I was walking along the beach today and started thinking about how much we take “functional feet” for granted. Let’s face it, the only time you think about your feet is when they’re misbehaving (read “painful”)…. And the plantar fascia (aponeurosis) is so often the cause of that pain.
Take a look at the picture and you can appreciate that there’s relatively little muscle in the foot, but lots of fascia! I tell my patients that if we liken the bones of the foot to the superstructure of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the fascia (or plantar aponeurosis) is the roadway. Dysfunction in the plantar fascia is then the equivalent of pulling the north and south pylons of the Bridge closer together! As such, the forces through the midfoot alter significantly, and pain is so often the result, commonly in the heel.
Diabetic feet so often lose the capacity of skin to even glide over the plantar fascia altogether, so imagine the difficulty in maintaining viable motion, and the effect on the other linked structures to perform adequately to push
us forward through our day! Never take your point of contact with the planet for granted…….
