Fallen arches

[Cericoe]

Hi there,
Does anyone have experience working with fallen arches? Advice on treatments, stretches, exercises?

Thank you!

 

[shaycos]

Fallen arches

Hi there,
Does anyone have experience working with fallen arches? Advice on treatments, stretches, exercises?

Thank you!

My arches are dropping.. not sure if that is the same as when they are considered fallen.
Personally, my arches ache all the time, and I just like a lot of attention there. Not a LOT of pressure, but I like to feel like you actually worked on them, not just lubed them up with oil or creme.

 

[Gee]

for exercises:

picking up tissues or marbles with the toes

also a lady in my class was a yoga instructor. she told us this one:

stand with feet parallel, knees slightly flexed, pelvis in neutral, scapula down, shoulders relaxed, ears over acromium process.... lift toes (ONLY) off the floor while maintaining neutral position of body.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Forrest Yoga, which I teach, is really good for the arches, feet, and legs in general. Ana Forrest has some videos out there you can get. Basically the feet are kept "active" throughout every pose, which means that the toes are spread and lifted off the ground (if the feet are on the ground) and if the feet are not on the ground in certain poses, the ball of the foot is pressed forward while the toes are extended and spread. This essentially "turns on" the foot so that all the muscles are alive and awake and working.

At first the feet can easily cramp doing this because the muscles of the feet are weak and not used to it. Just keep at it, resting until the cramp goes away and then assuming "active feet" again. This is pretty much what ccMarie described, except you hold this foot position throughout the entire yoga practice. If you don't do yoga, you can hold this position of your feet for a certain amount of time every day, like while doing the dishes, or while getting ready in the morning, or just for an hour whenever you can. I find it can help to hold this foot position if I am giving a massage and my back starts to hurt. I'll lift my toes and that seems to turn on my legs to give me more support to hold my pelvis properly.

Another foot excercise similar to picking up tissues or marbles with the toes is to find some sand (beach, backyard, park) and dig a hole in the sand with your toes. Or, put a towel under your foot so that it is layed out a bit in front of your foot and slowly gather the towel in using your toes. That's kind of like digging.

No doubt massage in general will help because as the muscles start to build up there will surely be soreness, but other than that I'm not familiar with specific techniques to help.

 

[That Guy!]

How is the spine of this pair of feet's owner? Is there a history of back problems, or a history of his/her support system falling away? How is the relationship with this client's loved ones and family? Fallen arches are very common amongst those who feel they have lost the support of a parent, spouse or very close friend. It is a heavy feeling of loneliness and sometimes despair and pulls those arches right down.

A good visual guide would be for the client to stand against a wall (so as not to fall over!), close his/her eyes and to find his/her arches with the mind. Imagine that the arch is like a bridge and this particular bridges needs some extra support - like pillows or soft cushions to begin with. Bring in the cushions

 

[joshua b]

Okay, here is my foot reading take on this topic. FWIW.

How is the spine of this pair of feet's owner? Is there a history of back problems, or a history of his/her support system falling away? How is the relationship with this client's loved ones and family? Fallen arches are very common amongst those who feel they have lost the support of a parent, spouse or very close friend. It is a heavy feeling of loneliness and sometimes despair and pulls those arches right down.

 

[brian Z]

Here is my take on fallen arches, from a myofascial release perspective. If you take a look at your pelvis, you may find an increased amount of anterior rotation of the pelvis. This can occur unilaterally or bilaterally. Whichever side is tips forward the most tends to have a greater degree of pes planus, or fallen arch. If the degree of forward rotation of the pelvis is equal on both sides, there tends to be a near equal amount of falling. As the pelvis tips forward, the acetabulum rotates, causing a relative motion of the femur due to the muscular and fascial orientation. This in turn will rotate the fumu and lower leg internally, rotating the tarsal bones in a similar manner, and ending with a splaying out of the foot with flatter arches. From a p[reventative or early treatment perspective, balancing the pelvis is crucial, not to mention all of the other problems that can be stopped or slowed as a result. Orthotics can help, but they only support the feet in their new found state of flatness, pushing them up to where they once were. This can be enough for many, but working on the forces that slowly brought about the changes can also help, even in more advanced cases.

Treating the foot can be very helpful as well. Compressive releases to the foot and forefoot can decrease the pain associated with the foot being in a place where is was not in the past, in a sense accomodating to the new posture. Releasing up into the lower leg can help as well. I've found that no matter how progressed the fallen arches have become, balancing the pelvis, working to bring the legs/legs back into a more neutral alignment, and working the lower leg and foot can usually bring back better overall alignment and comfort.

 

[groovybug]

Holy COW. (moo) Thank you so much, y'all. t041

Unfortunately this person is a coworker, and not a client. She doesn't seem too interested in being one, either. So I'm trying to come up with things that I can tell her to do for herself, as she seems more open to that.

Dragonflies, she has a history of upper cervical problems, and I believe has a spur on.. C4? Anyhow, as for her familial relationships, I think they're about in line with the normal changes in life- parents old/dying, teenaged children being, well, teenagery. In other words, nothing in her personal life that she really has any control over (except of course her own reactions) that I'm aware of. But she comes across as, shall we say, a little "less" than laid back, so I bet you're on to something.

Moose_goose, I'm going to keep that in mind, definitely, for the next time I come across someone complaining of foot/ arch problems. And WaltFritz, that was awesome information! Makes me a little more interested in MFR, too. I also think I can develop some self-help ideas from your post.

Thank you, CCmarie and ShivaShiva for the exercises!