Interact Info for Pros Info for Athletes Products More About MTS...
Subscribe To This Site
Getting out of habit of tending to walk and run on the outside edge of my foot
by Peter
(Ireland)
Hi, Great site.
I am reading through your articles on "Dorsiflexion Solutions", they are excellent.
I have very flat feet, very limited range of dorsiflexion movement of my ankle and am a severe over pronator when running.
When I try to dorsiflex stretch it seems to me that the ankle joint has a blockage/restriction, as soon as I lean towards the wall when calf stretching my heel lifts from the floor.
When I get out of bed in the morning I have a hard job putting my heel on the ground and if I do before I have loosened up it feels that I am tearing something in the sole of my foot back from the big toe. I had found that if I walked more on the outside of my foot that it was more comfortable. The big problem is that I seem to have gotten into the habit of this during the day and when running and now I have a pain on the outside edge of my foot where there is a bony protrusion on the about half way between my little toe and my heel, and loads of hard skin build up there.
The pain I think is due to the pressure on the flesh between the bony protrusion and the skin.
Have you any suggestions as to how I can get out of this habit?
Many thanks,
Peter
Comments for
Getting out of habit of tending to walk and run on the outside edge of my foot
Thanks for the kind words on the site. I enjoy sharing what I have learned over the years and I hope that it is useful to people in need.
What you are describing to me is pretty classic plantar fascia pain. A Dorsiflexion restriction paired with a flat foot is a pretty good recipe for foot problems on the bottom of your foot. Basically, you don't have a lot of support naturally from your foot, and the shoes that most of us are wearing all day long do little to help that problem. Then when you add a restricted ankle in the mix, there is too much dysfunction going on and something is going to have to give.
Also, morning pain is very typical with plantar fascia issues. What happens is that during the night, you sleep with your toes pointed in plantar flexion because it is the most relaxed and easiest position to sleep in. During that night, all of the tissue on the bottom of your foot tightens up. Then, when your foot hits the floor first thing in the morning, it suddenly gets stretched out when it is already very inflamed. Then the cycle continues to grow.
There are a couple of easy things that can help you. First, leave a towel right next to your bed and when you wake up in the morning, hook it over your foot and toes (holding the ends of the towel with your hands) and stretch out your calf and toes before your feet ever touch the floor. This will make a big difference.
Second, you either need to see a clinician with good manual therapy skills to perform some joint mobs on your ankle, or you need to perform some self ankle joint mobs (as shown on our site). Your dorsiflexion restriction isn't coming from your calf, it is in the ankle itself and no amount of regular calf stretches will fix that.
Third, purchase some really good quality motion control running shoes to wear around. These will support your foot very well.
Fourth, when you are at home, get out of your shoes and try to walk barefoot as much as you can (when it is pain free). Pain free barefoot activities will begin to strengthen your foot and help it create it's own structure.
If these recommendations don't work, try our eBook, Foot Pain Solutions.
If that doesn't work, get to a clinician or podiatrist for further evaluation.
