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Fast Fitness - Fixing Arches, Knock Knee, and Knee Pain Without Orthotics

Friday, January 23, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Here is Fast Friday Fitness - Stop one major source of inward-turning knees (knock-knees). Click the movie arrow to run:
  1. Look at your bare legs in a mirror with feet facing straight forward.
  2. See if the knees turn inward to face more toward each other than forward.
  3. Feel how the muscles can pull outward to gently move (not force) knee position. These muscles like to be used correctly, not left unused.



Often, knees turned inward are a simple case of letting body weight sag downward onto the inside of the leg and arch of the foot, not a case of unchanging anatomy. Pain often comes from letting the knees and ankles twist, rotate, and sag. Restoring neutral position can stop this source of pain. Don't yank or force one segment, like the knee, causing problems in others. Restoring neutral means healthy position for the whole leg.

Orthotics are hard inserts that hold your foot in a certain position. Orthotics are different from cushion inserts that make a softer landing for each step. You can control leg and foot position without orthotics. That doesn't mean orthotics don't work, just that you can do it without them. It's cheaper and you get a free leg muscle stability workout at the same time.

Remember, don't force. If it hurts, it's wrong. Creating new strain instead of restoring function is not health or good thinking. All you are doing is restoring muscle length and using that to learn how to stand neutral, not tilted so much that you compress your joints.

Related Fitness Fixer:

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posture.mpg filmed for us by David from Belgium.

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