In-toeing & Out-toeing may have NOTHING to do with Your Feet!!!

[@N1TRO]

Hello, I have accetabular retroversion and am far more comfortable with my feet turned out. However I also walked on my toes till aged 12, so I have short Achilles as well as bad mechanics. I have no practical idea what normal walking would even be like, just theoretical knowlege that i struggle to apply. I have new insoles to help with the short Achilles and am aware I need to not start in an overly internally rotated position as my room is already terrible. Would you possibly have any advice for me? I believe my major issue in terms of implementation is how I'm supposed to contact the foot and then how I would push off. Currently I pretty much stay in left stace and vault the left leg whereas the right has more of a swing. I land on my mid foot, on the left foot and pretty much just the 5th met head area on my right foot. When landing the calf muscle adjusts tension to control the force from the ground. Pushing off my right leg struggles to align underneath my hip so the knee ends up having to be more flexed, so I can gain increased motion from the knee extension. I then end up pushing across my right foot with most of the actual plantar force then coming from just the big toe of first few. The left leg can get behind the hip slightly, so landing and push off is more normative but very robotic. The most influential and damaging thing appears to be the right foot not sitting flat. Its always in a diagonal position with the ball side being higher. I really struggle with btj contact. Also no internal rotation range on my right femur puts a lot of rotational force into the knee instead. It is as if the right tibia is externally rotated, the femur is in internal rotation but even in this state it's still angled outwards a fair bit.

[@FeldenkraisNYC]

I am sorry to hear about your struggle. The most important factors for me when working with the clients in a similar situation are: 1. Comfort - it is much more important to find movements that feel good (or better) than finding a "correct" or "proper" gait pattern. 2. Position of the hip that allows for good transmission of force through the hip (ball of the femur sitting centrally in the socket. 3. Variety - ideally frequently placement of the foot, positions and movements of the legs change. Just as length of the steps it might vary and it is quite OK. We do not want a robotic, every step the same, even if you were to have close to ideal pattern. It is very difficult for me to advise without seeing you. Would you be interested in a private session? I do initial assessments and plan of action in person and also through Zoom.

[@N1TRO]

@FeldenkraisNYC i am actually seeing a podiatrist atm. Its taken a while to get there. Im also on the waiting list for tendon lengthening surgery. Apparently, all of my lower limb tendons are tight with high muscle tone. The lack of mobility coming from the ankle seems to be why my walking is so ridgid with little hip rotation, its also causing whole body postural issues, especially in the lower back and lower right leg. I do, however, appreciate the offer and would have taken you up on it if things hadn't actually progressed for me. Thanks

[@dianajaramillo858]

So how do we fix it from the hip

[@FeldenkraisNYC]

Well, we cannot correct the architecture of the hip joint unless we undergo major surgery. The message of the video was to allow the foot to be oriented naturally, rather than imposing straightness.

[@e.l.h.a.r.r.a.k]

@@FeldenkraisNYC i did what you said 2 years ago but last 5 months my big toe kept making me feel pain and i stopped my training in kickboxing and it kept hearting me till now . but the weird thing is that this condition started after the pandemic when shoot a soccer ball with no warm up exercise and i felt pain in my right leg joint and after this about a year i joined a karate club and whenever i tried to perform a high kick my right joint hurts like its rusted and the pain stopped after some months and my right foot became oriented outward and i want to a specialist bone doctor in Morocco he said that its normal to have a foot not in straight direction . but last 5 months my big toe kept making me feel pain . so what should i do to solve this problem

[@N1TRO]

​@@e.l.h.a.r.r.a.kfrom what I've now realised if you have a torsion issue you cannot copy normal mechanics. For instance I can do a curled type shot or pass with the instep easily and even my power shots are contacted like that, but I didn't even realise your legs supposed to go under your hip contract and then swing forward, since I couldn't do it. It will be a bit more serious for me as I also have very short Achilles, I can't really click a ball properly with my left leg and it always caused pain, I just thought I was bad 😅. My advice would be when link g up a shot ignore normal reasoning to some degree, have the foot align next to the ball in a slightly angled in position but don't force it to align facing forward or 'pointing where you want the ball to go' that advice is for people with a normal swing and will just cause you ankle knee and hip pain. Also when landing from jumps or anything else don't try to land like normal people with the feet aligned forwards. The thing is subconsciously you see how others do things and then info you learn backs it up, so even if it doesn't feel right and you try to relax and just go with the flow, you might subconsciously be adjusting. Best advice I can give as someone who is now fucked and injured myself a lot from football would be really analyse your own mechanics and the natural arcs of your movements. Then implement technique around them. For example when kicking I bet you try to kick your leg out straight forwards and up, doing things constantly hits your max range so it both limits motion, and can lead to pain. Worst of all this can lead to very imbalanced hip musculature locking down your actual hip range of motion and putting extra pressure on the hip joint. Im pretty sure this is why I have bilateral cam morphologies now. I made the mistake of walking with my left foot pointed forward, which is a position I can't get to with just hip rotation, so my entire body compensated twisting me around to the left. Id then also have my right leg near max internal range and have to sort of step across my body to go forwards.

[@luzarsacdetoro903]

Top!

[@NurseSue425]

I’m age 60 and was treated with corrective shoes and a bar in the 60s. My left hip still has hip externally rotated. It causes trouble because I have leg length discrepancy. But I’m pretty sure it’s just tightness of all those ligaments.after all these yrs it’s too stuck in its old ways so to speak. Plus 36 yrs of nursing didn’t help.

[@FeldenkraisNYC]

Thank you @NurseSue425 for your comment. Ideally, changes should occur gradually, drop by drop, rather than all at once. Often we underestimate what can be done in a long run (i.e. year +) and overestimate what we can achieve in the short term. Steady practice is the key to success. All my best.

[@YG-kk4ey]

But how do we fix?

[@FeldenkraisNYC]

There is nothing that can be done to immediately fix the structure of the bones. There are invasive surgical interventions (osteotomies) that may address the most severe cases. My point was to avoid effortful correction, by making yourself walk against the internal architecture. It would be better to allow walking that is not perfectly straight.

[@YG-kk4ey]

​@@FeldenkraisNYCinteresting. Is it possible for one femur joint to fit natural at a different angle than the other?