Two standard questions are ALWAYS asked with our new clients at our practice.
1. Have you had previous surgeries?
2. Have you ever rolled your ankles?
In our previous blog post, we discussed the relevance of scar tissue and the affect it can have on the body. Today we will touch on ankle sprains and why they can be holding back your performance.
People often find it perplexed and amusing why I would assess their feet for a neck or even shoulder issue. Think of it this way. Your feet can be thought of as the wheel alignment to that of a car. When you ‘sprain’ your ankle, irrespective if you caused injury or not, you pretty much just altered the input system to your body. This is known as ‘proprioception’, your body’s ability to know where it is in space. So like a car when you accidently touch the wheels on the kerb, you change the alignment of the wheels and hence how well the car drives and performs. Same scenario happens with the feet with a sprain. The altered input can and will change the mechanics of the body.
For instance, a sprained ankle can change your centre of mass, placing more pressure on one side of the body than the other. In a performance scenario, this will alter the movement of your deadlift and squat. When the tissue can no longer handle that altered load you know have yourself an injury.
On the other hand, a sprained ankle may make the affected foot ‘unstable’, so it will decide to look for stability further up the chain. It finds you’re mid back (thoracics) as a nice new home. Problem is your thoracics are meant to be a mobile area. Explains why you are now having troubles with your snatch or cleans four months after your foot injury, even though you foam roll the crap out of your back daily.
The point is simple. Your feet are the gateway to how well you can performane.
At Kinetic Healthcare we used Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) screens to work out exactly where your issues are holding you back.
Contact the practice on (02) 9262 6473 to find if we can help you.