Shore Up Your Footing
Our feet. We most often take them for granted. Faithful creatures; they are ready for duty, from the first step to the last step of our days. They must tolerate tight quarters (shoes), long periods of great pressure (standing, running, etc.), and difficult work environments (going barefoot out-of-doors). Yes, it is true that they occasionally give us some “kick back” but usually because they have been sorely mistreated.
Nearly every patient I evaluate needs some attention paid to their feet. Whether I am addressing a painful foot or ankle, knee, hip or low back, I am interested in how the foot is being treated—specifically, how my patient is distributing their weight upon their feet.
The body was created to function best when in a state of balance; and yet many people stand in an unbalanced way when it comes to their feet. And given the fact that our feet form our very foundation when we are standing, if we don’t want to resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa, then we need to shore up our footing!
First, if you suspect that one of your legs may be shorter than the other, have a physical therapist measure that for you and get a small (less than 1 cm) heel lift put inside your shoe. This may be the case if one pant leg has more creases in it by your ankle, or if you feel you are only comfortable standing with one knee bent.
In order not to cause structural damage to your body (from foot to spine) weight bearing through your feet must be balanced front to back and side to side. To begin the “redistribution process”, rock your body forward so that more weight is borne over the ball of your foot and then rock back so that more weight is on your heel. Repeat this back and forth motion at smaller intervals until you can feel your body weight equally distributed between the ball and heel of your two feet. Next, simple shift your weight left to right until you feel your weight is equally shared by both feet.
1 Timothy 6:19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. : D