Length and shape of Toes

How closely have you looked at your toes?

When considering what style of footwear to choose, that shape is important.

When there are long 3rd or 4th toes, slip on footwear should be avoided.

When slip ons are worn in such a case over time hard skin and corns arise on the toes and balls of the feet eventually pain will arise followed by toe deformity such as hammer and mallet toes.

The style to go for to prevent such things developing is  footwear with an ankle fixing. Such styles keep the heel back in the heel cup so maximising the space in the forefoot.

The shape of the forefoot should also be chosen with care. Some people have a very square forefoot. If that is the case the more rounded the shape the better.

Remember  prevention is always better the cure.

High  heels

High heeled footwear is not inherently bad. Generally it is all about moderation. Regardless of what it is, anything taken or done to excess is not good for us.

For there to be an even weight distribution over the foot there has to be a heel of approximately 1/4 inch. So a high heel is anything over an inch a half

Obviously the higher the heel the more weight  goes on the front of the foot which is why the ball of the feet hurt. 

As long as all the key joints between hip and toes fall within normal limits and an individual's balance is normal then walking in 4 or 5 inch heels will be comfortable for a period of time. But it makes walking at a normal pace challenging.

Setting aside accidents and injuries, when pain arises then it is important to realise it is rarely a defect with that part of our body. It is usually the result of how we move our body as a consequence of a decision we have made with our mind. A high number of these revolve around our habits and routines.

The higher a heel goes, the more rigid the leg becomes. This having the effect of reducing shock absorption as the heel comes to ground so increasing the forces entering the body via the foot. It is important to remember every structure in our body has limits on how much load is tolerable before damage is done. Once exceeded aches and pains arise.

Some people wear high heels most of the time, often it is to give extra height and frequently it is part of what is expected as a dress standard. A high percentage of these people find that wearing lower heeled footwear is uncomfortable. This has arisen as consequence of muscles at the back of the legs not being put through the normal range of movement.

When wearing high heels causes pain in and around the heels, arches of the feet or on the balls of the feet. Again this is not usually a defect with the feet. It is all about how the joints are aligned. The later is the result of how we move. The primary issue is frequently how the upper body is controlled;especially when sitting down.

If you are suffering, vary the style,increase shock  absorption of the soles and lower the heels in the short term. Find a podiatrist that understands biomechanics and work with them to gradually bring your body back into balance. Once achieved you can wear high heels again.

Niggling aches and pains.

Are you suffering and accept this is a consequence of your age or  an old injury. Therefore you believe  you have no choice but to grin and bear it.

If your are prepared to embrace change and be diligent in focusing on working on understanding how your body works then there is a solution.

By heightening your awareness of how your body moves, it will be possible to gradually improve postural alignment.

When consistently sitting, standing, walking and running correctly then you will be managing how your body moves and be comfortable.

What truly matters is enjoying being aware of the moment you are in.

This is because thought and feeling co-exist in the same moment.

Gill Bolte Taylor in her book 'My stroke of Insight' sums it up neatly

We are not thinking creatures that can feel. We are feeling creatures that can think.

Doing what is correct in the moment you are in is the best preparation for the moment that follows.

Prevention is always better than cure

Step in time: Heighten your own awareness

Our toes play a vital role in two areas:

Balance

Circulation of blood and lymph

Toes become uncomfortable(setting aside accidents) when there is:

 1 -  a mismatch between the footwear and shape of the feet.

2 - there is a postural issue resulting in the feet moving incorrectly within footwear causing toes to be squashed, bent, or twisted. Sometimes all three.

When discomfort is ignored eventually pain will occur. Remember pain is the only mechanism the brain has to bring to the consciousness, there is a problem.

The painful conditions that are commonly seen range from hard skin and corns, to toe deformity such as Hammer toes and or mallet toes and joint malalignment.

All toe conditions are easy to treat and resolve, providing, an individual is prepared to work with their mind, brain and body. The goal being to heighten awareness of how the body is moving or being held whilst the mind is anywhere but in the present moment. Then if necessary make the appropriate changes.

When the bones, ligaments, muscles and joints are all correctly aligned then there will be better balance and improved blood flow through the legs and feet.

To achieve this toes have to have room in which to move and spread.

Step in time and feel your toes working.

Step in time: Heighten your own awareness

Are you fed up of niggling aches and pains?

Are you willing to change?

If you are there is a solution that will cost........nothing!

Simply listen to you body.

All that is needed is to develop the habit of maintaining good posture,when sitting,standing,walking and running.

To achieve this in everyday activity, your feet have an important role. Look after them by wearing footwear with :

1. A thick soft sole to give plenty of shock absorption underneath the feet.
2. An ankle fastening to keep the heel still and give the toes ample space.

Many of the everyday fleeting aches and pains can be alleviated by developing daily habits such as daily stretching routines, brisk walks and avoiding sitting for lengthy periods of time.

By heightening your awareness of movement and improving posture most of your irregular aches and pains can be cleared providing the feet are comfortable and stable.

For most of us, the only the only aspect of our lives we have complete control over, is the way we move. listen to your body then make the right choice and enjoy the feeling of being comfortable.

Step in time!

Step in time: Heighten own awareness

When walking focus on placing your feet lightly on the ground. This will obviously reduce the impact on the body, particularly the joints, of each step. This will also therefore reduce the amount of energy expended.

Energy is stored in the body in a molecule called Adenosine Triphosphate(ATP) -mentioned in September 2016 blog. It is finite. Once used it has to be replenished. That comes from what we eat and and we breathe. When the latter is compromised, regardless of the reason, one of known side effects are muscle cramps.

When posture is impaired, the lungs are unable to function at the optimum efficiency. This, over time,has implications for how well the blood is re-oxygenated, which in turn leads to detrimental changes that affects to how the whole body performs.

So step lightly in time and heighten your awareness of good posture

Step in Time: Heighten your awareness.

Our body is a mass of tubes. For the blood alone, there is 60,000 miles.

The cardiovascular system endeavours to constantly ensure there is an adequate supply of blood to all body tissues. Each tissue type has its own minimum number of milliliters of blood per minute to sustain its metabolic activity removal of its waste products.

Blood has two components: (1) Blood plasma and (2) Formed Elements( Red blood cells(RBC), white cells, lymphocytes, and platelets). RBC account for 45% and the remainder is mainly plasma.

It takes a RBC about a minute from leaving the heart to getting back.

A RBC is viable for about 120 days and are replaced at the rate of 2 million per second.

Surely it makes sense to help your body work at it's optimum by focusing on being aware of maintaining good posture at all times.

Step in time and stay comfortable.

Step in TIME: Heighten your own awareness

In a day there are 86400 seconds.

Sleep  accounts for approximately a third, leaving around 57600 seconds.

With everyone of those 86400 seconds our brain and body are constantly changing.

Even when we are still, movement is occurring to maintain that stillness. A normal brain is controlling all of this.

When there is a lack of attention to body alignment, gravity brings pressure to bear on joints, resulting usually in poor posture. A good example is sitting badly leading to being round shouldered, neck and head to far forward. Then the head is in front of the centre of mass. As the seconds tick inextricably by the brain has to cope with consequences. 

Frequently aches and pains arise, initiating movement until in the new position it starts again.

This is all avoidable. Use time wisely to maintain excellent posture. 

Act now to stay comfortable.

Step in time!

Step in time: Heighten your own awareness.

Prevention is better than cure.

This is absolutely the case when applied to footwear.

The right shoe for the right occasion.

For a wide variety of reasons, slip on footwear is worn by the majority of adults and teenagers; frequently too often and for too long.

To keep slip ons on the foot, the foot has to be wedged into it otherwise the heel lifts out of the back of the footwear.

There are 28 bones in a normal adult foot. That snug feeling is bones being squashed together. This has the effect of altering how the foot functions. Over time these changes lead to foot deformities that are preceded often by aches and pains which in the beginning usually go off after a while of coming out of slip on. Gradually the  episodes get closer together until pain is continuous. Then help is sort.

Everyday footwear ought to have an ankle fastening that keeps the heel at the back of the heel cup and providing the shape of the toe box is the correct shape for the foot, there will be space for the toes to move. Both  in front and above them.

On special occasions wear what is felt is appropriate.

Get into the habit of making the right choice.

Heighten awareness of what is being felt in the moment. Then, better posture will be easy to maintain. This usually will result in having a comfortable body.

Step in time: Heighten your own awareness

A key sense to heighten your awareness of is proprioception, which is the ability to sense stimuli arising within your body regarding position,motion and alignment. The root of the word is 'proprius' which Latin for ' one's own'.

In order to attain and then maintain good posture bearing in mind our body's are constantly changing is refining your awareness of the feedback the brain is giving of your body's positional alignment 

 i.e. what you are conscious of.

Step in time and get the best you can from the moment you are in.

Enjoy constantly striving to heighten awareness.

Step in Time ; Heighten your own awareness

Are you experiencing occasional unexpected aches and pains in your legs and feet, which are fleeting and occur either when walking or when footwear is taken off. Then they gradually ease and fade away.

These are the early sign of your body being out of balance.

Focus on attaining and maintaining good posture, particularly when sitting.

heighten your own awareness.

Remember your brain is constantly managing a dozen systems every second you are alive.

Step in Time

Step in Time: Heighten your own awareness

When our toes start to be uncomfortable, especially the big toe(Hallux). The problem is usually nothing to do with feet. Frequently it is the consequence of a choice we have made as to what we wear on the feet to co-ordinate with the style clothing or what we are doing.

Everyday footwear ought to have some form of ankle fastening. This will help stabilize the ankles and give space to the toes.

Step in time by being  more aware of all your senses in the moment you are in. Then it is possible to avoid pain. Remember pain in all it's forms is the brain drawing attention to a problem.

Step in Time: Heighten your own awareness

The ankle joint is a mass of ligaments(the function of which is to maintain alignment of bones at a joint). There is no direct muscle attachments around the ankle joint itself, therefore muscles are unable in this case to meet their primary function of giving stability of a joint.

When a heel strike is outside normal limits the ankle joint will either seize up(hypomobile) or be too loose(hypermobile).

When either of these happen the function of the feet are impaired which in turn creates instability; both for the feet and how the whole leg functions.

A simple way to lessen the detrimental effects of a poorly aligned ankle joint is to wear footwear that supports the ankles e.g. boot type styles.

Prevention is always better than cure. Work with your mind brain and body to create improved stability by supporting your ankles in your normal day to day activities.

Step in time.

Heighten awareness of what you are feeling is happening as your body moves.  

Step in Time: Heighten your own awareness.

The correct head , neck and shoulders for the Central Nervous System(CNS) to function at it's optimum is critical.

The CNS consists of the brain and the spine.

So, when the upper body is incorrectly aligned due to poor posture arising from bad habits.There has to be a detrimental affect on the CNS as well as the musculo-skeletal structure - See below.

 

Strive to attain and then maintain good posture.

Step in time and stay comfortable.

The way we move is the only aspect of our lives we have total control of.

Step in Time: Heighten your own awareness

Energy is stored in the body in a molecule called Adenosine Triphosphate(ATP).

This molecule fuels everything from thinking and moving to dealing with infection.

ATP is created as part of the process of glucose and oxygen interacting.

ATP is involved in every muscle contraction.

It is finite. Once used it has to be replaced. It is one of the products of what we eat and how we breath.

So when posture is poor due to being round shouldered and head to far forward lungs are slightly compressed as a consequence the amount of oxygen circulating in the blood will be reduced. This often leads to muscle cramps and difficulty concentrating.

The solution is simple : Strive to attain and maintain good posture.

Step in Time

Step in time: heighten your own awareness.

Does your neck or shoulders frequently ache?

Especially when sitting working at a desk or on a lap top. If so this is an indication your body is misaligned.

Listen to your body. This is your body conforming to your enviroment and letting you know it is wrong.

Make your enviroment conform to your body. Get a more comfortable chair; raise the computer monitor; sit correctly. Get out of the chair more often.

Work with your body. Try not to take it for granted.

Step in time. 

Step in Time: Heighten your own awareness

Everyday aches and pains often arise because joints are incorrectly aligned.

If knees and feet are not pointing in the same direction the body is moving when walking on flat level ground, then there is a problem.

Often it is simply a twist in the knees which are very common and occurs when changing direction is done incorrectly.

This happens because often there is a total lack of awareness of how our body changes direction.

Heighten your awareness of how you move.

Remember thought and feeling occur in the same moment.

Step in time.

Step in Time: Heighten your own awareness

Are aches,stiffness and pains a constant companion?

If so, this is your brain making you aware that within your habits and routines there are movements occurring that are creating postural imbalances,leading to muscles being damaged and joints misaligned.

Strive to consistently improve posture when sitting standing and walking.

Prevention is always better than cure.

Step in time

Step in Time: Heighten awareness

Our body is a mass of different diameter tubes. When our body is incorrectly aligned for long periods of time, e.g. sitting for hours in front of computer screens or a tv with poor posture.

Then kinks will occur that impair blood flow and nerve pathways, resulting in stiffness, numbness,aches, pins and needles sensations.

Always be mindful of the fact we are NOT thinking creatures that can feel.

We are feeling creatures that can think.

This is a quote from Gill Bolte Taylor's book 'My Stroke of Insight'. Worth a read.

As soon as there is a sensation of some form of discomfort then move for a few minutes, then blood will flow with greater ease.

Excellent blood flow is essential for a healthy body.

Focus on prevention

Step in time

Step in Time: Heighten awareness

The brain and the spine together form the Central Nervous System

How can the Central Nervous System work efficiently when the spine is constantly or frequently poorly aligned?

It simply cannot be working at it's optimum.

Focus  on maintaining good posture.

Sit correctly!!!!!!!!