Give Your Fee A Hug!

If only my hips were flexible enough, I would.

The month of October was the month of the feet. Young athletes, older athletes and first time runners with foot, ankle and/or lower leg pain. All eager to learn how to get rid of it. 

The mechanics of the foot and ankle are glorious, like our bodies in their entirety are. When we stride forward, landing on our heel, the foot changes shape and unlocks, allowing for shock absorption. Then, as we move forward, up and over the ball of our foot, it changes shape again, moving into a locked and stable position for push off. Supporting this dynamic process are many other tissues- plantar fascia, ligaments, tendons and muscles. And, they all like to be working within a length and tension optimal to achieve the goal of propelling our center of mass into the direction which we want to go. Disruption to this chain of events can lead to the development of pain. 

To help rehab the foot and ankle, it is important to look directly at the area but……….. 

Remember the old song- The Skeleton Dance? It goes something like this: “The foot bone’s connected to the leg bone, the leg bone’s connected to the knee bone”, and onward up the chain. To most effectively help a person with foot pain, we must look up the chain! The mechanics at the hip, pelvis and trunk are distant but important regions which impact the static and dynamic alignment at the foot and ankle. In the clinic, we often discover impairments in areas distant to the location of a person’s pain which are seen to affect how they move at the foot and ankle. Use the link below and try the movements for yourself. Think about how your foot and ankle respond. Think about your overall stability- where are you rock solid and where might you need more stability? Maybe something feels stiff, preventing a motion in a joint or body region. How might this impact other areas?

Single Leg Common Balance Reaches

“Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.” It’s not just a song but a symphony!

Because Dr. Jill Trato is a RiseUp member, she offers a free 30-minute evaluation to anyone from our community. Just mention RiseUp and she’ll take a look, give you personalized advice, and help you understand what might be causing your pain.

If you’ve been struggling with anything from nagging foot discomfort to more persistent issues, this is a perfect chance to get expert guidance at no cost. Contact Jill here

About Dr. Jill Trato, PT, DPT, NCS: Dr. Jill has been in practice for over 21 years specializing in the differential diagnosis and treatment of balance, neurological, movement and vestibular disorders. In addition, Dr. Jill has completed residency training in Proprioceptive Neurologic Facilitation, extensive training in manual therapy for orthopedic conditions as well as fellowship coursework in the movement sciences applicable to the orthopedic and chronic pain populations.Dr. Jill's approach is whole person focused and efficient. And, she thoroughly enjoys just getting to know you as an individual.