Foot Injury Prevention for HikersLet's get right "down" to foot injury prevention: taking good care of your stable connection to Terra firma, the reason you don't fly off into space (OK, not really, but wouldn't it be cool if we had Velcro feet?). Bones first in our discussion of foot injury prevention. Not to be a stickler for detail, but your foot and your ankle are so interconnected that we can describe the part connected to what you refer to as your ankle as the "proximal" foot and the long horizontal part of your foot as the "intermediate" and "distal" regions. Each of these regions have bones which are shaped differently compared with one another. Why? They have different jobs to do, and so they are shaped differently. An inventory of the human foot comes up with 7 tarsal bones in the proximal foot, 5 metatarsal bones "beyond" the tarsals, and lots of bones in the distal toe area: 2 big clunky bones in your "big toe", and 3 bones in each of the other 4 toes. Let's do the math (or let me do it for you): 7 + 5 + 2 + 4(3) = 26 bones. But you need to multiply it by 2, because you hike on your own 2 feet, right? So the grand total is 52 bones. Just in your feet!! I hope you are suitably impressed. The bones of the feet are arranged in arches to handle their big jobs: weight bearing, distribution of body weight (which changes throughout a woman's life as she goes through puberty, pregnancy and menopause AND can change drastically when she straps on a heavy pack), and leverage during each step you take. The arches occur in 2 directions: longitudinal along the length of the foot, and transverse across the shorter part. You may have heard of "fallen" arches or "high" arches, which refers to the height of the arch. Hikers with these arch problems need to pay special attention to getting a good pair of supportive boots that fit. Orthotics are custom fitted arch supports which can be worn in shoes and boots. Just for fun, on your next hike, gently poke around on your feet when you stop for lunch & take off your boots for a bit of fresh air. You do that, right? It's a great habit to get into, because it relieves some of the blood vessel engorgement, gives your socks a chance to dry out, and takes pressure off your bones. How many bones you can feel? If you're really curious, find a picture of your bony feet in an anatomy book to get the full appreciation of how well constructed each foot is - notice how all the bones fit together in a jigsaw puzzle, but one which moves and bends with each step you take. But to understand foot injury prevention, you also need to understand the soft tissue connected to these bones: Muscles, ligaments & tendons, and fascia. There are a lot of muscles connected to your foot bones. If you've ever had a foot massage (highly recommended for hikers!), you know how sore those muscles can become. Treating them right is a good step toward foot injury prevention. The intrinsic muscles of the foot are designed to support and move the bones. There are a few muscles coming from the calf area that also help to move the toes, but we'll talk about those when we consider a hiker's leg. For now, let's focus on the muscles that begin and end in the foot.Would it surprise you to compare the muscles of the foot and the hand, and find them comparable? It shouldn't! Of course we don't have the amount of control over our foot bones like we do with our hand bones, so they won't be exactly alike. And we don't ask our hands to support our body weight, so we can look for layers of foot muscles that connect to the metatarsals and toe bones (phalanges) in order to provide stable surface areas. How many foot muscles? There are quite a few, with big long names referring to the action they perform, the bones they communicate with, or their shape (like an earthworm, for example: lumbricals). They are arranged in 1 layer on the top of the foot, and 4 layers on the bottom of the foot - from the outside to deep within the foot. Count up all of those hard working muscles, and you have almost 20 per foot. What is the relationship between the muscles and the previously mentioned bones? Muscles are anchored to the bones by tendons, and allow them to tug on the bones to create movements. Curl up your toes right now: the tendons act as cables to move your bones into a curled shape, thanks to the contraction of the muscles. OK, now uncurl.... ah! That's what you should do at your lunch break during a long hike. Your small steps (pun intended) toward foot injury prevention don't have to be time consuming or dramatic! A quick word about ligaments: they hold one bone to another. They can be overstretched ("pulled") or torn, creating a bad situation for a hiker who needs to make it back to base camp under her own power. And to finish off our portrait of a hiker's foot, let's give a nod to fascia. That's a clunky word for some lovely soft tissue which acts as material to connect one part of the body to another: skin to muscle, for example, or the arches of the foot. The fancy name for it is "aponeurosis" when it covers a broad area such as the longitudinal arch of the foot. If you've heard of "plantar fasciitis" or "painful heel syndrome", you're thinking of an inflamed, painful problem involving a heel bone called the calcaneus. Hikers DO NOT want this chronic condition, not only because it's painful but because it will cut down on your ability to hike any distance. So where does foot injury prevention for hikers start? At home, before you slip on your hiking boots. For starters, go barefoot whenever you can around the house/yard. Get out of those tight, uncomfortable shoes. Avoid high heels, because they stress your foot biomechanics. Walk bare footed across grass or sand whenever you can. Self-inflicted (I mean administered!) foot massages work wonders for sore feet and will prevent foot injuries by bringing blood supply to the muscles and draining the muscle compartments of excess fluid. Muscle strains require time and attention to heal, and gently working out the "knots" in your feet will help this healing process. Professional foot massages are a good investment if you are having foot problems. Be sure your therapist is licensed & well trained - there's more to a foot massage than you might imagine! Reflexology is an intriguing approach to prevention of foot injuries, and again, you should go to a trained person in order to gain the maximum amount of foot therapy for your time and money. The socks you choose are more important than you might think. They need to wick away moisture from your feet (think of moist, dark places as ideal spots for fungal growth known as athlete's foot). They need to cushion your skin to prevent abrasions from the boots. And they need to stay in one spot: if they slip around, they will create hot spots and leave you with blisters. So put some thought into your socks! I'll say it one more time, with feeling: your feet should be treated like divas. They take you up the trail, they get you home again, and they only ask for some basic maintenance and attention. Give it to them! (Otherwise, you know what divas do - they demand attention, and who wants to listen to their screams and rants?) If you'd like more information and resources about prevention of foot injuries, please contact me using the form below. I'd be happy to share what I know with you. Foot injury prevention for hikers is a serious subject. Ready for more hiking tips? |