History shows...Keep it Simple... Even with those foot exercises

Being a foot nerd, certain things have a tendency to provide entertainment for me. One such thing was a recent article that was published in Foot and Ankle Surgery about the history of military flat foot care. Review of this appeared in one of my favorite journals: lower extremity review.

There was nothing earthshaking in the article other than the emphasis on function was made throughout the article. Exercises were emphasized (though I really don't like the toe flexion ones). And that was an interesting quote from the article

"Far more emphasis should be placed on the functioning of the foot, during the activities that need to be undertaken rather than the height of the arches alone".

They go on to describe a simple exercise where during a march is (is that were often required to do during WW1) people were instructed to keep their toes pointed straight ahead and shift the knees out words to offload the weight laterally. In that particular study, 75%of the people return to their groups and 54% were able to go back to full duty. All with some simple, straightforward instruction.

The lower extremity review article emphasizes intrinsic muscle strengthening for condition such as plantar fasciitis, Hallux valgus and lesser toe deformities. I would have to say that I couldn't agree more :-)

So goes the life of a foot nerd…

Nearly MT J Foot Ankle Surg. 2016 May-Jun;55(3):675-81. doi: 10.1053/j.jfas.2016.01.028. Epub 2016 Mar 12.