What are some big misconceptions about health, related to feet?
Dr. Jen: Going barefoot is so good for you for a couple reasons, with the exception of diabetic neuropathy or something like that where they can’t feel their feet. One reason: neurologically. You’re stimulating hundreds of thousands of nerve endings at the bottom of your foot. Your feet are literally the connection of the earth to your body; if you can’t feel what’s around you because you’re shoving your foot in a sock and shoe, you’re not giving your brain that information. The second reason: biomechanically. Your foot is designed to absorb force and propel you forward. Instead, we have shoes do all the work for us. So our feet get lazy and get weak. The more barefoot you walk, the stronger your feet and your body can get.
Bryan, does that run counter to your work with insoles?
Bryan A.: She’s 100% right. But we agree that the client has to be willing to do the work to strengthen the feet and muscles in order to be able to build support when you’re not wearing shoes and insoles. And I’ve found a lot of people don’t need to go through the work. I think we marry very well.
Dr. Jen: Plus, for example, with something like plantar fasciitis, you have to offload that tissue so the tissue can heal. He offers a really great affordable option for me so that I don’t have to order $400 orthotics that the patient will only wear for six months.
Bryan A.: As far as other misconceptions go, big bulky orthotics can’t typically fit in dress shoes. I can take care of that and bring some fashion back into your life.
Do you have a favorite success story from your work?
Richard L.: I had a man in his nineties come in with a cane and a callous on his foot about the size of a business card. It took me an hour and a half to file it with a Dremel that turns 9,000 RPMs. It made a cloud of dust that settled over the entire room. I dug that callous out and it was about a half-inch deep below his skin. We went through the rest of the process with the foot bath, massage, and moisturizer and put his shoes back on.
He took one step and he asked me what I did. I told him I just took the callous off. He said “I had a callous? This is the first step I’ve taken without any pain. I’ve had this limp since I got out of World War II in 1945.”
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