Dear Wendy,
When and if you get a moment could you say something to me about fallen arches (…the left one).
… discovered it was the author of that whole on-going adventure in December with my.. knee. Is there hope?
– Barry
Hi Barry,
Glad to hear that the mystery is solved, sorry about your foot though.
I knew someone with flat feet who got his arches back through exercise. As I recall the exercise centered around toning the “tibialis anterior” (toe raises) and lengthening the “peroneous longus” (rolling onto the outside of your feet).
There’s a lot implicated in fallen arches. Bones cannot stay in or out of place without the help of the ligaments, tendons and muscles that surround them.
Ligaments, once overstretched don’t often go back to their original length, tendons maybe a little bit, but muscles have a lot of potential because of their elasticity.
I think that’s your best bet – exercises and also check for trigger points in the “peroneus longus” which is along the outside (lateral side) of your calf.
He did say that this was a daily exercise an that his arch stayed intact throughout the day, but if he had a particularly long day on his feet that his arches would again be flat by the time he got home in the evening. He did swear by this technique though.
If you don’t already have Clair Davies book “The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook” – time to get it, along with a tennis ball.
Also, if the [person] that helped you discover this problem is a physical therapist or kinesiologist, get them to help you with the whole picture. You can see that there might be other issues further up the system.
In my opinion, there’s definitely some work that can be done here to reduce the effects.
Best,
Wendy
I didn’t go into detail in my response, but the “peroneus longus” and the “tibialis anterior” both attach to the base of the 1st metatarsal and come from different directions.
They come together they form a “stirrup” on the plantar arch that helps support the integrety of it’s structure.
As my reflexology client, of course I’d be mostly curious about his digestive system and if there have been any change in patterns there.