Pain Free Performance — Posture Alignment Therapy

Posture Alignment Therapists, Graduates of Egoscue University

Plantar Fasciitis

How long does it take to create pain relief using posture alignment therapy?

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Most of the clients we see are in pain. These clients come to us for relief with their knee pain, back pain, hip pain, and shoulder pain. Oftentimes, our clients have been to chiropractors, physical therapists, doctors, massage therapists, and acupuncturists that have been unable to create a lasting change with their muscle and joint pain. This can be challenging for our clients because their journey for pain relief has already taken weeks and months before we meet our clients for the first time. 

 

In order to create lasting pain relief, as Postural Alignment Specialists that practice The Egoscue Method, we assess the muscular imbalances in their bodies. This begins through a complete health assessment and history to understand the patterns of movement (or lack of movement) that led to pain. We complete postural photos to see how their joint position aligns against a grid to understand how their joints are loading. This can reveal if an elevated shoulder and hip are leading to the back pain or if a forward head position is causing the shoulder pain. Finally, we complete a series of functional testing and gait analysis to determine what muscles are active or inactive that are resulting in muscular compensation and pain. 

 

When our clients leave their first postural alignment session, they can expect to feel a change in their body. This often results in a decrease in pain. If a client’s body has compensated for years, they might notice feeling “lighter” or “straighter” after doing their Egoscue therapy exercises. This is a sign that their body is becoming more functional and balanced. 

 

The work towards alignment and health takes time and effort. Our muscle memory begins to take effect in 90 days and is often the time our clients begin to notice less pain due to their enhanced alignment. Change is not always linear and might result in peaks and valleys. We encourage clients to remain focused on what is changing. Our cells and tissues are constantly adapting and we will continue to adapt new exercises and stimuli to create a change in the muscle structure. One of the great benefits of our bodies is that they are dynamic and constantly in motion. This is why the method works! Now, let’s get moving!

Oh, my aching feet!

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Lately, we have had more people come into the office with foot pain.   They say “My feet hurt the minute I get out of bed.”,  “ I’ve got plantar fasciitis.”, or “ I was born with flat feet.”.

You might not know this, but we were all born with flat feet! All babies develop their arches through their infant and toddler years, provided that development is not interrupted.  Today, that development is often interrupted early on. We walk too soon – therefore stop crawling too soon (such an important part of our total body development!) and often times we wear shoes that are too structured – too restricting – too early.  You add all of these possibilities to a more sedentary lifestyle (more technology creating less movement) and our joints deviate which shows up in our feet turning out.  When this happens, the weight during activity is no longer being evenly distributed across the foot and sometimes too much weight is placed on the heel, leading the common complaint of plantar fasciitis.

When standing still, the design of the foot should point straight ahead. With that design, the arches allow the foot to move in every direction and allow us to do whatever we like – walk, run, skip, jump or shuffle sideways.  The design is such that no matter the action, the weight of the body is evenly distributed across the entire foot.  The problem is that our feet no longer point straight ahead naturally.  Most of us think that the natural position of the feet is pointed out by 30-45 degrees.  This is due that interrupted development I mentioned.

The good news is there is a solution. If your joints are misaligned and your feet point out, you can realign them.  Even if your arches have fallen, you can raise them again.  That’s right!  Your flat feet don’t have to be flat.  In infancy and toddlerhood, the actions of crawling and learning to walk compelled our foot muscles to tell our foot bones what they needed to hear in order to develop arches.  Our bones do what our muscles tell them to do (muscles pull bones).  With proper alignment exercises, that process can be duplicated in adulthood.  It requires a realigning of the body over the course of a few months.

That’s where we come in because that’s why we’re here – no matter what the symptom – from your aching feet to your chronic headaches and anything in between. Let’s get started so you can get back to your pain free life!

MY FEET ARE KILLING ME!

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At our clinic we hear this at least once a day.

And, some folks have the hardest time believing that foot pain is a posture problem.  Maybe it’s just that our feet are so far from our heads or that we’ve been trained to think of the body in separate parts and symptoms.  However, most likely your foot pain IS a posture problem.

Think of it this way, your feet are the first point of contact with the ground, so there is a lot of pressure from your body weight being pulled by gravity as each foot hits the ground.  The body is an integrated system and when it works properly your feet have a lot of support from your legs, hips and even your back.  They all work together as a team to support your feet, mitigating that gravitational pressure.  When your body is not working properly – meaning your posture is out of whack – then your feet are on their own, without support.

Take a quick look in the mirror.  Is your head bent over forward?  Are your shoulders and upper back rounded forward?  Is one shoulder higher than the other?  What about your hips…is one higher than the other?  These misalignments are created by a myriad of every day occurrences such as being hunched over a desk, operating table, sewing machine or computer; maybe you broke your arm and your shoulder position changed while you were casted or that sprained ankle created a change in your gait to avoid pain, so much so that you ended up with hip pain, leg pain, knee pain and eventually foot pain.

Again, your feet have no support.  They are rolling in, rolling out, slapping flat on the ground without the normal heel, ball, toe push off creating pain as they try to compensate for all the misalignments going on higher up in the body.  So, next time your feet are hurting, check your posture.  Getting the picture? Everything in our bodies is connected and rarely does the point of pain you are experiencing originate there.  Once you correct the misalignment, your foot pain will disappear also.

We know how to get to the root of your foot pain.  We understand the connections and what to do to untangle the postural issues life has created in your body so that you can be pain free.  Call us at Pain Free Performance…we are here to help.