“Ouch…. My Feet, My Knees, My Back”
How many have come home from work to complain of how bad their feet, knees and back ache. Posture communicates plenty, but what posture communicates about your health is one of the most important things you should be aware of. Because it turns out that when your mother told you to sit up and stand up straight, she was on the right track. However, science tell us that when it comes to posture, we should worry about our feet.
The first physical therapy song, “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes,” taught children that everything should be in alignment with each other. Poor posture of forward head, rounded shoulders, slumped back can have a dramatic effect on muscles and ligaments increasing pain over the upper body including difficulty with breathing. Poor alignment in the hips, knees, and ankles can lead to lower body pain. Bad posture is typically caused by an imbalance of strength and tightness in muscles, and the muscles in your feet play a critical role.
Our feet carry all our weight, which can be exhausting, especially if we are walking long distances or on our feet for a long time. Because of this, we may develop different foot conditions. When it comes time to figure out what to do, one of the first things you may notice or hear is that orthotics are important. Wearing orthotics can have a tremendous positive impact on good posture, due to how the feet absorb and distribute weight impacts the rest of the body. While orthotics are often seen as just a solution for heel pain, they can also be used as simple at-home solution to improve posture in the following ways of correcting gait abnormalities, improving balance, improving foot alignment, and disturbing weight more effective.
Your feet are your foundation every time you run, walk, jump, or stand. The impact from these simple daily activities, combined with the weight of the human body can place a great deal of strain on the heel and arch of the foot. Over time, as the body tries to compensate for this strain and pain, gait abnormalities can develop that result in poor posture.
Often people do not realize that walking on the inside or outside of their foot is impacting posture. Pronation of the foot is walking on the inside of your foot as you step forward, causing the arch to flatten excessively. Pronation is associated with increased incidences of plantar fasciitis, heel pain, and genu valgum (knock knees). If the foot is pronating during gait, the individual may be trying to adjust to a leg length discrepancy to shorten the leg to even out the pelvis to decrease low back pain. Supination of the foot is walking on the outside of your foot as you step forward. Supination is associated with genu varum (bow leggedness). By walking on outside of the foot, this can also be an attempt to lengthen a leg if there is a leg length discrepancy. Orthotics can help adjust the height of the leg by different thickness of insole and also can be adjusted to correct malalignment of feet.
Since orthotics help lift the arch to an optimal height and cushion the heel, the feet (and therefore the ankles, legs, hips, etc.) are more balanced, helping you avoid stumbles and falls that can injure or throw any number of the body’s muscle groups, bones, or tissues out of alignment and creating poor posture. Orthotics cushion and support the arch, you’re able to more effectively distribute and bear the weight of walking, running, and jumping. When your arch is able to do its job in absorbing impact effectively, you’ll feel less aches and strain to your hips, back, and legs.
For posture correction, it is important to consider every aspect of your body, from the position of your feet to the tilt of your head even in sitting and in standing. When sitting, keep both feet flat on the ground, or use a stool if your feet don’t reach. Your knees should be at a 90-degree angle and they should rest right above the ankles. Your back and hips should be against the chair and shaped with lumbar support. The neck should also be supported and the shoulders should be relaxed with the shoulder blades pulled across and down the back. If you are using a computer, keep your forearms parallel to the floor and place the computer screen slightly above eye level to avoid tipping the head forward. Your posture while standing should look like a straight line from the ankle to the hip to the shoulder. Slightly bend the knees to prevent cutting off circulation to the legs and hold the weight of your body mostly on the balls of your feet if standing in one position for an extensive amount of time. Your feet should also be about shoulder-width apart. Engage your core to protect your back, lift your chest, and pull your shoulder blades back.
Another great way to improve your posture from the feet up is by using simple stretches to make sure that your muscles and tendons are not too tight. Taking a few minutes every day to stretch your calves, plantar fascia, and other muscles and tendons in the feet and legs can make a world of difference. When your muscles are limber and stretched, you’ll avoid a situation where one group of muscles is pulling another forward or backward subtly, throwing off your stride–literally.
As overall posture improves, don’t neglect the posture of your feet themselves. Improving overall posture is hard to do when your feet is not in the correct position. As you properly support your feet and stretch your muscles, you should find that your feet align more properly, and that physical activity becomes more comfortable as well. By correcting your posture from the feet up, not only will you look better but you’ll feel better and avoid future injuries with your body having aches and pains as you age.