Sixth toe disease...That growth on the outside of your foot… Or on somebody’s foot is coming to see you…
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You know what we’re talking about. That extra growth on the lateral aspect of the foot that happens way too often and many of your clients. A Taylor’s bunion or sometimes referred to as a “bunionette”.
What is the usual fix?
Usually in a ski boot or hiking boot, they blow out the lateral side of the shoe. This is usually not a good fix because most of these folks have internal tibial torsion and somewhat of a forefoot supinatus/varus.
The internal tibial torsion places the knee outside the saggital plane and an arch support without a forefoot valgus post will just push it further out, creating a conflict at the knee. The forefoot supinatus and/or varus places them on the outside of the foot as well. Remember, most of these folks are ALREADY on the outside of the foot and the foot wants to migrate laterally...so creating more space just means it migrates farther. Good thought, doesn’t work that way.
So what did we do?
We created a valgus post for the forefoot (see picture above) tapering from lateral to medial and to help “push“ the distal aspect of the first ray down (because there was motion available that was not being used)
We gave him exercises to help descend the first ray like the extensor hallucis brevis exercise, toe waving as well as peroneus longus exercises
We gave him plenty of balance and coordination work
Dr Ivo Waerlop, one of The Gait Guys
#6thtoe #internaltibialtorsion #forefootvarus # forefootsupinatus #gaitanalysis #thegaitguys
