon/Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Pedographs-Gait-Analysis-Clinical-Studies-ebook/dp/B00AC18M3E

Barnes and Noble / Nook Reader:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pedographs-and-gait-analysis-ivo-waerlop-and-shawn-allen/1112754833?ean=9781466953895

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/pedographs-and-gait-analysis/id554516085?mt=11

Hardcopy available from our publisher:

http://bookstore.trafford.com/Products/SKU-000155825/Pedographs-and-Gait-Analysis.aspx

Show notes:

Gait and vision: Gaze Fixation

What’s Up With That: Birds Bob Their Heads When They Walk
http://www.wired.com/2015/01/whats-birds-bob-heads-walk/

 

Treatment for little-known brain disorder can reverse symptoms of dementia, gait, and incontinence - Health & wellness - The Boston Globe

 

Shod vs unshod

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00421-014-3072-x

 

Short leg talk:

11 strategies to negotiate around a leg length discrepancy

From a Reader:

Dear Gait Guys, Dr. Shawn and Dr. Ivo,  I was referred to this post of yours on hip IR…http://thegaitguys.tumblr.com/post/14262793786/gait-problem-the-solitary-externally-rotated   I am impressed by the level of details of your understanding of the gait and biomechanics. Although I am still trying to understand all of your points in this post, I would like to ask you:  What if my IR is limited due to a structural issue? The acetabular retroversion of the right hip in my case. 

I.e. if I am structurally unable to rotate the hip internally.
What will happen? 
What would be a solution to the problem in that case? 

Single-leg drop landing movement strategies 6 months following first-time acute lateral ankle sprain injury - Doherty - 2014 - Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sms.12390/abstract

Hey Gait Guys,

I understand that 1st MP Joint dorsiflexion, ankle rocker, and hip extension are 3 key factors for moving in the sagittal plane from your blog and podcasts so far. I really love how you guys drill in our heads to increase anterior strength to increase posterior length to further ankle rocker. I’ve seen the shuffle gait and was curious if you had a good hip extension exercise to really activate the posterior hip extensors and increase anterior length. 

CAI: More on Chronic Ankle Instability.

More peroneii action! In folks with chronic ankle instability, it contracts earlier, longer (throughout stance phase) but not stronger…This article looks at activation times and patterns of folks with chronic ankle instability. 

One should never wonder why repeated ankle sprains occur. We have hit this topic hard in the past.  Chronic Ankle Instability (CAI) clients exhibit prioprioceptive and postural control challenges. According to this article, additionally, CAI clients have gait. 

“Time of activation for all muscles tested occurred earlier in the CAI group than in the control group. The peroneus longus was activated for a longer duration across the entire stride cycle in the CAI group.”

“Individuals with CAI demonstrated neuromuscular-activation strategies throughout the lower extremity that were different from those of healthy control participants. ”

Did you see our trademark “goto” exercise in yesterday’s social media Facebook blog post ?  It is a keeper if you ask us.  Don’t ignore chronic peroneal challenges, they will come back to haunt you.

_________

Lower Extremity Muscle Activation in Patients With or Without Chronic Ankle Instability.  Mark A. Feger, MEd, ATC; Luke Donovan, MEd, ATC; Joseph M. Hart, PhD, ATC; Jay Hertel, PhD, ATC, FNATA, FACSM Department of Kinesiology, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville

http://www.natajournals.com/doi/abs/10.4085/1062-6050-50.2.06 

Results:  Time of activation for all muscles tested occurred earlier in the CAI group than in the control group. The peroneus longus was activated for a longer duration across the entire stride cycle in the CAI group (36.0% ± 10.3%) than the control group (23.3% ± 22.2%; P = .05). No differences were noted between groups for measures of electromyographic amplitude at either preinitial or postinitial contact (P > .05).

Conclusions:  We identified differences between the CAI and control groups in the timing of muscle activation relative to heel strike in multiple lower extremity muscles and in the percentage of activation time across the entire stride cycle in the peroneus longus muscle. Individuals with CAI demonstrated neuromuscular-activation strategies throughout the lower extremity that were different from those of healthy control participants. Targeted therapeutic interventions for CAI may need to be focused on restoring normal neuromuscular function during gait.

More research on the peronei and chronic ankle instability.

More peroneii action! In folks with chronic ankle instability, it contracts earlier, longer (throughout stance phase) but not stronger…This article looks at activation times and patterns of folks with chronic ankle instability. 

One should never wonder why repeated ankle sprains occur. We have hit this topic hard in the past. Chronic Ankle Instability (CAI) clients exhibit prioprioceptive and postural control challenges. According to this article, additionally, CAI clients have measurable gait changes. 

“Time of activation for all muscles tested occurred earlier in the CAI group than in the control group. The peroneus longus was activated for a longer duration across the entire stride cycle in the CAI group.”
“Individuals with CAI demonstrated neuromuscular-activation strategies throughout the lower extremity that were different from those of healthy control participants. ”

Did you see our trademark “goto” exercise in yesterday’s social media Facebook blog post ? It is a keeper if you ask us. Don’t ignore chronic peroneal challenges, they will come back to haunt you.

_________

Lower Extremity Muscle Activation in Patients With or Without Chronic Ankle Instability. Mark A. Feger, MEd, ATC; Luke Donovan, MEd, ATC; Joseph M. Hart, PhD, ATC; Jay Hertel, PhD, ATC, FNATA, FACSM Department of Kinesiology, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville

http://www.natajournals.com/doi/abs/10.4085/1062-6050-50.2.06

More on the the peroneus:

It seems that too much of a good thing (ie pronation or supination) slows down the peroneus. A slower contraction time as the foot moves from midstance to terminal stance (when the peroneus longus contracts to assist in descending the 1st ray) appears to biomechanical consuquences…

“RESULTS: Participants with pronated or supinated foot structures had slower peroneus longus reaction times than participants with neutral feet (P = .01 and P = .04, respectively). We found no differences for the tibialis anterior or gluteus medius.

CONCLUSIONS: Foot structure influenced peroneus longus reaction time. Further research is required to establish the consequences of slower peroneal reaction times in pronated and supinated foot structures. Researchers investigating lower limb muscle reaction time should control for foot structure because it may influence results.”

J Athl Train. 2013 May-Jun;48(3):326-30. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-48.2.15. Epub 2013 Feb 20.
Foot structure and muscle reaction time to a simulated ankle sprain.
Denyer JR1, Hewitt NL, Mitchell AC.

#gait
#thegaitguys

People tend to forget about the peroneal muscles. This is what it looks like when the brain forgets.

This client came to see us for obvious reasons but the case details are not what we are focusing on today. Gait gets pretty messed up when a critical component or phase is lost or forgotten.  

In last weeks teleseminar on www.onlineCE.com we discussed several gait cases. In these cases 5 things kept coming up when it came to looking at (specifically) neurologic gait compensations:

1. slowing of gait
2. wider based gait
3. increased ancillary movements 
4. utilizing support when needed or available
5. shorted step length and stride length

In this video, it is clear that this person has some serious neurologic problems engaging the peroneal muscles and controlling ankle and foot function and as a consequence you see evidence of some of the itemized issues above, namely, calculated movements, nearly zero arm swing and step length from left to right is abbreviated. 

It can go both ways. The neurologic problem can affect one’s gait, but one’s resultant gait can then affect cortical function, driving an endless loop. Recently, five studies presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Vancouver Canada provided striking evidence that when a person’s walk gets slower or becomes more variable or less controlled, his cognitive function is also suffering.(2)  

A person’s gait and their neurologic function cannot be separated. The stuff just run’s too deep.  This is why we love gait so much, because to fully understanding someone’s clinical problems we must understand how and why they move.  There are clues in everyone’s gait that can help you clinically. The question is, will you notice them ? Do you know what normal gait is to begin with ? Will you understand what you are seeing and realize it is a compensation? Will you fix what you see or look deeper to find the cause of what you see ? 

Shawn and Ivo,

The Gait Guys

Gait Posture. 2013 Jul;38(3):549-51. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2013.02.008. Epub 2013 Mar 11.

Altered gait termination strategies following a concussion.

Buckley TA1, Munkasy BA, Tapia-Lovler TG, Wikstrom EA.

2.  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/health/research/signs-of-cognitive-decline-and-alzheimers-are-seen-in-gait.html?_r=1&

Can you see the problem in this runner’s gait ?

You should be able see that they are heel impacting heavy on the outside of the rear foot, and that they are doing so far laterally, more than what is considered normal.  

This is a video of someone with a rear foot varus deformity.

These folks typically have a high arched foot, typically more rigid than flexible, and they are often paired with a forefoot valgus.  

Q: Do you think it might be important as a shoe fitter to know this foot type ?

A: Yes

Q.Should they be put in a shoe with a soft lateral crash zone at the heel ? 

A: No, absolutely not. Why would you want to keep this person deeper and more entrenched on the lateral heel/foot ?!

This foot type has a difficult time progressing off of the lateral foot. The lateral strike pattern and the tendency for the varus rear-foot (inverted)  keeps this person on the lateral aspect of the foot long into midstance.  This eats up time when they should be gradually progressing over to the medial forefoot so that they can get to an effective and efficient medial (big toe) toe off.  This gait type is typically apropulsive, they are not big speed demons and short bursts of acceleration are difficult for these folks much of the time. Combine this person with some torsional issues in  the tibia or femur and you have problems to deal with, including probably challenges for the glutes and patellar tracking dysfunction. What to see some hard, tight IT Bands ?These folks are often the poster child for it. Good luck foam rolling with these clients, they will hate you for recommending it !

They are typically poor pronators so they do not accommodate to uneven terrain well.  Because they are more on the outside of the foot, they may have a greater incidence or risk for inversion sprains. You may choose to add the exercise we presented on Monday (link  here) to help them as best as possible train some improved strength, awareness and motor patterns into their system. In some cases, but only when appropriate, a rear foot post can be used to help them progress more efficiently and safely. 

These foot types typically have dysfunction of the peronei (amongst other things). A weak peroneus longus can lead to a more dorsiflexed first metatarsal compromising the medial foot tripod stability and efficiency during propulsion while also risking compromise to the first metatarsaophalangeal (1st MTP) joint and thus hallux complications.  Additionally, a weak peroneus brevis can enable the rear foot to remain more varus. This muscle helps to invert the rearfoot and subtalar joints. This weakness can play out at terminal swing because the rear foot will not be brought into a more neutral posture prior to the moment of heel/foot strike (it will be left more varus) and then it can also impair mid-to-late midstance when it fires to help evert the lateral column of the foot helping to force the foot roll through to the big toe propulsive phase of terminal stance.  (* children who have these peroneal issues left unaddressed into skeletal maturity are more likely to have these rearfoot varus problems develop into anatomic fixed issues…… form follows function.)

You can see in the video the failed attempt to become propulsive. The client speeds over to the medial foot/big toe at the very last minute but it is largely too late. Sudden and all out pronation at the last minute is also fraught with biomechanical complications.

One must know their foot types. If you do not know what it is you are seeing, AND know how to confirm it on examination you will not get your client in the right shoe or give them the right homework.

* caveat: the mention of Monday’s exercise for this foot type for everyone with Rearfoot varus is not a treatment recommendation for everyone with the foot type. For some people this is the WRONG exercise or it might need modifications. Every case is different. The biomechanics all the way up need to be considered. Medicine is not a compartmentalized art or science. 

Shawn and Ivo, The Gait Guys

Trade Secret: Proper Calf Raise

We are selling off part of the farm here today in giving this one away.  This is an exercise we prescribe frequently.

When we rise up onto the ball of the foot, most clients and patients tend to come up and either be flush on the forefoot bipod or even a little more onto the lateral aspect of the forefoot. When asked, rarely do we hear that they have a majority of pressure over the medial half of the forefoot. This posturing tendency can lead to inversion sprains. Imagine for a minute a basketball or volleyball player, or any sport for that matter, because most involve the foot leaving the ground and returning to it.  When the foot returns to the ground, if the foot is even a slightly bit inverted (meaning they are even slightly tending towards landing on the outer half of the forefoot) an inversion sprain is at risk. This is particularly so when the lateral gastroc-soleus is weak and the peronei are weak. Forefoot valgus foot types are certainly in the risk category here and so once again we find that knowing your foot types so you can help your clients is need-to-know information.  Back to our jump and to the return to the ground from the jump, you must remember that the metatarsals are shorter and shorter as you move to the lateral foot. This means that if the load is moving laterally because of posterio-lateral compartment weakness as described above, that the sheer design of the shorter lateral metatarsals will continue to press the motion laterally. This is one of the reasons why lateral ankle strains, inversion sprains, are so frequent and repetitive (we have described the other factor in the latency of the peronei after a single inversion sprain in other blog posts here). 

So here we have our calf raise exercise. Squeezing the ball between the ankles on the up (concentric phase) and on the down phase (eccentric) with a nice isometric at the top will force the weight bearing onto the first and second metatarsals (medial forefoot) and drive the lateral compartment to press the motion medially through an isometric instead of depending so much on this compartment to protect the inversion motion through and eccentric.  We find this motor pattern terribly weak in our athletes, especially our jumping sports and certainly after inversion sprains. IF we can provide more strength to hold this medial posture during the return to the ground from a jump we can slow or delay the lateral inversion event risk.  The key to the exercise is to keep the pressure into the ball medially at all times. A wonderful additional benefit to this exercise is that the user will feel the cocontraction of the thigh adductors which further provides a medial stability effort and blends nicely with the lower abdominals.

You can see that in this case we are rehabilitating an achilles tendon repair case on the left leg.

The “Top-End” Peroneal Walk Foot Skill: Another Restoration Foot Trick by The Gait Guys

Have stability problems in your ankles ? Lots of people do !
Here is a brief video of a simple, but difficult, functional exercise to strengthen the peroneal muscles in full plantar flexion (we will give more detailed tricks and techniques away on the Foot-Ankle DVD exercise series, once we get some time to get to it !). The key here is to not let the heel drop during single fore-foot loading and to keep the ankle pressing inwards as if to try and touch the ankles together medially …..if you feel the heel drop on the single foot loaded side (or you can feel the calf is weaker or if you feel strain to keep the inward press of the ankle) then it might be more than the peronei, it could be the combined peroneal-gastrocsoleus complex. The key to the assessment and home work is to make sure that the heel always stays in “top-end” heel rise plantarflexion. But you have to strongly consider the peronei just as seriously. Studies show that even single event sprains let alone chronic ankle sprains create serious incompetence of the peronei. Most people do not notice this because they never assess the ability to hold the foot in full heel rise (plantarflexion) while creating a valgus load (created by the peronei mostly, a less amount from the lateral calf) at the ankle. This is why repetitive sprains occur. The true key to recovery is to be able to walk on the foot in this heel-up “top-end” position while in ankle eversion (ankles squeezed together) as you see in this video. This is something we do with all of our basketball and jumping sports athletes and it is critical in our dancers of all kinds. And if they cannot do the walking skill or if they feel weakness then we keep it static and put a densely rolled towel or a small air filled ball between the ankles and have them do slow calf raises and descents while squeezing the towel-ball with all their ability. This will create a nice burn in the peroneal muscles after just a few repetitions. The user will also quickly become acutely aware of their old tendency to roll to the outside of the foot and ankle because of this lack of awareness and strength of those laterally placed ankle evertors - the peronei. It is critical to note that If you return to the ground from a jump and cannot FIRST load the forefoot squarely and then, and only then, control the rate of ankle inversion and neutral heel drop (ankle dorsiflexion) then you should not be shocked at chronic repetitive ankle sprains. Remember, the metatarsals and toes are shorter as we move away from the big toe, so there is already a huge risk and tendency to roll to the outside of the foot through ankle inversion. Hence why ankle sprains are so common. We call this “top end” peroneal strength but for it to be effectively implemented one must have sufficient top end calf strength as well, you cannot have sound loading mechanics without both.
It is not as easy as it appears in this video. We encourage you to give this a try and we bet that 1 out of every 2 people who try it will notice “top end” weakness felt either in the peronei and/or in the calf via inability to keep the heel in “top-end”. Oh, and do not think that you can simply correct this by more calf work, not if the peronei are involved, which they usually are.
One more trick by The Gait Guys………bet you cannot wait for the foot dvd huh !? Ya, it has only been on our list for 3 years now !
 We talk more about this kind of stuff on our National Shoe Fit Certification program.
Email us if you are interested thegaitguys@gmail.com