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INTRODUCTION

There are many milestones along the path to well-maintained feet, and an increasingly common detour is the path to the doctor’s office, pharmacy, or even the operating room to fix an ailment from the ankle down. Far from being neatly confined to your shoes, foot problems actually speak volumes about the future status of your knees and hips, ability to walk for exercise, and ultimately the ability to live your golden years as a mobile and independent person. The foot is involved in virtually every non-sitting activity we do. If we want to stay upright and active—and feel great at the same time—we need to know more about our feet.

Often people will tell me, “I am too old to make any significant improvements in my health,” or, “My feet have been like this for so long, they will never change!” Both of these statements are untrue! The state of your feet right now is simply the reflection of everything you have done up until this moment. Human tissues are dynamic and adapt to the forces that are placed upon them. When these forces change, the tissues change to reflect the different habit. This is true whether it’s a good habit or a bad one!

This book is about how you can fix your own feet. Although human body issues often seem complex—especially to those with little or no anatomical, physiological, or therapeutic training—solutions can be much simpler than they appear. Though not on purpose, this “healing is complex” attitude is frequently reinforced by the entire health care system. As pharmaceutical and technological sciences advance, it makes sense that these advanced treatments would be the first used. After all, the more advanced the treatment, the better it is, right?

In actuality, most ailments do not require expensive treatments, complicated products, or even pharmaceutical intervention. Most musculoskeletal issues—that is, ailments of the bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles—are usually created by one very simple, easily evaluated, habit: how you move.

The relationship between how you move and how your body feels becomes more and more clear the better one understands how things work in the body. Inconveniently, the human body wasn’t created with an easy-to-use manual for quick troubleshooting when a problem arises. But all hope is not lost. By working backward, any person with the right training in physics and geometry can figure out which joint positions create the most degeneration, which footwear choices can increase pressure on which tissues, and which patterns of gait, or walking, can reduce muscle strength and nerve conduction.

The science of how humans move is called kinesiology. Within kinesiology there are many subfields, including one known as biomechanics. Biomechanics is the study of Newtonian physics (things like gravity, pressure, and friction) applied to living tissues. My personal area of study is the biomechanics of disease and injury, and I am dedicated to teaching the basic principles of physical science to people just like you, for the purpose of preventing and reversing damage to the human body.

This book is also about something bigger than your feet (even if you have really big feet). This book will talk about ailments north of the ankles that are being influenced by the state of your feet—ailments created where other body parts are responding to the impact of your footwear. Because of the way our health care system is segmented, experts of the feet don’t typically talk to the experts of the spine or experts of the nervous system. Medical experts are thoroughly trained in the biological sciences as opposed to the physical sciences; since we all look for solutions using what’s in our own tool bag, those who research human ailments tend to look for solutions in chemistry (pharmaceuticals) or genetics.

From the biomechanical field, research on changes in human geometry and body positioning and how they create loading damage on tissue is only now emerging in the medical journals. The effects geometry has on physical forces like pressure, friction, and gravity, has been thoroughly understood in the physical sciences for hundreds of years. Geometry, along with the basic laws of Newtonian physics, applies as much to the human body as to any other physical structure in our universe. The more one understands the anatomical structures and physiological processes that drive human tissue regeneration, the clearer the picture becomes. This book will explain the mechanics of how common foot ailments develop in response to body geometry created by footwear and everyday postures. While the body adjustments may seem simple, keep in mind the science behind the solutions is as consistent as gravity itself.

Specific foot ailments vary, but in general, a foot ailment of any kind interferes with the ability of the entire body to function. There is hardly a human movement that does not involve the feet. No matter the current condition of your feet, you will find some piece of information in this book that will improve how you move, and in turn, improve how you feel.

A word of caution: this book is not a substitute for professional care but rather a manual on how things work in your feet, and how to alter habits that may be contributing to your problem. Human tissue is phenomenal stuff. When you make small changes in your movement patterns, you nudge yourself down a new physiological path. The body works to tear down old or underused tissue every day, and builds up tissues that are in greatest demand. The body continuously adapts to whatever you are doing now.

Changing your habits will change your life!