Beverly Hills Chiropractic: Calf Muscle Stretches

So a couple posts ago, I showed you some excellent stretches for the muscles surrounding the knee joint that are essential for knee rehab.  Stretching the calf muscles--gastrocnemius and soleus--is a major part of this rehab, especially if the knees hurt.  Starting with the downward facing dog is a good, safe bet; but once some length is achieved in these muscles (and, if rehabbing, once stability sets in) you can then take the calf stretches to the next level.

In this video, I demonstrate what I find to be the best calf stretches one can do.  Very important to hit both calf muscles, and I find that the soleus is often over-looked.  When the soleus is left un-stretched, it can lead to things like soleus strain, Achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis.

Watch the video to learn some easy and effective stretches you can do regularly at home.  Have fun.

Foot Dysfunction Captured on Tape

I often have to explain overpronation to a number of my Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood chiropractic clients.  I have finally found a video (please see below) that does a great job illustrating what happens to the feet during the gait cycle when overpronation is an issue.

Overpronation is an excessive turning out of the feet (to be more accurate for you doctors out there--pronation a combination of eversion, abduction and dorsiflexion).  Pronation is a natural movement that we all do (or are supposed to do, anyway) during the toe-off phase of the gait cycle (walking).  Pronation is necessary to launch off our big toe in order to take a step.

Overpronators, then, turn their foot excessively causing a chain of events occurring up the foot, leg and thigh, and eventually into the back, which can lead to excessive wear and tear on joints and cause pain.  Some common maladies attributable to overpronation are:

• foot pain
• plantar fasciitis (burning heel pain)
• tight calves
• shin splints
• knee pain
• meniscal tears
• tight iliotibial bands (leading to outer thigh and knee pain)
• tight hip flexors
• sciatica
• low back pain
• and more

The real way to correct overpronation, and thus prevent any of the above issues from becoming chronic and leading to breakdown, is the use of custom-made orthotics.  Despite a current trend toward believing (hoping?) that barefoot running is the solution to all foot dysfunction, low back pain, goiter, syphilis and every other malady of the modern world, I can assure you I have seen nothing better for resolving musculoskeletal problems caused by overpronation than orthotics (and, believe me, people have been trying).

Watch the video below to get a clear picture of what is happening during overpronation.