krusty
June 20, 2010, 3:32pm
13
Bones in the foot can be heavily influenced by soft tissue structures in the foot, but more importantly up into the calf muscle. So, for any foot or toe injury, I spend a lot of time working on the arch of the foot and up into the calf with massage and myofascial stretching. Over 90 percent of the time I seem to get positive results - particularly for irritated tendons in the foot and nerve entrapment.
Another consideration is the influence of the external rotators of the hip. If the hip muscles are tight and externally rotate your hip, the angle of push-off by the foot will change and put unfamiliar shear stresses on the foot. So, I also recommend stretching and manually therapy on glutes and piriformis.
Great ideas! For my patients (many who are not elite athletes or do not have access to a good massage or physical therapist), I recommend using a golf-ball on the bottom of the foot to provide a myofascial type of release.