Holmes Physical Therapy

John Calvin is getting his landing down. If you see that ankle collapse with a heavy heel strike like the pic on the right this could be the root of the problem. You can see the inside ankle climbing higher on the left which is good. Athletes need to fix this as speeding up faulty movement patterns doesn’t usually end well. Injury resolution and prevention is the name of the game.

I see a lot of people who have been going to other providers for years but the accountability was lacking or the programs were too complicated or maybe even a combination of both. We obviously want to see some appreciable change in a person’s condition in a few weeks and quite often we see changes within the session. If changes are not being made then we could be part of the problem not changing our plan of care or referring that person to the appropriate provider. Let’s treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves.

Eric came to me with complaints of right heel pain and ankle stiffness first thing in the morning and after exercise. He had limited doesiflexion (right ankle to shin) and limited right hip rotation outward which are both signs of a hard landing on the right and you can see in the left picture how his left heel goes inward which indicates a weak push off. He also has a history of a previous left achilles rupture which still had some weakness. His right heel pain responded rapidly but required 3 exercises to get it to stay better.

1) right ankle dorsiflexion 🦵 with his foot in the chair ( shin over toes) - this rapidly abolished pain and increased ROM.

2) right hip pigeon stretch 🐦 to restore hip rotation

3) left calf raises and he progressed to adding a few hops 🐸 / short jogs 🏃 for calf strength.

Walking and running can be complicated but the exercises that get you out of pain should be simple. If you have pain in your back, hip, knee, or ankle/foot this approach can be a lifesaver literally. DM me if you have any questions and please share with others as this could really help them out.