#78 Episode: Step Into Comfort: My Journey to Optimal Foot Health

Struggling with foot pain or discomfort? You're not alone. In today’s episode, I’ll share the steps I took to protect my feet and the simple strategies you can use to stay pain-free, no matter how busy or active you are.

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Show Notes

In this episode of Better Than a Pill, we dive into optimal foot health—why it's crucial, common foot issues, and proactive steps to keep your feet pain-free. From the importance of supportive shoes to fascia care and strengthening exercises, I share my personal journey with foot challenges and how you can prevent and overcome discomfort.

• The importance of supportive shoes and proper fit

• Understanding pronation, supination, and gait analysis

• When to consider orthotics and how to adapt to them gradually

• Plantar fasciitis: causes, symptoms, and treatment options

• How fascia care prevents chronic pain and stiffness

• Exercises for foot and ankle strength to improve mobility

• The role of bunion correctors and toe exercises

• The importance of stretching and mobility work

Key Takeaways

1. Supportive footwear is essential – Get fitted for shoes that match your foot mechanics.

2. Orthotics can be a game changer – But ease into them gradually to avoid discomfort.

3. Plantar fasciitis is common but preventable – Using tools like tennis balls, foot wakers, and the Strasburg sock can help

4. Strength and mobility are just as important as support – Balance exercises, toe strengthening, and stretching are crucial.

5. Be proactive, not reactive – Don’t wait for pain to take care of your feet!

Transcript

Welcome back to Better Than A Pill. I am super excited to be here today. And before we get started, I just want to give thanks to God for making this podcast possible for it to be a source of light, education, and empowering you guys, the better than a pill podcast was born out of the belief that we can be proactive and take proactive steps in caring for our health.

by exploring, in addition to what mainstream medicine has to offer, holistic alternatives. And I truly believe our health and wellness is also grounded in a personal relationship with God and surrendering to his goodness brings healing and wholeness. So. Today,  guys, I'm super excited to talk about optimal foot health.

This is one of my favorite topics, as a lot of you may know, or some of you who are new around here are going to learn, I have I have struggled with my own personal foot problems for quite some time and the feet are really important to me and I love to share information about how to help you guys if you're dealing with, with foot issues and, you know, until we actually get hurt until.

Our feet stop working until something happens. We don't know how valuable our feet are. So the first line of defense that we always have is a supportive shoe. A good tennis shoe, Brooks brand is something that I wear. There's Etonics, there's, you know. There's different brands out there. You want to get fitted.

So you want to know what's going on with your feet. Are you pronating? Are you supinating? That means are you rolling in rolling out? What kind of tennis shoe do you need? That's going to support your foot. Going to a shoe store that specializes in tennis shoes, somewhere that they can actually look at your gait, kind of give you some information, is where I would start.

Definitely You know, when you're, listen, I don't wear anything but a supportive tennis shoe when I know I'm going to be on my feet walking around a lot.  Are there ways that you could get supportive shoes in addition to tennis shoes? Yeah. But you want something, if you're going to be walking or like I said, on your feet a lot, that's going to support you, especially if you're experiencing discomfort in your feet.

So that is the first place I recommend. Everybody starts now. Some people, including myself, that just may not be enough. Me personally, I have extreme pronation and I need an orthotic along with parcel coalitions, which I'm missing a joint in each foot. So I need a little bit more and. If you've never had an orthotic, you wanna see an orthotist or a physical therapist or a podiatrist, but you wanna make sure that it's somebody that you trust or you know, recommended source.

I know myself personally, I have been through a number of different orthotists. Sometimes it takes a while to find somebody good. A physical therapist is somebody that I've trusted the last several years. What's most important is that, you know, you get the orthotic and you wear it indoors and you let your foot. 

Adapt to it gradually. And this also is good to know when you are getting a tennis shoe, you want to make sure that you have room for that orthotic. So.  Wait to get your shoe until after you have their orthotic so that you can get fitted in a right tennis shoe because that's going to Change what you need in terms of good footwear for walking.

So letting your foot ease into using their orthotic Wearing it around the house gradually a couple hours each day You just don't want to put it on and then wear it all day because that you know Your foot has to adapt to to using it so doing those things letting your foot adapt to gradually to see you know, there may be Things that need to be adjusted as you go along and you're trying this out.

So just having, having that, you know, in the back of your mind as well. So the right shoes. And, or orthotics are where we want to start in taking care of our feet. Hey, listen, I give talks and I'm in a, a nice professional outfit, but I wear my tennis shoes because I'm going to love and protect my feet. And I encourage you to stand up for yourself and protect your feet, no matter what you are doing.

You know, a lot of times overuse of, let's say wearing heels or where you're in plantar flexion, a lot can wreak havoc on our feet. And I'll ask people listening here today, if anybody's ever had plantar fasciitis. Because when I ask that question, a lot, the talks that I give and so forth, a lot of people are struggling with this.

And this is something that Is prevalent and it can be, you know, come about in many different ways for me personally, being on my toes, doing ballet at a young age, maybe prone to it. And in other things, wearing high heels. I mean, many, many reasons, but it's overworking of the plantar fascia and it can be really, really painful.

So plantar fasciitis, let's look at that word. We got to take care of the fascia. And we're working with our feet when we are.  Looking at our foot care, part of optimal foot health is taking care of that fascia. And, you know, like we've talked about before that surrounds the muscle can inform adhesions.

We've got to break up. Those adhesions can be inflammation and. You can start with something as simple as a golf ball or tennis ball. Start with the tennis ball. If you need more, go to a golf ball. Do I use things that are different? Absolutely. People that are working with me, I recommend Yamada Zeki's Foot Wakers and Foot Savers.

And by the way, all the links for the things I'm talking about will be in today's episode. But I take fascia care extremely seriously. There was a point in my life where. You know, I, I was not able to walk because of plantar fasciitis specifically, it can be chronic and having done my own work on my fascia and not having to struggle with that again has been a blessing.

I can feel the signs in my own feet when I feel like, Oh yeah, this is coming on. And then I just, you know, it's a reminder, you know, I work my fascia as much as I can after I'm walking. But if I've forgotten it's, you know, pain is that red flag indicator saying, okay, I've got to take care of my fascia.

Another resource for anybody that is struggling with fasciitis would be the Strasburg sock. Again, that link would be in this description. That puts your foot in a flexed position and dorsiflexion, which will work against the overuse of the plantar fascia.  those muscles. So just keeping your foot in dorsiflexion.

So those things can definitely help you. You don't have to have plantar fasciitis to do those things. Those, you know, definitely like I've talked about before, the things we want to prevent, we want to maintain our feet. There's crossover between, you know, the pain and prevention. So you want to do that in general, just for optimal foot health.

Now some of you may need to do those things more than others.  Okay. I know I'm talking a lot here and. I'm going to slow down. Take a breath. Okay. The other part here that's important. You know, these go along with our pillars of pain free movement. There's no different when we're talking about our feet. We also need to keep our feet and ankles strong and toes. 

I know I had to learn these things early on. If you've ever had problems with your feet or ankles, the standard exercises for physical therapy, we've got dorsi plantar flexion with the theraband, internal external rotation, sidestepping, all those things build strength. Also just standing on one foot. And balancing is going to build strength in the muscles of your feet.

You know, something, something as simple as standing on your foot in balancing. So we want to keep the foot, the ankle strong and the toes, the most overworked part of our foot. And when it comes to the toes is typically the big toe. We need to be using all of our toes. So even if you're walking, you can feel your gait, making sure that you're using.

Each toe rolling through them as you are walking. You could start with that, or there's other exercises. I like the toe savers for building strength for building strength in my toes. Again, those, that information is in, in the episode here, you can just, you know, gaining strength in. You know, the pinky toe bringing awareness to that, or the, I call it the pinky or the ring toe, you know, the other toes, you know, they need to function.

That's important. Some of you listening today may have your big toe moving inward or bunions. I know from all my dancing that that's happened to my foot where I have, sometimes I will wear a bunion corrector, which is something you can sleep with, or you can wear occasionally, and that can be helpful. To help with alignment of, of the toes.

So there's nothing wrong with doing those things. You know, we talk about strength. We talk about fascia. We've talked about good footwear mobility. Here we go. Another pillar, very important when it comes to our overall foot health. So keeping open through the front of the ankle. The tibialis anterior, all those muscles where we can get shin splints, the, the calf muscles, stretching, doing that after you move, checking in, do I have tightness there?

You know, definitely assessing for those things. If you have problems with the Achilles, another great tool is the, the pro stretch or rocking device. I love, you can get even a deeper range of motion and using that. So there are many things that are going to help us. And we need all of these things, just like I talk about, whether it's the back or the knees or the hips, it's the same thing with the feet.

We need a balanced approach. We don't just want to be keeping everything strong and not mobile or flexible. Or working on adhesions or, or protecting with good footwear. So we need all of those things. Those, those are important. So,  just like everything, you know, guys, I just want to wrap it up today with saying, please.

Be patient, be kind to yourself as you're working with your feet, listen to your body, listen to what's going on with your feet, don't want to ignore them if you are walking and you're having discomfort, pay attention, start being proactive and taking the steps that I kind of outlined today that could help you and just, just focus on what you can do today.

And keep progressing forward. So, you know, some of you that are listening today, you may be struggling with things like foot pain or back pain or whatever it is, muscle stiffness. And if you are ready to live pain free and enjoy your favorite activities with confidence, I would love to help you. As most of you already know, I am a Christian health mentor, exercise physiologist.

With over 26 years of experience. I love helping people improve their health, alleviate pain, whether it's back pain, foot pain, reduce stiffness and overcome other discomforts. So you can schedule your well body consultation today and receive personalized insights and strategies. You can click the link in this episode or reach out directly to support@movementcraft.

com and let's say goodbye. To the fear of pain and injury and hello to a more active pain free life. And also don't forget, because you are a listener of the better than a pill podcast, you will receive a 50 percent savings. All right, guys. So remember we release new episodes every other week on Wednesday, and I truly look forward to having you join me then.