What are correct toes and do they work?

correct toes:https://nwfootankle.com/correct-toes

We are quite familiar with them. Do they work? That is the question!

They are pretty bulky but that could be a good thing, for some though they are just too bulky we have found.
Some people are running in them……We think our friend Dr. Mark Cucuzzella does (naturalrunningcenter.com) .
We use them with clients to walk around the house barefoot and get used to engaging toes with a flat press (not gripping…like those silly, flexor dominant promoting towel scrunch exercises !)

So they MIGHT help someone retrain some muscles if used in this fashion but just wearing them does not produce magical results without some awareness use. 

Keep in mind……forcing something doesn’t make it so……… spreading the toes with an object such as these doesn’t make them automatically go where they are supposed to.

Most people need to relearn toe separation (actually abduction)…we do alot of that in our offices….and then learn to bring the whole toe flat to the ground with a good, firm toe press……..no grip/scrunch/hyperflexion.  The last thing we would ever want to do is overfacilitate the long toe flexors (flexor digitorum longus) because when we do, we inhibit other foot intrinsic muscles (ie. lumbricals).

The Gait Guys…promoting foot and gait literacy and helping you wade through the uncertainty.

The Windlass Mechanism of the Plantar fascia. What is a Windlass anyway?

After yesterdays post, we thought we might provide more insight to the Windlass mechanism and low and behold; we found AN ENTIRE PAPER on it! Wow, were we thrilled since there is not a ton of decent stuff out on this topic (yes, we are a little geeky, but then again so are you if you are reading this !).

A Windlass is the tightening of a rope or cable around a pivot point. The plantar fascia acts like a cable between the calcaneus and its distal insertion into the proximal phalanyx at the metatarsal phalangeal joints. When the toes are dorsiflexed (as in forefoot rocker from yesterdays post, see bottom diagram above), the heel and toes SHOULD become approximated, as the plantar fascia shortens from its winding around the metatarsal head, contributing to supination of the foot.

To be accurate, this concept of the Windlass mechanism is quite complex because the dorsiflexion of the great toe also shortens the length of the flexor hallucis brevis.  And we know that the sesamoid bones under the big toe are embedded in its tendon. Their repositioning as the Windlass engages will drive the sesamoids under the metatarsal, elevating it, and shift this joints eccentric axis.  But this is a complex story and post better left for another day.  Simply put, this is a complex joint, do not let anyone fool you otherwise.  Don’t beleive us ? Ask any bunion (or God forbid a fusion) surgery patient how they are doing.  You will get the point then. 

Here’s the link to the article (we know you want to read it ! )

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC385265/

The Windlass Mechanism. Just another fascinating foot fact from The Gait Guys.