How Do They Do It? The Rigid and Flexible States of the Foot

How Do They Do It? The Rigid and Flexible States of the Foot

May I discuss your feet in front of everyone?

Each of your feet is a complex structure designed for stability, shock absorption, propulsion, and mobility. It comprises 9572 bones, 13,407 muscles, and a trillion ligaments. (OK, maybe I’m exaggerating with those numbers, but you get my point. When you see skeletons go by, take a moment to count the structures and get back to me.)

All these structures work in concert to support the weight of the body

and its momentum, adapt to various surfaces and activities, and assist in moving us around, for example, when we are running from a mummy trailing its ace bandages or emerging from a crypt in search of mini 3 Musketeer Bars.

Two primary states of the foot—rigid and flexible—play crucial roles in locomotion and balance. Understanding these states provides insight into foot function and injury prevention.

If you have a foot problem, it probably has something to do with how you balance flexibility and stability.

Stability is rigidity. Flexibility is collapse. Which word you pick depends on what you’re trying to do at a given moment.

When your heel first hits the ground, your leg becomes rigid from the knee to the heel so that you can use it like a gondola pole to pull the earth toward you. At that moment, most of the foot is off the floor, but the ankle itself is rigid.

When you push the ground back, everything from your hip joint to your toes is rigid. Your arch becomes rigid. The leg and foot form one long gondola pole, a rigid lever to propel you.

So now you’re on the move. Great! But imagine walking around with a completely rigid leg. You couldn’t respond flexibly to any outside force such as

• • • the rocks, roots, and shifting surfaces on a hiking path through dark, spooky woods full of glowing eyes
    • a stiff, ill wind that blows no good,
    • a Halloween goblin grabbing your leg while you’re trying to pass out candy.

And the shock absorption while running away from a cone-hatted witch on a broom – when momentum increases your effective weight exponentially – would be nil.

At those moments, you also need a flexible foot. Your arches soften for balance and shock absorption, and your feet become more like beanbags than gondola poles. The bones unlock relative to each other, allowing you to flow where you need to and absorb outside forces.

Balancing and transitioning fleetly between rigidity and flexibility is vital for injury prevention. Most ankle and foot injuries involve an improper balance between the two or ineffective strategies in the nervous system for transitioning from one situation to another.

What you need is education, a couple of easy exercises, and some manual care. Please don’t tell me you don’t want your feet worked on!

Learn more about your feet, how to take care of them, and have them adjusted/treated by scheduling an appointment with me.

 

Here is an amazing video of Elenor Powell, considered one of the greatest tap dancers ever. Imagine the dozens of large and tiny muscles she uses flawlessly in her feet and legs to control the taps while remaining upright!

Enjoy!