Foot Health

Healthy Feet: Why They Matter for the Rest of Your Body

May 11, 2017 blog@chiroaddict.com

Did you know that fully a quarter of your body’s bones are in your feet? These complex marvels of engineering by Mother Nature provide your body with a firm foundation, and are constantly in demand to help move the body from one place to another. With 19 muscles and 26 bones each, your feet are important for the balance and health of the entire body.

Dr. Brian Jensen, a chiropractor, offers this perspective: “By age 20, an estimated 80 percent of people develop some type of foot imbalance. By age 40, foot imbalances plague virtually everyone.” If the foundation is out of balance, then the rest of the structure (the body) is thrown out of balance. Invariably, this means the ankles, knees, hips and spine are adversely affected. A misaligned spine can cause chronic pain and can increase the risk of other musculoskeletal problems.

One key way the feet can cause spinal problems is by causing an imbalance in your gait—the way you walk. If your stride is off a little, it can eventually cause the supporting structures of your spine to be subject to stress in the wrong places, eventually pulling your spine out of alignment. According to Dr. Jenson, collapsed arches (“over-pronation”) are the most common source of problems with the feet, causing them to roll inward as an individual walks. Excessive supination (“under-pronation” or the foot rolling to the outside) is the opposite problem.

Both over-pronation and under-pronation often leave telltale signs in the uneven way a person’s shoes wear over time. Typically, a shoe’s heel or sole will become noticeably more worn on either the inside or outside edge. Some pronation is normal, but when both feet pronate too much and for too long a period, then your musculoskeletal health is at risk.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns of two other health problems involving the feet—obesity and diabetes. Carrying lots of extra weight obviously increases the wear and tear on your body’s joints and is particularly hard on the feet. Diabetes can affect circulation as well as the peripheral nervous system—especially in the extremities—making it more difficult to walk and more difficult to heal after injuries. Both of these conditions set up a vicious cycle where pain and dysfunction often lead to reduced mobility, which in turn often leads to additional weight gain and diabetic symptoms.

Depending on your particular situation, your chiropractor can assist you in finding the proper orthotics for your feet to help correct these kinds of mechanical issues and increase the amount of healthy cushion for absorbing the shock of walking.

And remember—the condition of each foot can change over time, so visit your chiropractor regularly to see if you need special insoles to protect your feet, ankles, knees, hips and spine.

To Stay Healthy this Fall and Winter? Wash Your Hands! The Simplest Way

February 28, 2017 blog@chiroaddict.com

As summer turns to fall, lots of people (children and adults alike) will be spending more time inside and in closer proximity to one-another. Washing your hands is something simple we can all do to keep our schools, workplaces and homes just a little bit healthier. In fact, it’s actually been identified by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the single most effective way to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

But researchers at Michigan State University recently found that only about 1 person in 20 actually washes his or her hands properly in even the most obvious hand washing scenario—after using a public restroom. According to a summary by writer Lindsay Abrams of the Atlantic:

“Of 3,749 people observed leaving the bathrooms, 66.9 percent used soap, while 10.3 percent didn’t wash their hands at all. The other 23 percent of people stopped at wetting their hands, in what the researchers, for some reason, call “attempted washing” (as if maybe those people just weren’t sure how to follow through). Although the researchers generously counted the combined time spent washing, rubbing, and rinsing, only 5.3 percent of people spent 15 seconds or longer doing so, thus fulfilling the requirements of proper handwashing. They average time spent was 6 seconds.

Why Hand Washing?

Bacterial and viral infections can be spread when the hands come into contact with infectious respiratory secretions and carry them elsewhere. This happens most often as a result of someone coughing, sneezing, shaking hands, or touching an object that has been in the proximity of a sick person and then touching the face—particularly the nose, mouth or eyes. This is one of the primary ways of transmitting the virus that causes the common cold.

Washing your hands after using the toilet or changing a diaper is of utmost importance, as the ingestion of even the smallest amount of fecal matter can cause serious illness from deadly pathogens such as E. coli, salmonella, giardiasis and hepatitis A, among others. You should also be particularly careful about washing your hands after touching garbage, handling animals or animal waste, visiting or caring for an ill person, or if your hands show visible dirt.

Those who handle food should routinely wash their hands, not only after using the toilet, but also after touching raw meat, fish or poultry, since the microbes present on uncooked food can cause gastrointestinal infections ranging from mild to severe or even life-threatening.

Perhaps those with the greatest need to wash their hands on a regular basis are healthcare workers. Because they’re constantly exposed to sick patients and patients with weakened immune systems, and since they frequently come into contact with contaminated surfaces, these professionals have a special responsibility. Before the importance of hand washing was widely understood within the healthcare community, millions of people became sick or died from infections passed along on the hands of their caregivers. During the 19^th century, up to 25% of women died in childbirth from childbed fever (puerperal sepsis), a disease subsequently found to be caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes. After hand washing was introduced as a standard practice in the delivery room, the rate of death dropped to less than 1%.

It All Begins With Hand Awareness

Here are the “4 Principles of Hand Awareness”:

Wash your hands when they are dirty and BEFORE eating
DO NOT cough into your hands
DO NOT sneeze into your hands
Above all, DO NOT put your fingers into your eyes, nose or mouth

How to Wash Your Hands the Right Way

To wash your hands properly, you need only two things: soap and clean, running water. If these two things are not available, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that has a minimum 60% alcohol content.

Before washing your hands, remove all rings and other jewelry. Using running water, wet your hands thoroughly, then apply enough soap to work up a nice lather. Keeping your hands out of the water, rub them together, being sure to scrub both the front and backs of your hands, including your wrists, and also washing between the fingers and under the nails. Do this for 20 seconds, then rinse completely under the running water. Be sure to turn off the taps with a paper towel rather than your bare hand. According to the CDC, the whole process should take about as much time as singing “Happy Birthday” twice.

But What About Drying?

The Mayo Clinic recently published its own comprehensive review and analysis of every known hand washing-related study produced since 1970. Interestingly, their researchers found that drying hands was a key part of preventing the spread of bacteria. They also concluded that paper towels are better than blowers for this purpose. Here’s some of their reasoning:

Most people prefer paper towels to blowers, so they’re more likely to use them.
Blowers take too long, encouraging people to wipe their newly-cleaned hands on dirty pants or to skip the step altogether.
It takes less energy to manufacture a paper towel than it does to dry hands with a blower.
Blowers dry out the skin on your hands.
Blowers scatter bacteria three to six feet from the device.

As chiropractic physicians, we have a special interest in helping our patients (and non-patients, for that matter) avoid illness and injury. This means helping them develop healthy lifestyle habits—like regular hand washing—that prevent disease. We also work closely with them in areas like diet, exercise, sleep and stress management. If you’d like to learn more about what we can do to help you stay healthy and live your life to its fullest, please call or visit our office today!

Save

Women’s Feet Are Paying a High Price for Fashion

January 5, 2017 oblanderchiropractic

Fashion before comfort… and health! That seems to be a prevailing attitude in the United States, particularly among women out shopping for new shoes. And while there are a number of shoe styles that can cause foot problems, the high heel (especially the ultra-high heel) is by far the biggest culprit. According the American Podiatric Medical Association:

72% of women wear high-heeled shoes (39% wear heels daily, while 33% wear them less often).
59% report toe pain as a result of wearing uncomfortable shoes; 54% report pain in the ball of the foot.
58% of women purchased new high-heeled shoes in the last year.
Younger women are more likely to experience blisters and pain in the arches of their feet than older women. Older women are more likely to experience corns, calluses, and bunions.

Ultra high-heels have many podiatrists concerned: According to Hillary Brenner, DPM, a spokeswoman for the American Podiatric Medical Association, “Heels are getting higher and higher,” she says. “We podiatrists like to call it shoe-icide.” Ultra-high heels often result in an array of injuries, short- and long-term, from ankle sprains to chronic pain and many issues in-between.

“Ultra-high heels force the feet into a position that puts stress on the ball of the foot,” continues Brenner. “At this critical joint, the long metatarsal bones meet the pea-shaped sesamoid bones, and the toe bones (phalanges). Too much pressure can inflame these bones or the nerves that surround them. Chronic stress to the foot bones can even lead to hairline fractures.”

However, heels in general, whether they’re stilettos or mid-heels, are hobbling women all around the country. High heels are known for producing a tender knot on the back of the heel, called the “pump bump” by some. This is a result of the pressure from the stiff, unyielding high-heel on the back of the foot. Blisters, swelling, bursitis, and even discomfort in the Achilles tendon can follow.

Additionally, all high heels increase the danger of an ankle sprain. The issue most seen by podiatrists is a lateral sprain, which occurs when a walker rolls onto the outside of their foot, stretching the ankle ligaments beyond their usual length. A serious sprain may even tear the ligaments and increase the risk of developing osteoarthritis.

In podiatrists’ and other medical professionals’ offices across the country, women are presenting with mild to severe foot problems due to wearing the wrong shoes. Other shoes that can cause foot pain and other issues include:

Ballet flats, which provide no support whatsoever.
Flip-flops, which provide almost no protection from splinters and other injuries.
Platform shoes, which often have rigid foot beds, putting unnecessary pressure on the foot.
Pointy-toed shoes, which can result in nerve pain, bunions, blisters, and hammertoes.

So what can a woman do to stay fashionable and keep her feet healthy and pain-free? For those who love high heels, consider performance pumps, which most often come with reinforced heels, athletic shoe construction, and more wiggle room for the toes.

Another solution for the pump enthusiast is a chunky-heeled shoe. Chunky heels allow better balance with a wider surface area, which gives the foot much more stability thereby diminishing the risk of ankle sprains.

For other shoes such as ballet flats, orthotic inserts can offer the support that the shoes lack. If you’re unsure about what kind of insert is best for your feet, talk to your podiatrist to get an informed opinion on how to best take care of your feet—and look good doing it.

Sharing Chiropractic Health News and Advice Because We are Addicted to Good Health!

Browsed by
Category: Foot Health