Last Saturday my neighbor, Karin, visited Lucky Foot for the first time ever. About time I said. Shes got a great sense of humor so I can get away with that. Karin had a few things going on which prevented her from enjoying walking. First off, she still has a little left knee pain from an injury after years of playing soccer. Not much I can do there but I can say this, soccer players are the worst... I repeat, the worst... at convincing that running shoes are supposed to fit differently than soccer cleats. Soccer cleats need to be form fitted and somewhat tight in the toe box. Running shoes are supposed to fit snug in the heel and roomy at the toe, the exact opposite of a cleat. Cant tell you how many battles Ive endured trying to get soccer player to overcome their perception that a tight toe box is comfortable. Karin was no different. Karin also had a bunion on her left foot. While her bunion isnt painful, its a clue to why her walking gait is imbalanced. Karins walking gait showed a neutral pattern on her right foot but her left foot demonstrated what is called late stage pronation. Her foot is neutral through stage one and two but collapses inward during stage three as her heel comes off the ground and she applies pressure to the ball of her foot. This inward collapse, or late stage pronation, also affected the alignment of her left knee causing it to turn inward as well. While this is not the source off Karins knee pain, its certainly not helping matters. The challenge here is how do we fit Karin with shoes that can correct her left foot without overcorrecting her right. We picked out a pair that fit the shape of her foot, narrow heel and wide toe box as we need to accommodate her bunion. We also picked out a pair on OTC insoles that matched her arch and heel shape. Then we observed her walking again and saw immediate success. Karins left foot and knee are now moving in the same range of motion as her right and the look of satisfaction was evident in her smile. I thrust both arms straight up to signify Touchdown! on the opening kickoff. This was a LaQuinta NAILED IT moment. ~ Jeff Van Horn, Lucky Foot
Posted on: Wed, 07 May 2014 16:18:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015