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18. Determining Foot Support

Feet require a particular pattern of sensory contact with the ground for optimal postural alignment and function. The type of foot posture you have will determine which type of input and/or support you may require. For example, those that have high arches typically need to feel more contact on the inner aspect of the foot (arch, first ray and/or big toe) while those with flat feet tend to need more contact on the outer heel. Furthermore, due to the natural asymmetry of the body, we typically load more on the outer aspect of the right foot and inner part of the left foot. This means that providing increased sense to the right arch/first ray/big toe and left outer heel tends to help facilitate more postural neutrality up through the rest of your body.

 

Assessment Instructions to Determine Optimal Foot Sensory Support

  1. Determine your baseline status:
    1. While barefoot, walk for 30-60 seconds on a level surface to get a feel for how you move without shoes or sensory foot support on. Sometimes filming your walk can help you see a difference if feeling it is hard.
    2. While still barefoot, perform at least 2 lower body Physical Resonance Tests (toe touch, squat, kneeling or single leg balance) to get a baseline. Take note of your scores.
  2. Try one of the options below
    1. Walk for 30-60 seconds in that condition and do the same 2 Physical Resonance Tests to see if there is a difference. Film this walk as desired to compare with your barefoot walk.
  3. What the results mean:
    1. If either of your Physical Resonance Tests are worse it indicates that condition is not a good match for you.
    2. If either of your Physical Resonance Tests are better it indicates that condition positively supports your postural system.
    3. If either of your Physical Resonance Tests are not different it indicates that condition neither helps nor hurts you.
    4. If one test was better and one was worse, add a third Physical Resonance Test and assess the walking videos to see how you are moving.
  4. Perform this for all conditions you wish to test.
    • When a particular sensory support and/or shoe is right for you, it should feel good. However, sometimes a new pattern can feel "different" or "weird" while still testing as beneficial for your body. Trust your physical tests. In these cases, you may need to gradually build up your tolerance to it using a wear schedule.

 

Foot Sensory Support Options 1-10

Foot Sensory Support Options 11-14

 

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