The feet They are a fundamental part of our health and are responsible for many of the pathologies seen in Traumatology and Physiotherapy consultations: back pain, bruxism, knee problems, postural problems or deformities.
In ‘Health at your feet’recently published by Harper Collins, the physical therapist Jesús Serrano debunks myths about these forgotten greats and proposes a wide range of healthy habits and exercises to train them with the healthy purpose of preventing diseases and “pampering” body and mind through them.
OKSALUD chats with the specialist in foot treatments, graduate in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences and a graduate in Physiotherapy – who has just become a father – about the importance of good foot health, about tools, exercises, habits and examples to improve foot health and health overall body at any age.
QUESTION.- Why did you decide to write this book?
ANSWER.- They proposed it to me following a ‘podcast’, which went very viral. And I agreed! I think there is a great need to open minds and for people to discover that real foot health is not about ‘locking it in’ but rather that you have to train it and wear a shoe that respects the shape and anatomy of the foot. I think this book is going to reach a lot of people, it is going to be given as a gift and it is going to reach people who suffer from their feet… and a lot of people are going to discover how they really have to take care of their feet.
Q.- Why does Cristina Pedroche preface it?
A.- Because Christina is the main culprit that the topic of foot health has gone very viral on my Instagram account. As a result of a problem she had with her foot, I explained to her what training a foot consisted of, training its pathology, Using a shoe that respects the anatomy of the foot and the improvement was so brutal that she began to make it viral on her social networks. Since she is very grateful for everything we did to improve her foot, she wanted to make a prologue and contribute her grain of sand to the dissemination of real foot health.
Q.- An anecdote about her….
A.- Well, precisely this. I have shared with her many stories of injuries, pathologies, etc., and it turns out that everything she published on her social networks regarding foot health went super viral, both on my profile and on hers. We saw that there was a great need for foot health. We uploaded things related to the knee and the back and they were successful, but they did not become as viral as the issues related to the foot. Hence also the importance of writing the book and continuing to add dissemination every day regarding the importance of foot health.
Q.- Why is foot health important?
A.- Because they are the foundations of the body. If your foot hurts, it will end up affecting another part of your body, because you will start to limp. Having healthy foundations is essential, not only for the intrinsic health of the foot, but because a simple bunion will cause hip, knee or back stability problems… In other words, the big toe in its place is essential, for example.
Q.- What pathologies are the most common?
A.- Well, the star and most striking pathology is the bunion, I would say. Then, also claw toes, metatarsalgia, Morton’s neuromas, fasciitis, ingrown toenails, calluses… All of this is caused by the use of conventional shoes, which end in a point, deform the toes, atrophy the muscles of the foot and cause very important changes. .
Q.- We are going in phases. What advice do you give for caring for children’s feet?
A.- In children it is essential to take care of foot health. Children have to be barefoot most of the time, playing, running, climbing… The more stimuli we give to the foot, the better. And when they have to wear shoes, they should always do so with a shoe the size and shape of their foot, with flexible, soft, thin soles that feel the ground. What we are looking for is the greatest possible development of your feet.
Q.- And for teenagers?
A.- For teenagers, my advice is to be exemplary. Let us parents be exemplary so that they end up liking foot-shaped shoes, because it is very difficult at those ages to get them out of some fashionable sneakers, from fashionable narrow shoes, which deform the feet of adolescents. Adults, I insist, have to be very exemplary, providing them with foot-shaped sports shoes.
Q.- What about adults?
A.- Between 30 and 60 years old is an adult age, in which people work and so on. In the end, the advice is the same. It is essential to go barefoot at home, to the pool, to the beach, to the gym, to wear foot-shaped shoes at work, where you spend many hours… In the end, it is betting on a change of habits with respect to your health. foot in every sense: shoes, exercises… A total life change.
Q.- And the advice for older people?
A.- Conventional shoes for adults are an absolute aberration: they end in the shape of an arrow, they have very thick soles, high heels… This makes them very unstable. What we have to look for is that an elderly person’s foot is as stable as possible. Therefore, it is essential that they respect the anatomy of the foot, that the sole be thin, that they feel the ground and that they are as wide as possible so that they are more stable. The closer to the ground and the wider the shoes, the more stable they are. Older people benefit from this, they stop falling.
Q.- Is the heel ‘healthy’?
A.- The ideal thing would be for people to stop conceiving the heel as something elegant and pretty. Since I don’t think that will happen, you have to leave the heels for very specific moments. There are already brands that have released foot-shaped heeled shoes, much wider. In the end, a shoe shaped like a foot is going to be much healthier than a shoe with a narrow toe box.
Q.- How does physiotherapy help?
A.- I have given some talks about this to physiotherapists to remind them that we have the most powerful therapeutic weapon, which is movement. Barefooting a foot and training it is wonderful. And then recommend a shoe shaped like a foot, soft, flexible, so that they can continue training their feet the rest of the day. I encourage my physio colleagues to train the foot, treat the feet with the tools that physios have, but above all with movement, with freedom, with training… We have to restore the real health of the foot with our hands and with physical exercise therapeutic… and also changing shoes.