Biomechanical Wobble

Wobbly is not good for you. Wobbly is instability and inefficiency. Injuries will occur where you are most vulnerable to your wobble.

The arch is a space and regardless of how big or small that space you have within it pronation, excessive pronation (AKA-hypermobility), over-pronation, hyper-pronation and supination motions.

The more the arch space compresses/falls during pronation (whether you are high arched or flat footed), the more the rest of the foot up to the low back becomes bio-mechanically wobbly. This is natural bio-mechanical weakness that comes from over pronation and produces the wear and tear eventually seen as plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, knee, ITB, hip/low back pain, bunions, neuromas, hammertoes, Tarsal Tunnel, etc, etc.

These injuries are years in the making. How soon and where the injury comes to the surface depends on a variety of factors such as the twists and turns and angles of your bone development, weight, activities, and, of course your overpronation as it affects your bio-mechanics.

In order to minimize wobble, you have to minimize the motion of the arch. The more precisely you can reduce that motion without over-correcting, the better the alignment position of the foot and entire lower extremity to the ground.

This correction in efficiency will absolutely reduce and in many instances reverse problems completely. Even for people with irreversible chronic problems, a proper fitting orthotic can help greatly. Because at the very least, a proper fitting orthotic provides a health benefit, just like brushing teeth (i.e. prevention rather than cure) and more than likely pain will reduce (provided the problem(s) are biomechanical in nature.)

Stabilizing the body from being too wobbly should be the major goal of any functional orthotic. In addition:

Any functional orthotic must be easy and comfortable to wear:

* It must not cause anything else to hurt.
* It must not over correct the foot on the ground.
* It should support and balance each foot for the greatest mechanical efficiency.
* It should match the way your muscles work and not just the shape of the foot.

Anything that works like an orthotic doesn?t even have to look like a typical orthotic. Many of you may have found some relief with pads and simple remedies at one time or another. In fact, an old podiatry professor once said, you can shove toilet paper in there and it will work (he was over 90 years old and this was in 1967). Can you imagine–he was right. Anything that helps minimize some of the motion in that space makes some form of an alignment correction. However, the better the alignment position, the better the orthotics are working to overcome your individual bio-mechanical weakness.

Think of a machine that has been made more efficient. Tightening loose parts, less friction, less heat results in smoother operation. That?s the same in the human bio-mechanics–less rubbing of tissues with one another, less inflammation (heat) and smoother glide of tendons, ligaments and muscles, improves and balances joint function (in other words, bio-mechanical efficiency, resulting in improved performance).

So, can a person who starts wearing proper fitting orthotics early in life be safe from harm? No!! After all wear and tear is part of our aging process. And even a proper fitting orthotic does not necessarily arrest a problem in the making.

Then what does it all mean? The foot, working or playing in its best mechanically efficient position everyday means less pronation and harmful overpronation movement and less wobble, slowing down and minimizing wear and tear.

Copyright 2006 Dennis Kiper, all rights reserved.

Dennis N. Kiper, D.P.M., specializes in Podiatric Sports Medicine.

Email: footdoc@drkiper.com

Web Site: http://www.drkiper.com