What do we have here and what type of shoe would be appropriate?

You are looking at a person with a fore foot varus. This means that the fore foot (ie, plane of the metatarsal heads) is inverted with respect to the rear foot (ie, the calcaneus withe the subtalar joint in neutral). Functionally translated, this means that they will have difficulties stabilizing the medial tripod (1st MET head) to the ground making the forefoot and arch unstable and likely rendering the rate and degree of pronation increased.

The incidence of this condition is 8% of 116 female subjects (McPoil et al, 1988) and 86% of 120 male and female subjects (Garbalosa et al, 1994), so it seems to happen happen more in males. We think this second number is inflated and those folks actually had a forefoot supinatus, which is much more common.

Fore foot varus occurs in 3 flavors:

• compensated
• uncompensated
• partially compensated

What is meant by compensated, is that the individual is able to get the head of the 1st ray to the ground completely (compensated), partially, or, when not at all, uncompensated.What this means from a gait perspective ( for partially and uncompensated conditions) is that the person will pronate through the fore foot to get the head of the 1st ray down and make the medial tripod of the foot (ie, they pronate through the subtalar joint to allow the 1st metatarsal to contact the ground). This causes the time from mid-stance to terminal stance to lengthen and will inhibit resupination of the foot. 

Today we are looking at a rigid, uncompensated forefoot varus, most likely from insufficient talar head derotation during fetal development and subsequent post natal development. They will not get to an effective foot tripod. They will collapse the whole foot medially. These people look like severely flat-footed hyperpronators.

So, what do you do and what type of shoe is appropriate? Here’s what we did:

• try and get the 1st ray to descend as much as possible with exercises for the extensor hallucis brevis and short flexors of the toes (see our videos on youtube)
• create more motion in the foot with manipulation, massage mobilization to optimize what is available
• strengthen the intrinsic muscles of the feet (particularly the interossei)
• increase strength of the gluteus maximus and posterior fibers of the gluteus medius to slow internal rotation of the leg during initial contact to midstance
• put them in a flexible shoe for the 1st part of the day, to exercise the feet and a more supportive; medially posted (ideally fore foot posted) shoe for the latter part of the day as the foot fatigues
• monitor his progress at 3-6 month intervals
• a rigid orthotic will likely not help this client and they will find it terribly uncomfortable because this is a RIGID deformity for the most part (the foot will not accommodate well to a corrective orthotic. Besides, the correction really has to be made at the forefoot anyways. 

Lost? Having trouble with all these terms and nomenclature? Take our national shoe fit program, available by clicking here.

The Gait Guys. Uber foot geeks. Separating the wheat from the chaff, with each and every post.

When the wrong shoe, meets the right foot

Is it any wonder that this gentleman has pain on the dorsum of this his feet?

1st of all, how about his internal tibial torsion? It is bilateral, L > R. This places the majority of his weight on the outside of his feet, keeping him somewhat supinated most of the time.

2nd: he has an anatomical leg length discrepancy on the right which is tibial (see pictures 2 and 3). This will place EVEN MORE weight on the outside of the right foot, as it will often remain in supination in an attempt to "lengthen" itself.

3rd, take a look at his shoes. Is this particular model supposed to be rear foot posted in varus? Talk about adding insult to injury! This will place this guys feet into EVEN MORE supination and EVEN MORE on the outside of his feet. maybe the right shoe is worn into more supination because of his right sided LLD?

And if that wasn't enough, this particular shoe has increased torsional rigidity through the midfoot, slowing or arresting any hope of shock absorption that he may have. 

Yikes! We sure wish more folks knew more about feet and shoes! Maybe they should think about taking the National Shoe Fit Program? Email us for more info.

Holy Hand Grenades! What kind of shoe do I put these feet in?

Take a look at these feet. (* click on each of the photos to see the full photo, they get cropped in the viewer) Pretty bad, eh? How about a motion control shoe to help things along? NOT! OK. but WHY NOT? Let’s take a look and talk about it.

To orient you:

• top photo: full internal rotation of the Left leg
• 2nd photo: full internal rotation of the Right leg
• 3rd photo: full external rotation of the Left leg
• last photo: full external rotation of the Right leg

Yes, this gal has internal tibial torsion (yikes! what’s that? click here for a review).

Yes, it is worse on the Left side

Yes, she has a moderate genu valgus, bilaterally.

If someone has internal tibial torsion, the foot points inward when the knee is in the saggital plane (it is like a hinge). The brain will not allow us to walk this way, as we would trip, so we rotate the feet out. This moves the knee out of the saggital plane (ie. now it points outward).

What happens when we place a motion control shoe (with a generous arch and midfoot and rearfoot control) under the foot? It lifts the arch (ie it creates supination and it PREVENTS pronation). This creates EXTERNAL rotation of the leg and thigh, moving the knee EVEN FURTHER outside the saggital plane. No bueno for walking forward and bad news for the menisci.

Another point worth mentioning is the genu valgus. What happens when you pick up the arch? It forces the knee laterally, correct? It does this by externally rotating the leg. This places more pressure/compression on the medial aspect of the knee joint (particularly the medial condyle of the femur). Not a good idea if there is any degeneration present, as it will increase pain. And this is no way to let younger clients start out their life either.

So, what type of shoe would be best?

• a shoe with little to no torsional rigidity (the shoe needs to have some “give”)
• a shoe with no motion control features
• a shoe with less of a ramp delta (ie; less drop, because more drop = more supination of the foot (supination is plantarflexion, inversion and adduction)
• a shoe that matches her sox, so as not to interfere with the harmonic radiation of the colors (OK, maybe not so much…)

Sometimes giving the foot what it appears to need can wreak  havoc elsewhere. One needs to understand the whole system and understand what interventions will do to each part. Sometimes one has to compromise to a partial remedy in one area so as not to create a problem elsewhere. (Kind of like your eye-glass doctor. Rarely do they give you the full prescription you need, because the full prescription might be too much for the brain all at once.  Better to see decent and not fall over, than to see perfectly while face down in the dirt.) 

Want to know more? Consider taking the National Shoe Fit Certification Program. Email us for details: thegaitguys@gmail.com.

We are the Gait Guys, and yes, we like her sox : )

What kind of shoe do you put this foot in?

Look carefully at these dogs. Notice anything peculiar? Look at the forefoot to rearfoot relationship. What do you see?

Normally, we should be able to draw a line from the center of the heel and it should pass between the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal heads. If the line passes through or outside the 3rd metatarsal heads, you have a condition called metatarsus adductus. It occurs from fetal positioning in utero. In children (18 mos to 4 years) it can often be corrected by wearing the shoes on the opposite feet (yes, you read that correctly)

We usually try and distinguish whether the adductus is occurring at the tarsal/ metatrsal articulation or the transverse tarsal joint.

OK, so now what?

Think of the unique biomechanics that happen here. Adduction (along with plantar flexion and inversion) are components of supination. So, the adduction component makes for  a more rigid foot (notice the arch structure in the pedograph). We are not saying this foot does not pronate, only that it pronates less.

Total amount of pronation will be determined by several factors,

• including body weight

• available rear foot motion

• available forefoot motion

• knee angulation (ie genu valgus or varus)

• available internal rotation of the hips (how much ante or retroversion/torsion is present)

• strength of abdominals, particularly the external obliques

• tibial torsion

This individual had

·       markedly increased valgus angle (14 degrees)

·       moderate external tibial torsion

·       femoral antetorsion

this, along with their body weight, explains the rear foot pronation seen on the pedograph.

So, what type of shoe? You should pick a shoe that:

·       does not exaggerate the deformity (ie. a shoe that does not have an excessively curved last)

·       a shoe that does not work (too much) against the deformity (ie. an extremely straight lasted shoe)

·       In this case, a shoe with some motion control features (to assist in controlling some of the increased rear foot motion. This may be something as simple as a dual density midsole

·       a shoe that, upon gait analysis, works to provide the best biomechanics for the circumstances.

As you can see, when it comes to shoe fit and prescription, there are no had and fast rules. You need to examine the individual and have all the facts.

If you are a little lost, or want to know more, you should take our National Shoe Fit Program. Maybe you even should consider getting Level 1 certified by taking the International Foot and Gait Education Council exam. Need more details? Email us at: thegaitguys@gmail.com

Foot Types and Shoe Selection, anyone?

Join Dr Allen in this excerpt from the National Shoe Fit Certification Program. Need to know more about foot types? Consider taking the program. Want to take it a step further? Get Certified!

email us at: thegaitguys@gmail.com for more details.