Foot Pain

Introduction

Prevalence & Impact

• Up to 77 percent of Americans may have experienced foot pain. (source)
• There is an increase in complaints of foot pain as people age. (source)

The presence of foot pain is also associated with an increase chance of indoor falls in older adults, and a 2011 Australian study showed that a foot care program, consisting of foot exercises, inexpensive orthotics, and shoe advice, reduced falls in older adults with foot pain by 36% over a one-year period. So, addressing various causes of foot pain with yoga could not only decrease pain and improve function, but could hopefully even reduce falls due to foot pain. – Baxter Bell MD 

Causes

As with other parts of the body, issues related to the feet may result from muscular imbalances, overuse, or injury. A few particular considerations are:

1. Postural imbalance
2. Foot imbalance
3. Issues with the arch including plantar fasciitis
4. Heel pain
5. Toe pain

WE OFTEN DON’T GIVE THEM A SECOND THOUGHT UNTIL THERE IS PAIN

If our feet are feeling and working fine, we often don’t give them a second thought. That can all change in the blink of an eye when something goes awry with our feet, even something as seemingly innocuous as a pebble in a shoe. Yet the reality is that the health of our feet is essential to our overall health and well-being, especially as time moves on and we get older… Personally, I’ve been acutely aware of the importance of healthy feet as roaming foot pains have occasionally surfaced lately related to my newest interest, playing singles tennis. It seems that simply running and stopping for an hour can be surprisingly demanding of the feet, and I have at times had to rest the feet for a few days to allow them to return to pain-free status before hitting the courts again. – Baxter Bell MD 

Postural Imbalance May Be Root Cause

Postural imbalance may be the root cause of any number of symptoms from plantar fasciitis to overponation of the feet and/or pain in the hip, knee or foot.

POSTURAL IMBALANCE LINKED TO HIP, KNEE AND FOOT SYMPTOMS

“All of these problems [bunions, plantar fasciitis, patello-femoral knee syndrome and hip bursitis] can derive from the same postural imbalance,” according to Bill Reif, physical therapist and author of The Back Pain Secret… namely “the exaggerated anterior [forward] tilt of the pelvis, the internal rotation of the thighs, hyperextension of the knees or poor knee tracking, and overpronation of the feet — the inward drop of the ankles and the flattening of the inner arches. This pattern can cause symptoms at the hip, knee, or foot, and often, in more than one of these places.” – Amber Burke 

THE SLIGHTEST FOOT IMBALANCE CAN CAUSE PAIN

With so many components working together, the slightest change in our feet, such as favoring the inner edge or outer edge of the foot can cause pain in the feet and structural problems in the rest of the body. – Allison Schleck 

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FOOT ARCH & LOW BACK HEALTH

The anatomy of the feet is closely connected to the health of the lumbar spine, and floppy, collapsed arches can be the cause of an achy low back. Conversely, excess tension is linked to inflammation in the soft tissues of the arch, a painful condition known as plantar fasciitis. – Jenni Tarma