Hi Reader,

Putting our Best Foot Forward This Fall 🍂

How is it possible that summer is already winding down?! Between back to school announcements, endless checklists, fall sports schedules, and the occasional reminder that Halloween decorations are already filling store shelves, it’s clear that a new season is just around the corner.

This quarter’s newsletter has a big announcement to share, along with some helpful information about a part of our bodies that quite literally keeps us moving forward, our feet!

As we transition into a busy fall season filled with school, sports, and everyday activities, let’s make sure we’re taking care of our feet so we can put our best foot forward this fall!

---

BIG NEWS: Growing Our Team, Expanding Our Care

You Helped Us Grow! 💙

You showed up, trusted us with your care, and shared Align Physical Therapy & Wellness with your family and friends, and we are SO grateful!

Because of your support, we’re excited to expand our team, move more people off of our waiting list, and help even more people move, feel, and perform their best.

Please join us in welcoming the newest member of the Align team Chiara DePascalis, Doctor of Physical Therapy!

Dr Chiara will be in the office the last week in August, and will begin treating patients on Tuesday, September 1.

Her schedule is now open and booking!

Please email the office or respond to this email to schedule your treatment. She is taking new patients, as well as seeing current patients that would like additional treatment sessions.

---

Getting Off on the Right Foot This Fall 👣

Summer is a time when we let our well supported feet go free! We transition from supportive sneakers, boots, and closed-toe shoes to flip flops, slip-ons, and bare feet.

We also trade indoor surfaces like carpet, tile, and hardwood floors for warm sand at the beach, concrete around the pool, and uneven terrain such as grass at outdoor concerts, and wooded trails for summer hikes. All of these changes can place new demands on our feet and ankles.

If we aren’t paying attention, heel pain, plantar fasciitis/fasciosis, shin splints, and ankle sprains can start to creep in!

If you’ve experienced foot or ankle pain, discomfort, or tightness this summer, let’s get you back on track so you can step into fall with your best foot forward.

A few simple tips for helping your feet get back on the ground:

1. Keep Your Feet and Ankles MOBILE

• Tight calf muscles? Try the Edge of the Step Stretch: Stand with the ball of your foot on a step (pointing straight ahead with the heel in line with the toes) and gently drop your heel off the edge of the step. Hold at least 30 seconds, switch legs and repeat 2-3x each. Perform 3 sets with your knees slightly bent, and again with them straight.

Alternatively, we LOVE this slant board (Affiliate Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links, meaning we may earn a small commission from purchases made through them, at no additional cost to you.)

• Big toe stiffness? Try this Big Toe Extension Mobility Exercise: Standing barefoot, anchor the base of your big toe (the big toe mound) on the ground and raise your heel up to extend your big toe at the MTP joint. Hold 3-5 seconds and lower back down. Repeat 10-12 reps.

• Big toe drifting inward? Bunions? When the big toe starts drifting towards the second toe, the first step is to work on passive mobility. Use your hands and try to pull the big toe inward away from the second toe. Is it tight or does it move inward easily? If it's the former, try this Passive Toe Spread Stretch: one effortless way to stretch is to position a washcloth in between each of your toes (while sitting down) and start with 5 minutes of letting them stretch apart. If it feels fine, you can gradually work up to 15 minutes a day. (Great for car trips and tv watching, or even when working at your desk!).

• Ankles stiff? Do you have cracking and popping in your ankles when walking down the stairs? Or perhaps the absence of noise you usually have? Are your heels lifting up when you bend down into a squat to pick something up? Are you walking up the stairs on your toes? If you though "yes" to any of those- try working on this ankle dorsiflexion mobility drill! Knee-to-Wall: Mobility Exercise: Keep your heel down and gently drive your knee toward the wall, allowing your ankle to move forward over your 2nd/3rd toes. Gradually increase the distance between your foot and the wall as your mobility improves.

• Flat feet? Try Rolling a Golf Ball underneath your feet to mobilize your midfoot (avoid if you’re having arch pain/plantar fasciitis!). This is an easy one to do sitting at a desk working or watching tv!

• Ankle Alphabet Exercise: Great for maintaining ankle mobility! Perform with your feet elevated above your heart to add extra benefits if your feet are swollen!
  ​

2. Keep your feet STRONG!

• Arch Strength and Stability is one of the biggest weakness I see when people have foot, ankle, knee, hip, pelvic floor and back pain! Start with a Basic Foot Foundation Exercise: Stand and press through your big toe mound (not the big toe, the pad under it closer to the arch), the 5th toe mound, and then the inner and outer heel. Trying to contact all four points at once helps activate the arch muscles to lift and support. Try to keep your toes relaxed as you do this! Work on this throughout each day whenever you are standing!
  ​
• Calf Strength: Try Heel Raises: Lightly touching a stable object for balance, press up onto your toes, hold 1-2 seconds and then take 5 seconds to slowly lower down, Do not rest, once your heels touch lift right back up again without resting. Repeat 20x, for 3 sets with a 2 minute rest between sets. Work up to adding weight in one hand to make it harder! (3 days a week!)
  ​
• Foot Intrinsic Muscle Strengthening: Try Reverse Ankle Pumps: Sitting, pull your toes up towards your shin as you press your foot down towards the floor, then curl your toes and draw the foot back up towards the shins. Repeat 20x, for 3-5sets. Can be performed daily!

• Toe Yoga: Honestly when I first heard this as a physical therapist I thought it was silly. Then I realized how important it actually is, especially if it’s hard for you! Toe Raise Dissociation Exercise: Standing, try to lift only your big toes. Then relax them down and try to keep them down while you life the other four toes on your foot. Alternate back and forth, using your hands to help if you need, and holding for a few seconds when you get it! Daily practice, multiple times a day helps make it click faster!

• Toe Yoga Step 2: The ability to spread your toes apart sideways, especially the ability to move your big toe inward, has huge implications for arch strength and balance! Toe Spread Exercise: Standing barefoot, try spreading all five toes apart sideways. If it’s too hard, use your hands to draw the big toe inward, and then see if you can hold it there when you let go with your hand. Shameless confession: it took me three weeks of practicing daily to move my big toe inward and nothing happening until my big toe finally started to move! Hang in there!

3. Foot Stability: Chain Implications

• The foot isn’t the only thing to impact the foot, as the foot-ankle-knee-hip-pelvic floor-back link is a thing! You can’t move any one of these without impacting the others.
  ​
• Balance: While standing next to a stable object for safety, try Balancing on One Foot! If it’s easy, keep balancing on that foot and try to look over your left shoulder, and then rotate to the right!

​
​

• Functional Integration: As the body functions as a unit, one longevity exercise I love across the lifespan is a Farmer’s Carry. To do this exercise, hold a dumbbell in each hand, draw your shoulder blades back and down (keeping the shoulders from shrugging and tightening your neck!) and lean your body slightly forward to engage your abs. Walk forward and focus on landing on your outer heel, and then pushing off your big toe with each step. Aim for one minute, and try to work up to carrying 50%-100% of your body weight split evenly between your hands.
  ​

4. General Tips for Foot Health!

• Be selective about your footwear! Aim to limit the use of high heels and shoes that point or taper at the toes. Look for wider toe boxes. Try the TWIST TEST- pick up your shoe, can you twist it in half on itself? If yes- it’s not offering much support for you.

​
​

• Mix up your footwear! Just like a runner should rotate their shoes, we should change what shoes we wear each day to change up pressures through our feet.
  ​
• Throw out old shoes. Yes, looking at you. We know that pair you love and want to keep forever and ever. There’s an industry dedicated to material science that is going to tell you why your favorite pair of shoes are likely not going to last forever. Your feet will thank you!

• Orthotics: Well this may be a newsletter in itself one day, but for now- if you don’t have a structural problem with your feet (think congenital deformities, injuries with plates/screws/bone removal or neurological issues impacting your feet) then strengthening your feet is likely a MUCH better choice for your feet that throwing “braces” on them! If you’re in pain and need them temporarily to alleviate symptoms so you can get to strength training, that’s one thing- but putting them in your shoes for life just weakens all of your muscles (again- feet, hips, pelvic floor, etc) so that when you don’t wear them barefoot at the pool you have even less support than before you started wearing them! BIG topic here.

A Note About Exercise: The exercises shared in this newsletter are intended for general education and wellness and may not be appropriate for every individual. Your body, health history, and movement needs are unique. If an exercise causes pain or feels unsafe, stop and seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional. For personalized recommendations, please consult with your physical therapist or healthcare provider

---

Our Sister Company: EMI

Our sister company, Empowering Movement Institute, LLC, recently completed Season One of a series of podcasts discussing all of the things you want to know about healthcare, physical therapy, fitness and wellness. Thank you for your support if you’ve been following us, and click below to listen in and subscribe if you haven't checked it out yet! The podcasts are available on both Apple Podcasts and Spotify. (Spotify link below)​
​

Pain is a Liar Jul 15 · Empowering Movement Podc... 32:18   ​

Wishing you health and alignment,
​Kristen Cooper, DPT
​Align Physical Therapy & Wellness

---

Visit Our Website

Follow Us on Instagram

Follow Us on Facebook

---

You’re receiving this email because you signed up for updates from Align Physical Therapy & Wellness.
We respect your time and privacy, and will not overload your inbox!

Click Here to Unsubscribe