COMMUNITY: Work on lower strength, flexibility

Editor's note; Cody Scharf is the owner of Thrive Spine and Sport, a chiropractic and soft tissue clinic focusing on sport and overuse injuries in Cedar Rapids. Scharf is a graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic and certified through Integrative Diagnosis for the diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue injuries.

By Cody Scharf, community contributor

Shockingly, 3.5 million people are treated each year for overuse injuries.

Sadly, this stat is only for children under the age of 14. There literally are millions more when you look at individuals between ages 18 and 55.

While most of the increases over the last decade in overuse and repetitive strain injuries are found in the upper extremities, it's the lower extremities (knee/ankle/foot) that often have the largest impact. Shin splints, runners/jumpers knee, planter's fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis, IT Band syndrome. The list goes on. Not only do these injuries reduce performance, but they can stop the individual from even participating.

Check any website and you will find most of these problems arise from increasing activity too fast, repetitive contact and limited flexibility. Nobody wants to limit their activity and you cannot avoid repetitive contact with the ground.

What I find is flexibility is the major issue when dealing with overuse injuries of the lower extremity. The primary movement I find restricted for lower extremity injuries is ankle dorsiflexion.

Test this motion by standing with one foot next to a wall (see photo). Place a ruler next to your foot. Drop your knee until it touches the wall. The heel should stay in full contact with the ground. Continue moving back until the knee can't touch the wall. You should be able to have five to six inches of mobility. Anything less, it is restricted and altering movement.

Limited ankle mobility affects the way you walk, run, jump, lunge and squat. If you do not have this motion, you have to compensate. When you compensate, other structures like the foot, calves, knee and hip are stressed and loaded more than they should leading to the problems listed above.

Stretching the posterior calf muscles, foam rolling and using a lacrosse ball on the ankle and foot can help. Proper warm-up before activity, like slow runs, also will benefit if someone has limited ankle motion.

Develop a plan of attack involving lower body stretches and mobility work. Try it for two weeks. If after two weeks, you find yourself still limited, treatment is the next step.

Problems in the ankle can affect much more than just the ankle. Foot pain, knee pain and even low back and hip pain can start from reduced ankle motion. Work to improve this motion today and you will find yourself pain free and moving better in your activity of choice and daily life.

l For more information, email Scharf at cody.scharf@gmail.com or visit www.thrivespineandsport.com