Tag: exercise

Feet

Published on by Caroline WhitehornLeave a comment

I love feet! Not in some weird way. Feet are often an ignored part of our self care. We run, workout, do pilates or play tennis. Keeping our body fit and our heart in tip top shape, but we often don’t think about our feet. Our feet have 26 bones, 33 joints and 29 muscles in the foot (well, some start outside the foot and finish in the foot). They need working and moving like the rest of our body. So how much do you move your feet joints and muscles?

If you are wearing stiff or firm soled shoes then the joints in the foot aren’t doing a great deal and therefore the muscles aren’t being used optimally. Do you ever walk around your home bare foot?

All the little muscles and joints need to move!

Often, pain in the foot can be from lack of movement through these muscles and joints over months or years, through foot wear or training changes or activity changes. Things like plantar fasciitis develop due to lack of flexibility through the foot and it’s arches. Tight calf muscles can be a part of it, as this can restrict the flexibility of the foot. This is a very common condition which can cause an awful lot of discomfort and affect normal daily activities or exercise.

Ideally, you should be able to walk around your home bare foot, without pain (if you get pain it may be you need to get an assessment and rehab advice). Also, have a go at moving each toe individually, can you spread your toes to create space between them?

Can you raise all your toes and lower each one individually to the floor?

Can you bend and create movement through your foot?

These are all signs of good and strong foot health. You can work on these and make your feet stronger. You can start with these things:

Scrunching your toes against the floor.

‘piano’ playing with your toes.

Moving your big toe away from the second toe.

Heel raises- both feet and single foot

Use your hand to wiggle your foot in different directions.

Hip pain?

Published on by Caroline WhitehornLeave a comment

Hip pain can be worrying, especially if you are thinking it is your joint and you are in your 50s or 60s or older. Often people assume they have arthritis in the hip. They come to me worrying about whether I am going to say they need to see the GP and then a consultant because their hip is worn down. Sometimes, it is true, this can be the case. wear and tear or degenerative change does happen over time and after the age of 25 we are all slowly deteriorating! Great news! Aging is normal.

However, often people come to me and describe they have hip pain. On further investigation I realise they are not talking about the hip joint. Commonly, hip joint pain shows itself in the groin, the pain is in the crease at the top of the thigh. I see people with worries about needing a hip replacement but what they are describing is lateral hip pain, pain on the outer side of the hip area.

How people describe the symptoms is part of the picture and the onset. A diagnosis is never one thing alone.

Women are more likely to suffer this when they are around the peri-menopause or menopause years. But they are by no means the only ones. Lateral hip pain can affect younger active people or older men.

What is it then if it isn’t my joint?

If after assessment your joint is cleared. There are several different tissues on the outer thigh that can be causing this, there are little fluid filled sacks called bursas, they can become inflamed and irritated, tendons can become irritated too. Also, the gluteal muscle can have a tear. These can happen individually or a few together. They cause pain on walking, going upstairs, standing.

What causes it?

It can be a change in activity, either an increase or decrease in activity. Have you had a recent lifestyle change or weight loss or gain? Have you taken up a new activity and increased the amount you do, or have you previously been quite active, stopped for a while and then tried to start again?

Irritatingly, you could be trying to become fitter or improve your activity levels only to come to a halt due to pain!

What to do about it?

First thing is to try to reduce the irritability of it. This can be by using ice over the area, or anti inflammatories if they are ok for you (speak to a pharmacist or GP if you are unsure or you are on other medication which may conflict with it). Trying to reduce the activities for a time that irritate it. For example, If that is after a certain distance of walking, reduce your walking. Pace activities that require you being on your feet. Or if you have an exercise regime reduce it to a level where you weren’t getting the pain.

There are exercises which can help alleviate the pain. These need to be suitable for where you are after diagnosis and progressed appropriately. That’s the good news. The bad news is it can take several weeks or even a few months to get to where you want to be, especially if you leave it ages to get it looked at.