If you’ve ever experienced foot and ankle pain, you know how uncomfortable that pain can be. The most common ankle pain is due to an acute ankle sprain from a jump, fall, or sudden loss of balance. Chronic ankle pain can result from a simple sprain. Achilles bread is a common example. Most ankle sprains heal slowly, and unfortunately, the same injury tends to recur, with each new sprain taking longer to heal. Eventually, the results are weakened ligaments, ankle instability, chronic ankle pain, or even ankle arthritis that restricts the ankle’s range of motion.
Chronic foot pain usually comes from walking too much or standing too long. Plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, arthritis, and pain from an inflamed nerve in the toes (Morton’s neuroma) are among the most common causes.
- Plantar fasciitis or chronic heel pain is one of the most debilitating forms of foot pain. The agony of plantar fasciitis is characterized by severe pain in one or both heels, immediately apparent upon getting out of bed and noticeable with the first few steps. Plantar fasciitis takes time to heal and the pain can last up to a year or more.
- Morton’s neuroma is a thickening of the nerve tissue between the bones of the foot. If you have a neuroma, you will probably have symptoms in the area of the damaged nerve. Tingling, burning, numbness, pain, or the feeling that something is inside the ball of the foot are common complaints.
Because the foot is the only connection of a standing person with the ground, it must be re-educated so that it makes contact with the ground without pain. Foot and ankle pain may need support in the form of braces or braces. In addition, the relationship of the foot and ankle to the upper structures must be addressed. If the spine, hips, and legs don’t work as a system, the feet and ankles can become stressed.
If you have had enough rest or if physical therapy has not worked for you, the Feldenkrais Method can be used to treat all problems for which surgery is not necessary. Feldenkrais uses simple, gentle movements to reorganize posture, flexibility, strength, and coordination. Based on the neurological processes by which we learn movement skills, it is a novel approach to relieving foot and ankle pain, using the power of the brain to help the body function more efficiently. More efficient use of self creates environments in which chronic foot and ankle pain can heal. Feldenkrais helps you do all those things that your feet now prevent you from; discover what it can do for you.
