As always, it is important to remember that THE SITE OF YOUR PAIN IS NOT THE SOURCE OF YOUR PAIN. I remind myself of this again and again. At The Pain Free Clinic of Denver we seek out the root cause of your pain and treat the body as a unit, rather than focusing on the site of the pain or the symptom you are feeling. That is why our postural therapy whole body approach works so well. Over 90% of my clients feel and see positive change in their alignment and a reduction in pain because we address the root issue / source of the pain rather than the site of the pain.
With that said, I want to talk about an exercise that I recommend to almost everyone with foot pain, knee pain and/or shin splints. This exercise helps reestablish a link from ankle to knee to hip and has completely relieved me and many of my clients of shin splints, foot pain and other lower limb pain.
This exercise is called Supine Foot Circles and Point & Flexes. The point of this exercise is to promote proper function of the lower leg muscles and encourage stabilization of the hip joint on the same leg. Be sure to always do the same exercise and reps for each leg as our goal is to re-introduce bilateral balance.
How to:
1. Lie on your back with one leg extended and the other leg bent and pulled up toward your chest
2. Clasp your hands behind the bent knee
3. Keep the foot on the floor pointed straight up toward the ceiling and your thigh muscles tight
4. Circle the lifted foot one way for the indicated number or repetitions, then reverse direction for the same number of reps
• Make sure the knee stays absolutely still with movement coming from the ankle and not the knee
5. For the point/flexes, bring the toes back toward the shin to flex, then reverse the direction to point the foot forward for the indicated number of reps
6. Switch legs and repeat
This exercise has helped clients ranging from high school students who play lacrosse, to runners, to people who are on their feet all day at work, and more. If you have trouble or questions please contact me at info@painfreedenver.com.
