Feet Archives - Amazing Health Advances

How to Run Light on Your Feet & Avoid Injury

The AHA! Team — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 05:15:40 +0000

Joe Boland via Dr. Axe – Running is one of the best full-body aerobic exercises known to mankind, great for burning calories and working multiple muscle groups. Unfortunately, it also can lead to common running injuries, such as shin splints, stress fractures or heel spurs. The good news is there is research that may give runners a guide on how to run to avoid injury. A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine looked at why some longtime runners sustain many injuries while others never experience any injury at all. This is major, since up to 90 percent of runners sustain injuries that lead them to miss training time every year, according to some estimates. Conducted by folks at Harvard Medical School and other universities, the study involved 249 experienced female runners who were all heel strikers, meaning they all strike the ground with their heels when they run. Participants completed questionnaires about injury history and ran on a track with force monitors in order to measure impact loads. The runners were then tracked for two years, with the volunteers using a running diary and injury log during the study time. Over the two years, more than 140 runners reported sustaining injuries, with more than 100 of those injuries requiring medical attention. The other 100 or so reported no injuries, but of greater note to the researchers, 21 also had not had a prior injury either. To determine why this was the case, they turned to impact loading data, comparing the pounding metrics for those who have never been injured to those who have been seriously injured. Just as suspected, the runners who avoided injury landed far more lightly on their feet than those who had been seriously hurt. How to run light on your feet This is a huge breakthrough, since most runners are believed to be heel strikers. Turns out, this running technique does lead to more injuries because heel striking leads to a higher impact load on the foot, leg and body than landing near the middle or front of the foot. In fact, a 2012 study conducted by the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise examined 52 runners, 36 of whom primarily used a rearfoot strike and 16 of whom primarily used a forefoot strike. Researchers found that “approximately 74 percent of runners experienced a moderate or severe injury each year, but those who habitually rearfoot strike had approximately twice the rate of repetitive stress injuries than individuals who habitually forefoot strike.” They ultimately concluded that “runners who habitually rearfoot strike have significantly higher rates of repetitive stress injury than those who mostly forefoot strike.” Another 2014 study published in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy also found that rearfoot striking puts more pressure on the lower limbs, particularly the ankles, than forefoot striking. So if you’re wondering how to run optimally to avoid injury, you want to focus on avoiding landing on your heel. Those findings reinforce what was found in this more recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Dr. Irene Davis, the Harvard professor who led the study, said the findings also suggest that thinking about “a soft landing” can help. In addition, she provided some additional tips on how to run to avoid injury: Experiment with landing closer to the midfoot if you’re a heel striker. Most runners naturally land more lightly when they don’t lead with the heel. Slightly increase cadence — the number of steps you take per minute. This seems to reduce pounding from each stride. Imagine you’re running on eggshells or attempting to “run on water,” so to speak, trying to remain light on your feet. Davis’ Harvard colleague, professor Daniel E. Lieberman, had a few more tips on how to run properly as well: Don’t overstride. It places a big impact and shock wave that travels up your body. It also causes a deceleration of the body, so you have to work harder to keep your stride. If you focus on forefoot striking too much, you may overstride and cause more stress. Conversely, as we’ve noted, heel striking is bad. So focus on a flat-foot, midfoot strike. A very pronounced forefront or rearfoot strike is bad. Increase your stride rate. A high stride rate keeps your stride short and your bounce springy. Upright posture is important. If you lean forward, it puts big angular torque on your upper body, causing your body to want to fall forward, putting more stress on your lower body. Be relaxed. Don’t waste effort by tensing your upper body. If you’re a newer runner and wondering how to run from the get-go to avoid injury, keep these running tips for beginners in mind as well, in addition to this research: Warm up. Set a goal, and run consistently. Incorporate burst training. Cross-train. Get the right pre- and post-run fuel. Choose the right shoes. Watch out for uneven surfaces. Listen to your body. Stretch. Final thoughts Changing your running style is not necessarily easy, but it can really have an impact — no pun intended — on your injury incidence. Most people are heel strikers when they run, but this is actually detrimental and leads to more injury. Numerous studies have confirmed this, noting that rearfoot strikers put more impact and strain on their limbs than midfoot or forefoot strikers. Seeing as running injuries are so common and can interfere with exercise and training, it’s wise to focus on your running technique. Here are some tips on how to run with proper running technique by staying light on your feet to avoid injury: Warm up. Set a goal, and run consistently. Incorporate burst training. Cross-train. Get the right pre- and post-run fuel. Choose the right shoes. Watch out for uneven surfaces. Listen to your body. Stretch. Think about a soft landing. Focus on landing closer to your midfoot. Slightly increase your cadence, and potentially shorten your stride. Try imagining you’re running on eggshells or attempting to run on water to remain light on your feet. Don’t overstride. Land flat-footed or close to it. Run with upright posture. Be relaxed. To read the original article click here.

The post How to Run Light on Your Feet & Avoid Injury appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

A Physical Therapist’s Best Advice on Foot Pain

The AHA! Team — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 05:25:53 +0000

Tufts University via Newswise – Who’s at risk for sore feet, why foot pain can start, how to prevent it, and what to do if it arises – Foot pain often begins in the hips and the gluteal muscles — a trio of muscles that help us walk. If you notice tightness in your hips or discomfort when you sit or stand, think about ways to stretch and relax those muscles to avoid foot pain down the line. For nurses, servers, construction workers, and many others, work means a lot of time on the feet. Repeated motions can lead to muscle, nerve, or tendon stress. A split-second equipment slip can outmatch steel-toed boots and result in a fracture or break. Moyosore Tillery spent more than a decade addressing these types of injuries as a physical therapist focused on occupational health and outpatient orthopedics. In private practice, she also treated runners with foot pain. While Tillery notes that diagnosing and addressing foot pain is incredibly patient-specific, she says there is one general truth: “It’s almost never just one thing.” A physical therapist can help narrow in on issues and mitigate further damage. “It’s ultimately about what’s happening above or below a joint,” said Tillery, an assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at Tufts University School of Medicine. “We use our expertise as movement scientists and movement analysts to try to figure out what’s weak, what may be tight, what may be hyper- or hypomobile, and a lot of our skillset is geared toward identifying and addressing all of those different issues.” Risk Factors Most people get sore feet from time to time. But there are a few factors that put some people at higher risk. Occupation, of course, plays a role. People sitting at a desk may be less likely to suffer from foot pain than those who regularly perform physical labor or move often in their jobs. But genetics, sex, lifestyle, weight, and even geographic location and terrain can also influence the likelihood of foot pain. When monitoring for potential sore spots, it helps to make note of how these factors may play into your specific circumstance: Do you often hike on uneven ground? Are you commuting to work by bike? Does work require you to wear specific shoes, such as steel-toed boots, that put you at higher risk for developing corns? Some pain risk factors will change throughout our lives. Pregnancy, for instance, can put additional strain on the feet because of the added weight, and make injury more likely because hormones in the body relax muscles. As we age, our bone density changes, as does our flexibility. “Things that are stretchy are just less stretchy as we age,” said Tillery. “We have to stay ahead of that, or at least be aware.” Avoiding Injury Having that awareness allows for mitigation of any additional risks. Running can help build bone density, according to Tillery, and any physical activity will make sure our body is used to movement. “These things are preventative, but it also goes hand-in-hand with what we do as physical therapists in the rehab process,” she said. “There’s a reason exercise is involved, to build up what we will lose as we age.” A physical therapist can also conduct a “biomechanical analysis” — a study of how a body moves when performing specific tasks — which can identify and help correct any weaknesses in the body that could lead to pain down the line. Before physical activity, Tillery recommends “dynamic stretching and mobility exercises.” Think of a short, quarter-mile walk before beginning a run — something to get the blood flowing in a way that won’t jolt muscles immediately from rest to high-intensity movement. It’s also helpful to cross-train. Mixing in different types of physical activity can help the body avoid stress injuries from repeated motion, like plantar fasciitis, a condition that occurs when the tissue connecting the heel to the toes becomes inflamed. And then there’s strengthening. When you hit the gym, you probably don’t think about pumping iron to strengthen your feet. But there are exercises that can make our all-important foot muscles more agile, mobile, and strong, like toe curls, flexing your ankle up and down, and calf raises. There are some foot problems that are extremely difficult to avoid that are unrelated to injury. Arthritic inflammation can lead to bunions because of associated joint damage or misalignment, for instance, and gout can cause swelling and extreme joint pain. You may be able to reduce complications from these conditions if you’re aware that you’re predisposed to them and take precautions to alleviate symptoms. Pain: What to Look Out For Providing all-encompassing advice for the onset of foot pain is difficult, because, as Tillery explains, it’s all dependent on the patient — and the pain. The foot has more than two dozen bones, 30 joints, and more than 100 ligaments, muscles, and tendons, and discomfort can stem from any number of areas. Injuries “can span the joint, the muscles — even nerve flexibility,” says Tillery. But there are a few symptoms worth paying attention to. Foot pain often begins in the hips and the gluteal muscles — a trio of muscles that help us walk. If you notice any tightness in your hips or discomfort when you sit or stand, think about ways to stretch and relax those muscles, like a 90-90 stretch or a supine hip flexor stretch. Asymmetry can serve as another indicator of oncoming pain — is one side of your body feeling a bit off? Understanding a patient’s baseline on one limb can help physical therapists like Tillery set up a treatment plan. “We’ll often use the unaffected limb as a baseline to assess where the deficits are for the affected limb,” she said. Overall, Tillery says any type of sensation change may be your body offering you a sign that something isn’t right. Depending on the severity, that may be when you should reach out to a professional. How to Respond Because each injury can depend on the person, Tillery advises talking to a professional before making any decisions about how to treat pain. “Go see your trusted medical provider who can screen and do less-invasive tests, and then let them guide you,” she says. Depending on the severity of an injury, that may mean a visit to a physical therapist or other primary care providers — if the pain is minimal or not particularly traumatic — or a trip straight to the emergency room. “Obviously if it’s black, it’s blue, and it’s completely numb, go to the emergency room or urgent care,” says Tillery. Last, it pays to stay patient. Not every person will heal on the same timescale, and patient education plays an important role in helping people understand how long the process may take for them. If injury does happen, people who smoke may take longer to heal. Nicotine contracts blood vessels, restricting blood flow and the movement of nutrients that are important for healing. People with diabetes can also be slower healers because of slower circulation and less oxygen reaching different tissues in the body. These circumstances are important to be aware of, because they may influence the advice a medical professional provides to boost healing after an injury. To read the original article click here.

The post A Physical Therapist’s Best Advice on Foot Pain appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Hammer Toe Treatment Gets People on Their Feet Faster

The AHA! Team — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 06:26:43 +0000

Duke Health – If your toes are crooked or stiff, you may have a hammer toe. They may be caused by a sudden injury, chronic instability, an autoimmune disease (such as rheumatoid arthritis), or tight or improperly sized shoes. Here, Andrew Hanselman, MD, a Duke Health foot and ankle orthopaedic surgeon, explains treatment options. How is hammer toe treated? Hammer toes can be treated with stretching exercises, comfortable wide-toe-box shoes, and over-the-counter toe spacers and metatarsal pads, which help keep the toes separated and cushioned, so they don’t rub against each other. If your toe is also rubbing up against the underside of your shoe, you can use small pads, found in most drugstores, to cover and protect the toe. Will I need surgery for hammer toe? Surgery for hammer toes may be recommended to remove some bone and straighten the toe. A foot and ankle surgeon may also manipulate the soft tissue and move the insertion point of the tendon muscle to make the correction even better. Once the toe is straight, they use a variety of techniques, such as a pin, which stays in the toe for several weeks, to hold the toe straight while it heals. These pins are then removed by the surgeon in clinic with little to no discomfort. The pin technique allows the toe to remain straight with no residual metal left inside your body. Another technique uses a small metal implant to hold the toe together while it fuses. This is usually permanent but does not require removal afterwards. Our foot and ankle specialists will recommend the procedure that is right for you after discussing your preference, and the bone quality of your foot. Is surgery for hammer toe painful? Surgery for hammer toes is an outpatient procedure; it does not require a hospital stay. Although every situation may be different, the majority of these procedures are performed under a regional nerve block along with anesthesia administered through an IV to help you relax. This allows for a pain-free process while being safer than traditional regional anesthesia. Often, people are able to walk afterwards using a supportive specialized post-surgical shoe or sandal that is provided at the hospital or surgery center. How long does it take to wear regular shoes and walk normally after surgery? Most people return to wearing regular shoes around six to eight weeks following surgery. Low-impact activities, such as walking for exercise, may begin at that time. Depending on how quickly you heal, you can typically return to higher impact activities, such as riding a bike or using an elliptical machine, around three months and running/jumping activities around four to six months. To read the original article click here.

The post Hammer Toe Treatment Gets People on Their Feet Faster appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.