Customer Satisfaction - Keeping People Walking and Moving Well and Pain Free with Footform Shoe Insert Orthotics

Hello Randall,

I want you to know I think of you every morning, as I slip on my shoes for the day. Since I got my orthotics in May, I have been able to work, live and play pain free! I feel like it's not an understatement when I say your work has changed my life. I have even taken up activities that years ago I thought I would never be able to do. I'm even getting ready to run a 5k this fall (just writing this is bringing tears to my eyes)!

Thank you Randall. I'm a big fan!

Lisa
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Thanks Lisa for your note. Over the many years I've been in the Orthotics business I'm always touched to hear from a happy client. The proper integration of orthotics and shoes along with the client's efforts to change stance and gait can make a positive life-changing difference to our orthotics clients.

You are obviously implementing the changes we discussed during our appointment as well as regularly wearing your orthotics and proper footwear. I'm so pleased to hear that you are experiencing good results.

Good luck in your renewed running practice,

Randall

Good Posture is More than Standing Up Straight

There is a lot more to good posture than standing up straight. Your default posture (how you stand, sit and move without thinking) is your basic posture. People think you're born with posture or somehow inherit it. The truth about posture is that it is a learned skill.

Our stone age ancestors had to rely on instant athletic movement to save their lives. In order to cover long distances, hunt or avoid being hunted, an athletic body was a necessity. As human kind became more civilized, ideas about movement and culture got in the way of natural movement. For example in the modern United States, fashion models and store manikins are often posed purposely in awkward positions that many young girls emulate.

Also in the U.S. many people do not move their hips while walking. I'm not exactly sure why that is. I've been observing gait for decades and find that many Americans use their hips as a hinge joint rather than the ball-and-socket joint it is, a cultural habit that I think is linked to hip damage in middle-aged adults, particularly athletes that have put many miles on their bodies.

Correct or "good" posture isn't a ramrod straight spine. Good posture is when you can move freely and easily to do anything you need to do instantly. Bad posture is when you lock your joints to brace your skeleton against itself to stay up. This locks out movement and makes any new movement a process of awkward adjustments.

Locking your knees, jutting your neck forwards or slumping your shoulders forwards are all common things people do to "rest" themselves while standing or sitting. Here are some posture tips to get you on the road to healthy posture.

• The first step to better posture is to develop body awareness through dance, exercise, yoga, martial arts, tai chi, sports -- anything that requires you to learn new movements (therefore becoming conscious of how you move).

• Now, take that new body knowledge and as much as possible stop yourself during the day and note how you are doing.

• Most importantly, bend your knees whenever you stand or walk. Never lock your knees no matter how fast you are walking.
  

• Keep your abs or core toned and engaged. Think about this when walking and sitting.

There is much more to say about gait and posture, but this is a good start. For personal gait and stance and posture training, contact my office for a half-hour appointment.
Footform Performance Orthotics Center, 345 SW Century Drive, Ste.1, Bend, Oregon
541-389-4547
www.Footform.com

Balance Everyday with Easy 1 Minute Exercise

Tipping over is a problem as we age. Toddlers tip over often as they walk, getting better and better at not falling as they practice. Most of us go through life on the walking and standing skills we developed as a child. We don't realize that balance is a learned skill, something we have to practice and nurture. If we don't practice our balance skills, as we age tipping over may start to happen again. Only with age, the consequences of falling can be dire.

Balance requires always moving to find balance. It's a subtle thing. Even though a person may appear to be perfectly still as they stand, muscles and nerves are constantly working to maintain equilibrium. Staying centered takes awareness.

Practice your balance skills with these easy tips: This exercise can take as little as 10 seconds. Repeat the exercise throughout your day.

• Keep Moving: Practice bending your knees different amounts while you walk and stand.
  
• While standing, practice shifting your weight in this order:(Both feet hip width apart, pointing straight ahead)

1. Toe - Heel - Back to Center
2. Shift Right - Shift Left - Back to Center
3. Roll to the Outside of the Foot - Roll to the Inside of the Foot - Back to Center

www.Footform.com

Keep Your Balance on Your Feet and In Your Life

Having good balance keeps you from falling down. And I'm not only talking about tripping and falling. Balance goes beyond your feet and relates to your life. A commitment to balance in all things helps with your life. Balance is all about movement, continually finding that sweet-spot between two extremes.

Here's an example: Imagine a teeter-totter or see-saw, the children's toy in many playgrounds. If one side is over-loaded the teeter-totter gets stuck on one side and movement stops. The eventual outcome of less movement for the human body is a sedentary life that can result in a wheelchair. 

Physical skills for balance: (Here are the 2 main skills most of us have.)

• Feel for the ground: Sensing your foot you are aware of where the pressures of your weight is on your foot. The more foot you have on the ground, the more stable you are in most cases. Experiment with movement heel-to-toe and inner-to-outer side of your foot, especially when walking.
• Vision: Most people rely on their vision for balance. When vision tilts the body corrects. Try closing your eyes and walking around (in a safe place) to see how much you rely on your vision.
• Inner Ear: Not under our control.

Our goal is to use both visual skills and your feel for the ground. Here are some tips to improve your balance:

• Walk backwards: Your feel for the ground is enhanced because you can't see where you're going.
  
• Orthotics: The point of a foot orthotic is to increase your feel for the ground (not just cushion your foot). The exact 3-D matching contour between orthotic and foot helps you sense any movements and to make adjustments so that you keep your balance.
  

www.Footform.com

Prevent Fractures: Tips for Better Balance

Have you ever lost your balance? Of course you have, and it's usually no big deal. But if loosing your balance results in a fall, the result can be serious. According to a recent Swedish study, impaired balance is associated with triple the risk of hip fracture! 

As we age, bones may become more brittle and the risk for fractures increases. As a person gets more sedentary and moves less in their life, they lose flexibility and balance along with other types of fitness. This can happen regardless of a person's age, and is especially important for older people. 

Balance requires mobility in motion. Have you ever balanced a yardstick or pole vertically on the palm of your hand? You'll notice that to keep the pole vertical you must move your hand around. If you hold your hand still, the pole falls off your hand.

So how does this relate to keeping your balance as you're standing "still". Well, when you stand, if you keep your knees soft (slightly bent), your pelvis/hips are free to move. Your potential for mobility is increased. If you lock your knees (keep them straight), you lose mobility, and your balance worsens. This is a subtle difference, but a difference that is very important as we age. 

The ASBMR (American Society for Bone and Mineral Research) published the article, Lack of Balance Predicts Fractures. They cited a recent medical study in Sweden, and Karl Michaelsson, M.D., P.H.D., of the Uppsala University Hospital in Uppsala Sweden. In the study, impaired balance was associated with double the risk of any fracture!

Here are some tips to improve your balance as you stand:

• Bend your knees a little EVERY time you stand AND Walk.
• Keep your hips loose. Visualize the Hula dance and practice bending your knees and moving your hips in circles.
• Feel the ground with your feet. Concentrate on "sinking" your weight through your feet into the ground.

For advanced practice, do all of the above while standing on one foot. Be sure to alternate feet.

www.Footform.com

How to Walk Like a Very Old Person

Of course you don't really want to walk like an old person. What may surprise you is that the impression of age starts long before you get close enough to a person to see a wrinkle. A person's gait and posture conveys their strength, balance, and flexibility.

Walking is propulsion. As toddlers we all start with a stiff-legged stance and leaning forwards to create motion. I call this "The Leaning Tower Stride". Once you're past the age of three, this stride will only make you look old.

I see variations of the Leaning Tower Stride constantly in my Footform Performance clinic in Bend, Oregon. This stride uses fewer joints: the hip and toe (metatarsal) joints -- therefore a person with a injury or ache may default to this style of movement. The hip is used as a hinge joint instead of as a ball and socket. The forward momentum of the stride is created by jutting the neck and shoulders forward. This brings the top of the body in front of the feet creating a "fall" where each leg "catches up" with the rest of the body.

The result of this bio-mechanical movement is that the body is on the edge of losing balance constantly and the hip and toe joints get undue stress. All sorts of problems come with too much stress on joints.

The solution is a balanced stride. The body is in an athletic position with the knees slightly bent. Pretend you are receiving a tennis serve or flexing before a golf swing. As you go through your daily activity here are the things to keep in mind for healthy movement:

• Bend your knees and point your feet straight ahead as you walk.
• Focus on the back foot in the stride staying on the ground as long as possible and pushing you off from behind.
  
• Do a few practice hula dance movements to loosen the hips.
• Keep your abs toned (Keep your stomach muscles firm, pulling inwards towards the spine.)
• Wobble your head and shoulders loosely to feel the center of the joints. (This takes practice - a mirror and a coach helps here).
  

When you're ready for some one-on-one training, call Footform Performance and schedule an appointment. We offer stance and gait training appointments, including a private walking lesson at my clinic in Bend, Oregon
www.Footform.com 541-389-4547

Hip How-To: Learn to Walk Well From Your Hips

Bio-mechanics is the science that explains how the structures of the body function mechanically. Each joint in your body has a design that moves optimally certain ways. The joint may also allow types of movement that the joint is not best designed to handle.

For example, your elbows and knees are hinge-joints. They bend back and forth in the same direction. They don't allow much rotational movement. If you do over-rotate those joints you'll often incur a sprain or more severe injury.

The hip joint is different from the knee in that it is a ball and socket joint that allows your hips to move both rotationally and as a hinge joint. Here's what you need to know: Your hips are designed to move best as a rotational joint. If you walk, hike or run and don't rotate your hips adequately, your hips move like a hinge joint. Too much of this type of movement in the hip joint causes over-use injuries/damage.

To practice what a rotational movement of the hip feels like, do the Hula. Really!

• Stand with feet shoulder width apart and knees gently bent.
• Rotate your hips in circles, first clockwise, then reverse directions.
• Now, walk backwards slowly and notice how the hips automatically rotate, taking the leg back.
• Slowly walk forwards, seeking to maintain the sensation of hip movement. Remember to keep your knees slightly bent.

When you use your hips as a ball and socket joint, you are using the joint optimally. This is very important if you are running or walking as correct use, reduces (and sometimes, eliminates) hip problems and pain.

www.Footform.com

Getting Better and Better Feet First

You can improve your body. Your body's base is your feet.

I often have people ask me, "How do I know if I need help with my feet?" My answer is, "If it works don't fix it!" Why bother if you feel great? You need motivation to get better and (for many people) pain is the final motivator. Pain definitely gets your attention. But it's not the only motivator, you have to be interested in change. Then, you have to be willing to change.

Strangely, quite a few people are just fine with being miserable. Whatever their reason, they don't try to change their circumstances and for that reason will stay the same. Keep doing the same thing, you will keep getting the same result.

If you think you can't change, think again. Change happens, like it or not! You're not the same person you were fifteen years ago. You've changed. Practice good habits. Strive to make your changes positive not negative. Change is hard and breaking bad habits is harder.

So, if you've got some strain or pain and are motivated, interested, and willing to change, I'm happy to share this information with you. I like to use the term better and better because it depicts a dynamic progression. This is a great affirmation for improvement. Next time someone asks how you're doing, just say "better and better".

www.footform.com