For people who are sedentary, the knees, ankles and feet can become real trouble spots, complaining of knee stiffness and feet pains and cramps. These areas tend to receive less exercise than any other part of the body, mainly because people don’t realise that they need to be exercised or if they do, how to go about it. They don’t understand the various ways in which the joints can or need to move to exercise them fully.

Problems with the knees, ankle and feet can frequently be helped by yoga exercises. Once you begin to practise the specific exercises, you will be able to determine the truth of this for yourself. Inflexibility and stiffness in these areas should be taken seriously, otherwise the problem could become chronic. Even arthritis has responded in a positive way when slow, methodical yoga positions are applied.

To take away stiffness from the knees and strengthen the feet, the knees, feet and toes must be placed in particular positions. These positions must be held in place for a period of time. Yoga exercises are thorough in methodically giving the joints a workout as well as the muscles.

In many types of exercise systems and sports, the muscles move in erratic, mainly fixed patterns which may strengthen some muscles but leave others underdeveloped.

The toes can be exercised by slowly standing on the toes, raising the heels and slowly swinging the body to the right and left. This strengthens the ankles and the feet.

Knees and thighs can be stretched by sitting upright, placing the soles of the feet together and moving them towards the body as far as is comfortable. The hands should grab the feet and pull them up slightly while the knees relax.

Perhaps the best known yoga position is the lotus which involves crossing the legs. The simple crossed leg position is the best place for people who are sedentary, unfit or overweight. The full lotus can be achieved only with much practise but the half lotus is achievable in time. This involves sitting on the floor and placing the left heel as close to the body as possible with the sole against the right thigh. The right foot is then placed on top of the left thigh. This exercise is wonderful for the knees, ankle and feet.

Of course none of these positions should be attempted without instruction from a properly trained yoga teacher.

The author, Michael Sellar, is the editor of Enzyme Digest, a newsletter for nutritionists and complementary health professionals. Other natural health articles can be found on his website http://www.n16health.com Highly experienced yoga instructors can be found here as well as at http://www.yogastokenewington.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Knee,-Ankle-and-Feet-Pain?-Yoga-Has-The-Answer&id=6626731] Knee, Ankle and Feet Pain? Yoga Has The Answer

Sever’s disease is a disorder that commonly occurs in active children between the ages of nine and thirteen years of age. Even though it is misnamed as a disease, it is actually a self-limiting disorder that occurs around the growth plate in the back of the heel.

The Achilles tendon attaches to the upper portion of the heel growth plate. On the bottom of the growth plate is an attachment of a ligament known as the plantar fascia. With increased activity there is a pulling or tugging that occurs on this growth plate, and a portion of the growth plate is being pulled away from its attachment to the heel. X-rays are often taken to verify the position and the location of this growth plate.

In mild cases, elevating the heel through heel lifts in the shoes and decreasing activity level may be enough to control the pain. In more severe cases, orthotic therapy to help control the motion of the heel as well as icing, elevation, and aspirin therapy may be required to alleviate the symptoms. In those children who do not respond to either of the above-mentioned therapy, it is sometimes necessary to place the child in a below-knee cast for a period of four to six weeks. It is important for both the child and parents to understand that once the growth plate has fused to the primary bone in the heel, the pain and swelling associated with this disorder should resolve.

Please realize that the disorder may last from a couple of weeks to as long as one to two years. The treatment plan as prescribed by your doctor MUST be adhered to closely. The activity level of the child must be controlled during the early stages of treatment. All running and jumping sports such as basketball, trampoline, volleyball, tennis, soccer, etc. must be eliminated as part of the initial treatment. Once the child has improved and the pain has subsided, then a rigid stretching program must be implemented.

The purpose of the stretching program is to decrease the pull of the Achilles tendon on the growth plate. In the event that the stretching and the heel lift do not provide relief of the symptoms, the next course of therapy is to limit the amount of motion of the heel through an insert in the shoes, called orthotics. The orthotic accomplishes two basic functions: (1) To elevate the heel and decrease the pull of the Achilles tendon. (2) To prevent the rocking motion of the heel while the child is active. Typically, I have found that the majority of children will respond favorably to this type of conservative care and be able to actively return to their respective sport with very little compromise. In those cases that do not respond well to the above conservative therapy, it is sometimes necessary to take the child out of the sport that is aggravating the condition, until such time that the growth plate fuses to the main bone of the heel.

Typical Treatments

Mild Cases
1. Discontinue all running, jumping, etc. activities.
2. Application of ice to the affected heel, 10 min. on 20 min. off, for 2-3 hours.
3. Aspirin as directed.
4. Heel lift.

Moderate Cases
1. Discontinue all strenuous activity.
2. Ice and elevation to the affected heel.
3. Anti-inflammatories.
4. Temporary orthotics with heel lift to be worn in all shoes.

Severe Cases
1. No weight bearing to the affected foot, crutch walking only,
2. Below knee casting for a period of 4-6 weeks.
3. Anti-inflammatories.
4. Treatment to follow based on symptoms after removing cast, i.e., mild/moderate.

Timely presentation for an examination following the first symptoms of heel pain in children, usually allows for a quick resolution to this condition. Treatments are also tailored to help prevent recurrence of the condition, and to allow for the child to maintain an active lifestyle.

Robert D. Frankfather, DPM is a [http://www.afacc.net/]Nashville podiatrist with Advanced Foot and Ankle Care Centers in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a board certified foot surgeon, and also maintains offices in Smyrna, Tennessee and Spring Hill, Tennessee.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Severs-Disease-(Calcaneal-Apophysitis)---A-Misnamed-Disorder&id=6092007] Sever’s Disease (Calcaneal Apophysitis) – A Misnamed Disorder

Because we all know that having a flat foot surface is quite abnormal even though there are people who are like this, it is just safe to assume that these people experience different types of foot problems (toe nail fungus, athlete\’s foot, plantar warts, etc). This article will try to enumerate almost all of these problems that flat footed people usually experience; hopefully this will help you in solving them if ever you are a flat footed person yourself.

The first among the foot problems that these people experience is pain on the heels of your feet; this is actually considered as the most common condition that flat footed people experience. The reason for this is since the foot is flat, the bottom part of the heel known as plantar fascia is stretched out completely every time you take a single step. The bad thing about this problem as compared to all the other foot problems (toe nail fungus, athlete\’s foot, plantar warts, etc) is that since people experience this everyday, they get immune to the feeling that they do not realize that the pain is still there. As this pain extends for a longer period of time, you will realize that arch fatigue has also developed that will make it very difficult for you to stand for a very long period of time. One thing that you can do to be able to alleviate the pain that you are feeling while you are walking is to choose shoes that are really suitable for flat footed people.

The second on the list of foot problems (toe nail fungus, athlete\’s foot, plantar warts, etc) of flat footed people is called Bunions and it occurs when a deformity has developed in the joint of your big toe. Even though there are people who are born with Bunions, most people that develop this problem are those that are flat footed. These Bunions are really a hassle since people who have this tend to develop bumps on the side of the foot that often rubs against the shoes that they are wearing at the moment. In the long run, this bump can actually become inflamed that even though you wear a shoe size one or two sizes bigger than yours, it will still be irritated.

The last item on the list of the different foot problems (toe nail fungus, athlete\’s foot, plantar warts, etc) commonly experienced by flat footed people is actually having pains in their ankle. In the case of those people with flat feet, it becomes really painful when the outer side of one\’s foot becomes too close with the outer side of the ankle of the person. The hard thing about this problem is that the symptoms are too light that people will not even be able to identify that they are actually experiencing the symptoms already.

Knowing that these foot problems (toe nail fungus, athlete\’s foot, plantar warts, etc) commonly occur to people with flat feet, it will be helpful most especially if you are one of them for you to see podiatrists once you start feeling whatever kind of pain on your feet. Knowing what you should do about the pain will only be answered and cured by podiatrists since they can clearly understand what you are really experiencing.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/foot-problems-of-flat-footed-people-3195492.html

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