THE PERFECT BALANCEBODY & SOLE
BY RONI PIDCOCK
The feet, like the rest of the body, feel the effects of age. Muscle tissue thins
out. The long nerves that supply the tissue do not send electrical messages
as efficiently as they once did, so there may be some loss of sensation.
Blood is more likely to pool in veins, which causes feet and ankles to swell.
Fat pads under the heel and the ball of the foot get thinner with age, but
the tissue may change in other ways so that it provides less cushioning.
When you walk, the force on the heel when
it hits the ground is 1-1.5 times your body
weight. Walk fast, and the force of that impact
is even larger. As the foot rolls forward, the
pressure shifts to the outside edge and then,
as you start to push off, to the ball of the
foot and the toes .Foot contour also tends to
alter as a person grows older. Few adults will
remain the same shoe size throughout maturity.
Further distortion results from years of walking
unyielding pavement in stiff-soled shoes. Hard
surfaces reduce the function of the underlying
foot muscles, causing atrophy to form in the
small toe muscles eventually.
That being said, it makes sense that geriatric
patients can present many unique challenges
when it comes to being fit for any type of
foot orthotic. They often visit their practitioner
with multiple medical conditions, which could
include physical, visual, or even pulmonary
impairments, which must be taken into
Current Pedorthics January/February 2016
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