Why do I have a bunion?

Why do you have a bunion???

Isn’t that the question, let me guess, you think it’s a genetic thing cos one of your parents had them, and their parent did too….

Unfortunately (or fortunately) not…Daniel lieberman the Harvard paleo-anthropologist once coin the term dysevolution.

We seem to think evolution only works to further and better the species, but that’s just not true and dysevolution is the term used by liberman to frame the ways in which we as humans are becoming maladapted to the world we are creating around ourselves .

Bunions are one of these mismatched maladaptations….as we do

Less and less and become lazier and lazier (Wall è is like a crystal ball) the way in which we move becomes increasing compromised.

As children, we develop a series of patterns which should help us learn to move as fluidly and efficiently as possible but if we are stuck in baby bouncers or in trendy converse baby shoes and socks from a super young age these can be missed.

On top of this we begin to learn to walk by watching our parents who most like also walk like shit 🤷‍♂️🤣

So your mother and her bunion show you a way of walking which you copy and creates an environment in which you are more likely to develop one your self.

As you can see in the photo, a bunion is most often a joint which is overly open an never gets a chance to close.

Why does this matter? Well in each and every footstep all 26 bones and 33 joints of the foot should move between two different shapes in 3 planes of motion. If the big toe joint is stuck in an overly opened position it will have a knock on effect throughout the rest of the foot/ankle/leg, pelvis, spine, shoulders, neck and head.

When I see a bunion it tends to speak to me and tell me that the foot and leg it is part of really wants to be better at pronating itself. In pronation the foot should lengthen and spread wider. (In doing so the big toe should move in the same direction as a bunion.)

Because the toes are almost “open Chain” in that there is no more bones after them, they become the last line of defence for making the body work as efficiently possible.

So if the direction the toe has moved would happen in a pronation, we can see how the toe could be trying to drag the rest of the foot into length and widening by pulling in that “open chain”

So what to do??? Well of course we wanna put movement back into areas that have lost it. I have found on numerous occasions pain in the foot/ties has lessened solely through a quick mobilisation and asking the body to move towards a state in which those already long tissues get lengthen more and that triggers a signal to pull back (and in doing so closes the overly open toe joint?)

Once we start opening and closing previously stuck joints we will begin to “floss/lube” up those areas. Like taking wd40 to a rusty nut and bolt.

So that’s the key to bunions….lube 🤣🤣🤣…isn’t that the answer to so much In life 🤣🤣.

If you have a bunion and it’s causing you issues, why not hit me up and let’s get lubing them there feet up 🙌🏻🙌🏻 I work in person from my studio in suffolk or online with many from around the world. Book or email using the link below

www.mandukyayoga.as.me/121

Wibbs@mandukyayoga.com

Stop Chasing your pain...Come see me to get to the bottom of your issue.

So the title grabbed your attention.....But you know you shouldn't trust a title in an email right?!?

Now that we agree that just jumping into a treatment type etc just because the title sounds promising we can begin to introduce who I am and what I do and why I might well be able to help you take control of your own body and the pain/discomfort you are feeling.

I use a combination of many practices I have studied over the last 20 years. From yoga, western medicines understanding of physiology, anatomy in motion, breath work and more, to look at the whole body, all your injuries, illnesses, surgeries, child births (for you women of course) and see how those things are affecting the way you stand/walk and then beginning to go back and rehab those issues one at a time to find you back to a place of comfort. I work online and in person to help people as the methods are not reliant on me being hands on unlike many other physical therapy practices.

Below are a couple of before and afters from some people I have worked with to help them out of pain and get back to the life they want to be living.

Knee and ankle pain

This client came with ankle and knee pain having sustianed a knee injuries in the past and needing an operation to clean up some meniscus tears. This injury had changed the way he had started walk and affecting his ankle. we worked together and helped the knee and ankle work together better and find better alignment for less pain when walking.

Ipswich town footballer with knee pain after training and games

Posture plays an important role in how much loads and stress we put on our joints...This your player would get knee pain during and after games...We sorted his unconscious resting posture out and removed stress from the front of his body and his knees felt much happier to be running and kicking about a football. Dealing with posture in the subconscious is key to making sustainable long lasting change.

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To B(union) or not to B(union) that’s the question….or is it.

Bunions

Yes I know it’s Sunday morning and most people are weirded out by feet especially before 8am but come on, hands up, who has a bunion??

Whose big toe is pointing inwards rather than forwards??

I have worked with numerous clients who struggle with bunions and pain around their feet and toes which the medical teams have said….”SURGERY….ITS THE ONLY OPTION…..CUT THAT FUCKER UP!!!”

Ok maybe they didn’t use that language or shout it but that’s their basic gist.

Far to often the idea is just to cut and shut things which don’t look/feel right…but what if that bunion is there for a reason?

The body is bloody clever and will not do things without a good cause or reason and when it comes to the feet, they are no exception. 

The big toe (along with every other stucture in the foot) should constantly be moving in 3 planes of motion throughout the gait cycle. There should be up and downy movements, left and righty movements and round and rounds movements (those aren’t the technical terms) 

So what if you hurt some part of the foot and it stops moving properly? Could another part of the foot start to have to move more to make up for the lack of movement in that part?

Well yes. 

The movement seen at the 1st toe joint is actually an exaggerated version of what should happen when our foot pronates (which it should do every step we take) but due to issues within the foot or body is unable to stop doing it. 

If your foot cannot probate, your body may well try one or more of a bunch of things to try to get the same loading of tissues that is required for effective efficient movement…and abduction (the big toe moving towards the second toe) is one such option it can take. 

It’s like it’s trying to say “LOOK IM PULLING THIS FUCKING TOE IN THIS DIRECTION…WHEN IS THE REST OF THE FOOT/LEG/BODY GOING TO FOLLOW!!!!”

Without use understanding the 3 dimensional movement of the foot and working to improve how the foot moves as a whole, cutting the bunion back and just pulling the toe straight NEVER gets to the root cause of the issue. So guess what, the toe returns back to the same space again asking the same question

“SERIOUSLY GUYS….LOOK IM PULLING THIS FUCKING TOE IN THIS DIRECTION FOR A LEGITIMATE REASON, LISTEN TO ME THIS TIME…WHEN IS THE REST OF THE FOOT/LEG/BODY GOING TO FOLLOW AND GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK FROM DOING ALL THE PISSING WORK DOWN HERE!!!!”

So the moral of the story is that your body is WAY cleverer than you are. Admit it, accept it and begin to learn from it. 

A bunion is there to tell you something needs to change in the way you move your feet and body. That pain it’s causing is asking you, not so politely, to take some interest in understanding how this wonder of evolution that we stroll about in works and functions and to give it some better inputs. 

If you have a bunion and you have been told that it needs surgery, before you go down that route, hit me up, surgery should always and only ever be a last resort.

Let’s work together to make you feel better in your feet so you can spread the word and we can take a whole heap of pressure off the NHS by stopping do so many needless operations. 

Remember I work in person and online both equally successfully so no reason to not let me help you learn more about your feet and get them moving better for less pain. 

Pronation and supination, what even are they?!?!?!

So we have discussed the amount of bones/joints and muscles in the feet…so what?? Why could that complexity be needed? Glad you asked

The foot is amazing, and as we alluded to, we need joints to move to get the muscles to lengthen and contract. (And in fact lengthen TO contract…more on that to come) 

So if there are 33 joints and we need them all to move, there must be some important shapes that the feet need to make. Yip, can you guess how many?!?!! 

Ok il tell ya, 

2

Two shapes, that’s it. 

They should start in “neutral” in “centre and be able to move to form what’s called a mobile adaptor (technically called pronation) and a rigid lever (supination). That’s it, doesn’t seem that hard ay, just two shapes and yet we don’t tend to be able to do either, we get stuck in one shape, one that’s either more pronated or supinated but without the ability to move any of those bones and joints, can neither pronate or supinate. 

That seems obvious but just thinking about that cos it’s important. If you have a foot that is more pronated but can’t move it’s not actually able to pronate and there for load tissue, absorb shock, read the body to move off in the most efficient and effortless manner. Same goes for an overly supinated foot, it’s unable to form the rigid level to create the force to propel forward off of and allow for optimal positioning of heal striking. 

I’ve been using big words and they might seem confusing…let me back track quickly and try to break it down simply. 

Pronation - seen by many health professionals as the devil, as an evil that causes most issues within the body, something that they give orthotics to counter and prevent. This is not the case, pronation is an important necessary moment of human movement that’s key to proper loading of the big muscles of the legs and hips. During pronation we are looking for the foot to soften, for it’s joints to open along the sole and inside of the foot, allowing it be that mobile adaptor we talked about, to let the foot adapt to all the shapes that nature intended us to walk over (rocks, stones, uneven, holey ground pre tarmac times when everything became very uniform and flat)

Supination - many people look at the supinated foot shape as the optimal one for foot health, a high arch (this tends to be the shape that foot perves like the most too 🤷‍♂️..just saying 🤣). In this foot position, the shape of joint surfaces almost “lock” together to form that rigid lever..the sole and inside joint surfaces close off and the top and outside open. This makes for a foot shape that can handle the force of pushing 78kg (yes I know, I don’t look a minute over 75kg, the beard hides a multitude of chins) forward into the next step and also one that when the foot has swung through can help find the back outside of the heel to allow for the best position to allow for the smooth rolling forward into the pronated shape that gives time (0.6-0.8 seconds) to really loads the entire leg properly.

So there that. A quick break down of pronation and supination, of the mobile adapter and rigid level, the yin and the yang. The two shapes available to the foot. That’s it. It’s not complicated (well it can be if we start getting into trying to understand what some of the muscles are doing in 3D but we won’t be doing that)
Just remember every bone/joint/muscle/body part should be able to find centre…in finding centre it can have the opportunity to then find it full range of motion in both directions in all 3 planes.

More of the directions of the bones of the feet for both these shapes to come at some point. If you have anything you wanna know about feet (bunions/neuromas etc) let me know and we can discuss them too. 

Thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed this short little dive into the world of bare feet (and not the perverts dive either 🤣🦶)

The importance of your feet for whole body health

Vibram 5 fingers, love them or hate them, they’ve got your attention, Let’s talk feet.

Feet are amazing and totally under appreciated in the world of rehabilitation, strength and conditioning, running, cycling, walking, health and life. 

Yeah I said it. All those things. Taking care of your feet and allowing them to move as they have evolved to move (sorry fundamentalist Christians) can have life changing affects on how you experience the world and your chosen activities.

Did you know there are 26 bones and 33 joints with EACH foot. That’s basically 1/6 of all the joints and over 1/4 of the bones in your body in two feet. How you stand on them is important, in fact its key to moving your whole body well.

I bet you never considered how complex your feet were. 

Now if they are that complex do you think it could be for a reason?!? Do you think those bones should be able to articulate with one another?? Do you think yours do?! If so I’ve got some bad news. Pretty everyone who comes to see me has feet that do not move well at all. My teacher, the badass @garyward_aim has a set of 5 big rules of motion. I’m guna mention the first 2.

1. Muscles lengthen before they contract

2. Joints act, muscles react

So, if we look at the foot joints being “stuck”, “stagnant”, “not moving” then how can we expect the 20 odd muscles of the foot to be loaded/unloaded, to move blood from the feet back up the body along with lymph, to experience there full ranges and be capable of handling whatever loads we through at them.
It’s imperative for whole body health and movement that we can allow the join within the foot to move as this will Allow the muscles to be taken from centre, to their end ranges in all 3 planes of motion as the muscles and tissues are lengthened and shortened.

We will discuss this idea of why moving our feet is important for whole body health in more detail tomorrow. But I’m the mean time take your shoes off, give your feet a bit of attention and love and just stand and feel your feet. 

Pay attention to them in a standing position and feel where you are most connected to the ground…left or right foot?? Inside or outside?!? Balls (of feet 🤣😜) or heels?!? 

Take a few minutes to scan your feet and make a bit of that, we can see what happens over time, see if that changes 🙌🏻🙌🏻.