Foot wedges featured recently in our social media posts, you may have seen us rave on about them? Let us explain what these are and why these humble tools provide opportunity for amazing outcomes when it comes to helping people move and feel better!
So what are they and what can they do for you?
Wedges are a simple device used to help you experience new shapes & movement in your feet (& therefore whole body) that may be missing or difficult to access.
Their 3 main uses: ⭐ influence the direction of motion in a bone ⭐ to fill space where pressure is lacking i.e. lack of tripod* connection ⭐ to offer feedback to initiate a movement
*An optimal tripod of your foot refers to the 3 key points - your heel, the base of your big toe and the base of your little toe
diagram of an optimal tripod
Bones in your feet communicate directly (via the nervous system) with the bones in the rest of your body. I.e. they are a component of your whole body system.
A fully functional foot, however, is a rarity… Wedges help unlock new movement in not only the foot, but help generate movement throughout the WHOLE body!
OK, tell me more....
To understand the only 2 shapes of the foot (and therefore leg) that the body needs to access to move across the ground in an efficient way, you can refer to our previous blog; Simplifying foot movement - Physioflexx Ayrshire
We use the wedges to improve your ability to achieve both optimal:
supination (arches of foot increase in height) and
pronation (arches lowering to the ground) with the corresponding leg shapes that come with these two foot shapes.
wedges in practice
Key point - A wedge is not a device used to prop a foot up into a neutral position - e.g. out of a flattened position. Unlike orthotics, their goal is to:
• Encourage the foot joints to get moving again • Reintroduce movement in your foot • Re-educate your foot on how to stand on the floor & move across it
• Allow your brain experience the foot as an integrated moving part of the human body again.
How can Physiotherpay help?
If you have a persistent or nagging pain or recurrent ache/injury (& not just at the foot..!) which may not be responding to usual physiotherapy or other interventions - you may be surprised to hear that these humble wedges could well help you enormously.
