#7149 RW Donatellis Treating the Foot and Ankle Pain Free

Course overview

The foot is a biomechanical wonder. One of the most important functional movements of the foot and ankle is to ambulate effectively by adjusting to the ground terrain, maintaining balance and allowing us to ambulate efficiently. Restoring the foot and ankle movement remains a challenging problem. The rehabilitation specialist needs to be a detective and figure out why the joints of the foot are not moving correctly and/or what is causing the foot pain. The movements of the ankle, subtalar, midtarsal, and the forefoot are one of the most complicated movements in the body. The treatment of a tight achilles, or stiffness of the ankle and plantar fascia pain should not reproduce the pain that the patient has come to physical therapy to get rid of. The mechanics of the foot and ankle create the functional movements during the gate cycle. The foot mechanics reduce compressive forces throughout the lower limb, help to maintain our balance and act as ridge levers to push off from during walking, running and jumping. There are three major moving parts of the foot, which include the ankle, subtalar joint and the forefoot. We believe that restoring foot mechanics, increasing range of motion and strength are the most efficient methods of treating patients with stiff and painful joints within the foot and ankle. The use of foot orthotics, manual therapy and eccentric exercises will be reviewed in this course in order to restore movement and stability of the foot pain free.