Good Morning Dr. H!

This is one of those infomercial question again. Lately the pain in my ankles and feet keeps getting worse, could be the climate change or it could be my condition worsening. Normally around this time of the year I do tend to stiffen up and take longer than usual to start walking in the mornings. I saw an infomercial for the Walk Fit Orthotics and they make all these claims about them being a "miraculous" product that aligns your whole body and blah blah blah. I like to research a products and this one just seems to raise a lot of red flags. I checked various sites where people praise the results and others bad mouth the company. My ortho recommended I buy the green "Super Feet" Inserts for my shoes. They do a good job but maybe a month into wearing them I feel like I have nothing in my shoes. So all this made me wonder if there are better products that can help for alignment. Are shoe inserts are really worth it or not? Is something like a Tempurpedic mattress helpful or is there a mattress that you would recommend?

p.s. I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving day and if I don't hear from you soon a Merry Christmas too.

Good Morning Miguel!

In school we learned that foot pronation or "flat feet" can have a detrimental affect on the spine. Foot pronation can cause a "domino" effect which can result in your pelvis and head shifting forward, and your thoracic spine pushing back. If you form a mental picture of this, you'll probably see the typical "bad posture" that plagues most people. At Parker College, we learned to address this by foot adjustments, taping, and the use of soft orthotics.

The bones in the feet can get stuck or subluxated, just like those in any other joint. In fact, the forces that our feet endure make them highly prone to subluxation. I've adjusted a lot of feet and given a lot of ppl relief from foot pain. Unfortunately, those forces also make it very difficult for the feet to actually hold an adjustment. Taping can help. Orthotics are often necessary. I emphasize soft orthotics, because to maintain the normal motion of the foot. Hard orthotics, typically prescribed by podiatrists, often sacrifice mobility for stability. Orthotics can be very expensive. Are they worth it? It depends. Usually orthotics all have a common theme, which is to get the foot out of pronation, or "prop up" that medial arch. Can this be achieved by the products you mention? It's certainly possible. I have not been impressed with the OTC inserts that I've seen though.

You mention your symptoms changing with the weather, which could be related to arthritis. Make sure you stay on your supplements. Get adjusted! Also, you may get some relief by putting a tennis ball under your foot while sitting, and roll it up and down your foot with some pressure. This can help to break fixations.

As far as mattresses go, I do not currently recommend one in particular. I will say that you should be sleeping on your back and your mattress should support the curvatures of your spine. I like a very firm mattress.

Thanks Miguel, hope that helps,

Happy Holidays to you too!

Mad Chiro Luv,

-Darren, DC