Background: I like to wear sandals/thongs/flip-flops but for some reason my right foot does not “know” how to properly elevate the heel of the sandal to prevent it from dragging across the ground, no matter how hard I try. My left foot does perfectly fine. It seems like the mechanics of my right foot is not conducive for whatever reason – is there a physiological reason for this or is it purely psychological and my right foot just didn’t learn to walk correctly?
In: 3
You have to activate the intrinsic muscles of your feet to “grip” with your toes. In order for the sandal/flip flop to stay on, you must be constantly gripping with your toes. When you are using your intrinsic foot muscles, it is harder to activate the muscles that raise the foot (dorsiflexion). Try it yourself… get barefoot, curl your toes and then try to lift your foot up at the ankle joint. Then do it again with your toes relaxed. You’ll find it much easier to do it when you are not engaging your toes. This concept is called active insufficiency – when certain muscles are activated, some muscles in the same region “shut down”.
When you walk, you must be able to lift your foot while striding, or else it gets caught on the ground mid-stride. Your right foot, for whatever reason, is experiencing more active insufficiency than your left. It could be due to the intrinsic muscles of that foot, it could be due to an issue w/ the muscles that move the ankle joint, or it could be a case where your nervous system isn’t firing correctly. I have no clue. Your guess is as good as mine.
Does that make sense?
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