Layers of the Foot

At BiomotionPT, our physical therapists specialize in foot and ankle pain treatments in Schertz, TX. We understand that one treatment does not work for everyone’s foot and ankle issues. Foot and ankle pain can come from various sources. That’s why we’ll start your recovery by treating the source of your problem.

Foot and Ankle Anatomy

The foot and the ankle work in conjunction with each other. The foot provides the platform for which the body stands. The ankle allows the foot to have lateral and side to side movement. Without the ankle, the foot would not be able to place the body in motion.

For such a seemingly small part of your body, the foot and ankle are tremendously complex body parts that operate completely differently. Within just the foot and ankle, you have 26 bones, 33 joints, and over 100 muscles, ligaments, and tendons. 25% of the bones in the body are found in this small area alone.

Together, these body parts provide the necessary balance and support to provide you with motion. If any single one of these elements falters, you can have repercussions that can ripple throughout the body.

Need a referral for your foot pain? Visit Dr. Ed Davis

Our Physical Therapists in Schertz Can Help Stop Your Foot Pain

Someone once said that the difference between animals and human beings are feet. While something so profound is so crucially wrong, the foot is still something that sets us far apart from the rest of the planet. Our feet bear our weight, let us move, help us rock back and forth anxiously, help us dance, help us experience so much of our life.

When foot pain arrives, the moving stops. Our therapists in Schertz will diagnose the affected area of your foot for proper treatment. Each medical condition requires a different type of treatment that we at Biomotion can provide. Below are a few conditions that are common:

Plantar Fasciitis

A common cause of heel pain, this condition is a result of tissue inflammation. This tissue, known as plantar fascia, is located at the bottom of your foot and connects to your heel bone.

This condition is common with athletes, people that are overweight, or individuals who have long periods of standing during the day. We are experts in treating this very common foot condition.

Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy affects nerves in your body including your feet. People with this condition experience pain and impaired muscle function. Here at BiomotionPT, we can help reduce these symptoms.

Extensor Tendonitis

This condition causes pain at the top of your foot due to inflamed tendons in your foot. This occurs when you wear the wrong shoe size for a long period of time. It can also occur when your feet’s tendons are overworked. We treat many cases of extensor tendonitis and will guide you towards recovery with our services.

The Foot Is Divided Into Three Parts

  1. Forefoot
    The forefoot is the front of the foot. It contains phlanges (better known as toes) as well as the metatarsals. One of the major functions of the forefoot is to bear the weight of the body. Due to the way the forefoot is designed, you are able to distribute weight accordingly and maintain balance. This partially allows for upright walking.
  2. Midfoot
    The midfoot contains three arches for the foot: two arches that run longitudinal, or “longways,” with the foot, and a transverse, or “horizontal”, arch. The arches themselves are comprised of five bones: the navicular, the cuboid, and three cuneiform bones.These arches acts as weight distributors as well as shock absorbers. Instead of having a flat surface slap against the ground, causing each impact to be felt, the arches are able to provide adequate leveling by slight elevation.
  3. Hindfoot
    This portion of the foot is comprised of two bones: the calcanus and the talus. The calcanus is more simply known as the heel, and the talus, which helps create the ankle.

bones of the foot

Your foot is a complex machine that functions like a workhorse. All of the parts of a foot work together in tandem to make sure you’re able to walk, stand, run, dance, and all of those good things.

Foot Pain and High Heels

Home Remedies for Foot Pain

The simplest remedy for foot pain is to get good foot support. Without proper care for your feet, the arches can wear down, causing severe foot and back pain. By owning several pairs of shoes with the proper arch support, your feet can keep going for a long time.

Additionally, make sure you have the right shoes. This means being thorough with your choice. If the shoe does not properly fit, you should not wear it. Constricted or loose fits can constrain proper foot function. Without proper function, the shoes become less a benefit and more of a hindrance.

Another consideration is the heel. It is on record that a shoe with a high heel can damage your foot irreparably. A high heel places all of your body’s weight on the forefoot. This is incredibly damaging and dangerous. In order to maintain your health, you must have a shoe that has a flat sole, regardless of leg aesthetics.

Conditions that can arise from poor foot health include:

  • Plantar Fasciitis
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Heel Spurs
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Fallen Arches

What Causes Foot Pain?

All of your weight comes down on your foot. Similarly, your foot is in contact with everything below.
This is similar to placing a bowling ball on a square foot of wooden plank, but then moving the wooden plank constantly. Due to wear and tear, the wooden plank is bound to give out simply due to environmental stress.

The human foot is designed far better than a simple wooden plank, but the wear and tear can be similar. Whether it’s from an athletic injury, unforeseen misstep, or simple daily use, foot pain can come from anywhere at any time. These can cause inflamed muscles, pinched nerves, and searing back pain.

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We Offer Treatment Plans for Ankle Pain in Schertz, TX

We understand ankle pain affects how you live. That’s why we provide our knowledge and skills to reduce pain and swelling in your ankle. We feature physical therapy for ankle sprains and injuries to ensure you will recover.

Recovering from an ankle injury requires dedication and a thorough treatment plan which our physical therapists can provide. Common ankle pain causing conditions include:

 

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis is often a painful condition involving inflammation in the ankle joint. Severe cases feature severe pain, muscle weakness, and joint damage. Anti-inflammatory drugs may help in the short run, but they won’t fully fix the condition. That’s where we come in. We’ll help you with exercise techniques and the best physical therapy you need to recover.

Sprained Ankle

When the ligaments of your ankle are overstretched or turned in an unnatural way, an ankle sprain can occur. Pain, swelling, and limited motion in your ankle can occur, but physical therapy can help. In addition to helping ankle recovery, our physical therapy will help strengthen your ligaments to help prevent future injuries. Contact us today to get your recovery started.

How Does the Ankle Work?

Basically, the ankle is comprised in two parts:

  1. Upper Ankle
    The upper ankle is comprised of the talus (mentioned above), as well as the tibia and fibula. The tibia and fibula make up the bottom portion of the leg and connect with the foot. In conjunction with the tendons and ligaments, the upper ankle is able to provide vertical movement for your foot. This allows you to push forward and walk.
  2. Lower Ankle
    This part connects the midfoot and hindfoot to the heel. This part of the ankle does not move up and down, unlike its upper counterpart. Instead, the lower ankle allows for limited movement side to side. This allows for balancing as well as navigating difficult terrain.

Remedies for Ankle Pain

Since ankle pain can be caused by massive amounts of physical exertion, the quickest way of remedying ankle pain is to cut out that activity. By ceasing any overactivity, this allows your body to catch up and begin to repair itself.

A great help to alleviate swelling is applying ice packs or something cold. By applying cold temperatures, this helps constrict blood flow, thereby reducing swelling. The same effects can happen by utilizing an ankle support or a wrap.

If ankle pain is more severe, consult a physician. This may be where over the counter medication such as ibuprofen could assist. It is important to utilize anti-inflammatory medication over others, as this will help address the issue of swelling. Steroid injections could help as well, but can be extreme.

In rare cases where internal ligaments, tendons, or bones within the ankle are beyond healing properly, or if tumors or infection are the cause of the pain, invasive surgery is required. Only the most severe of pain is considered for surgery, as this is a last option.

The best option for ankle rehabilitation is often physical therapy. By placing an emphasis on physical rehabilitation versus short term pain relief, you will be able to return your body back to normal through strengthening.

Making the ankle stronger can help prevent further injury to the area. Similarly, through the process of physical therapy, one can absorb a tremendous amount of education regarding their injury and the steps that led them to an injury. Education can often prevent further injury, creating a greater awareness of the environment that one operates in.

Ankle Pain

Symptoms of Ankle Pain

Proper symptoms of ankle problems can include:

  • Swelling
  • General numbness
  • Tingling
  • Inability to place any weight on foot

To a lesser extent, if you feel any stiffness or general inability to move your ankle, it’s worth exploring options.

The symptoms of ankle pain are quite obvious. However, the necessary methods to stop the pain can vary. In order to identify the solution, one has to identify what kind of pain is occurring with the ankle. Only then can the proper rehabilitation begin.

Ankle Physical Therapy

The Achilles Tendon

This is one of the longest tendons in the body. It runs from the back of your heel all the way up to the top of the calf. This allows the human body to have finer control of the foot. The tendon allows for vertical movement, allowing for the foot to point itself downwards.

The Achilles Tendon is also very prone to injury. This tendon works best when utilizing gradual motion instead of sudden. A great majority of Achilles Tendon injuries occur due to sudden movements. This would be like when a linebacker of a football team launches themselves at their opposition. This can render the Achilles Tendon in horrendous pain.

Typically, an Achilles Tendon injury radiates along the back of the shin. The pain can intensify when standing specifically on your toes or stretching out. It’s also not uncommon to feel stiffness, tenderness, and swelling within that area as well.

Achilles Tendon injuries can also be identified through specific symptoms. When you were injured, if you heard a loud popping sound, then had any of the above symptoms, your Achilles Tendon is most likely the affected area. If you are also having difficulty in flexing the muscles within the foot, this could be symptomatic of Achilles Tendon issues.

That’s where we come in, we can help you recover and be back on your feet. Contact us at BiomotionPT to get started.

achilles tendon pain

Don’t Let Your Issues Worsen. Contact BiomotionPT Immediately to Get Started

Our clients are family to us. While we help them improve and grow, they help us grow and improve our company. It’s not uncommon to come home with a completely different perspective on life because of the power that we see daily at BioMotion.

Every single day, we see our clients working through the pain and struggling to get back to a pain free life. Each day, we’re there with them, giving them the knowledge and the motivation to push forward. Without us, their struggle for a life free of pain would be so much harder.

Without them, we wouldn’t be the people we are.

If you have nerve pain in your foot or ankle, we can help. By working with BioMotion, we can help you take the steps towards walking again. Through a steady regiment of physical strengthening, along with thorough education and personal accountability, we will help you. Each session will see some sort of improvement, small or large, in the way that you walk.

BioMotion Physical Therapy prides itself on family, achievement, and growing. We grow every day. Let us help you grow into the pain free life you deserve. Contact us online or call us at 210-659-4333 to get started with a free assessment and screen with no referral required!

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