Foot Pain Solutions in Los Gatos, CA

Positive Motion Chiropractic provides expert chiropractic adjustments to treat foot pain in Los Gatos.

An active lifestyle requires feet that are strong and flexible and pain-free. If our feet are in pain it makes every step we take agony. Half marathon training, golfing and soccer – almost all sports depend on our feet feeling good. Our sports chiropractors have successfully treated thousands of patients with various types of foot pain. Some examples include:

• Plantar Fasciitis
• Morton’s Neuroma
• Big Toe Pain
• Metatarsalgia
• Heel Pain (Fat Pad Syndrome)
• Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome
• Heel Spurs

Chiropractic Adjustments For Feet?

The human foot is comprised of twenty-six bones and thirty-three joints. Most people don’t know that chiropractors can go on after four years of chiropractic college to specialize in a field like an MD becoming an orthopedist or pediatrician. Chiropractic does have specialization programs. One of those is advanced training as a sports chiropractor.

At Positive Motion Chiropractic our chiropractors have taken the training and passed the board exams to become certified chiropractic sports physicians (CCSP). Because of that they are experts in treating extremity issues, like foot pain. Indeed, about half the patients we see come in for non-spinal related pain.

With all the bones and joints in the foot it is vital that those joints are moving properly. From trauma, improper footwear, and postural stresses the joints of the feet can become imbalanced, locked up, and painful. Many times if someone has never had a chiropractic adjustment at their feet they are amazed at how good their feet feel afterwards. It is not uncommon to hear “it feels like I have new feet!”

Many Causes of Plantar Fasciitis Pain

If you are suffering with unrelenting plantar fasciitis pain you need to watch this video. It is Dr. Brant Pedersen talking through all the elements that need to be assessed when trying to find lasting relief from foot pain. If you have seen an MD, podiatrist, physical therapist, or chiropractor they should be looking for these causes of plantar fascial pain.

If you have Morton’s neuroma, big toe pain, metatarsalgia, or heel pain it is equally important to do a thorough workup of the foot, shoes, ankle and calf function. Our expert sports chiropractors perform these detailed assessments for foot pain on patients every week at our Los Gatos clinic.

Treatment Options for Foot Pain

There are many methods for treating foot pain. At Positive Motion Chiropractic we believe that the most elegant solution is always the one that is simple, addresses the root cause, and is the least invasive.

Many people take drugs, get injections, and have surgery to deal with foot pain. These options come with great costs and risks. However, in some cases medications (ex: anti-inflammatories, pain medications), cortisone injections, and foot surgeries (ex: bunion foot surgery, hammer toe surgery, plantar fasciitis surgery, metatarsal foot surgery, etc) are the most appropriate treatment. At Positive Motion Chiropractic we believe in utilizing these options only in emergencies or after trying more conservative alternatives that have failed to produce results.

At Positive Motion Chiropractic our treatment approach is simple and effective:

1. Correct the underlying joint and/or muscle imbalances.
2. Speed up tissue healing and reduce inflammation to give accelerated pain relief.
3. Teach the patient how to reduce the chance of recurrence.

Utilizing this framework we provide rapid pain relief, fundamental joint and muscle changes to correct the root cause, and also help the patient avoid having to keep returning for care.

Here are some of the techniques and tools we use when we treat our professional and Olympic athlete patients. Guess what? They are the same techniques and tools we use with every one of our patients. (follow the links below to learn more about each type of treatment)

Chiropractic Adjustments

There are 210 bones in the human body and in-between them are joints. Just like the hinges on a door can get rusty and stuck, the same thing can happen with your joints (no, they don’t rust). When your joints become fixated and lose proper motion they become stiff, inflamed, and painful.

A chiropractic adjustment helps to restore normal motion back to your joints. There are many different ways to perform a chiropractic adjustment, including by hand and using an instrument called an Activator. Chiropractic adjustments utilizing an instrument don’t involve “cracking sounds” or twisting of the body.

Myofascial Therapy, Graston, Fascial Distortion Model (FDM)

Muscle stabilize and move the bones of your body. Fascia, or myofascia, encases your muscles in a thin, yet tough covering. This slippery covering allows muscles, tendons, nerves, and other structures in your body to effortlessly glide over and past each other. But through trauma, repetitive motion injuries, and postural stresses, these fascial layers can become stuck to each other through adhesions (think microscopic scar tissue).

Without addressing these myofascial adhesions the movement restrictions and pain come back shortly after getting a chiropractic adjustment or massage. But by working on and getting rid of these myofascial adhesions we are able to restore normal motion and help create lasting improvement in a patient’s function.

We utilize various myofascial techniques, including Graston technique (an form of instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization or IASTM), FDM (Fascial Distortion Model) and cupping (static or with motion). These soft tissue therapies when directed at the right body tissues combined with specific chiropractic adjustments are core to the results we consistently see at Positive Motion Chiropractic.

Cold Laser Therapy

“I really want to be able to play tennis with my friends but I can’t find a solution to my plantar facsiitis pain!”

When patients need every chance to get back to 100% ASAP we have another tool at our disposal. We utilizes cold laser to help speed up metabolic rate, decrease inflammation, and help control pain levels. Athletes who don’t have any time to waste in getting back to 100% frequently use cold laser therapy in their treatment protocols.

Cold laser treatment is painless, takes around fifteen minutes per session, and is a great adjunct to chiropractic adjustments and soft tissue therapies like Graston.

Functional Orthotics

The feet are the foundation of the body. Sometimes people have imbalances at their feet and arches that can lead to issues higher up in the body. Correcting dropped arches in the feet or asymmetries can have profound impacts on pain in other areas of the body.

Utilizing advanced laser technology we look closely at the feet and arches in all patient cases to determine if they could be contributing to pain and limitations. The scan highlights dropped arches but also differences in arch height from foot to foot, which can have profound impacts on foot and knee health.

Imbalances at the feet lead to pain in the feet. That pain could be diagnosed as plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia, fat pad syndrome, tarsal tunnel syndrome… Orthotics can be simple and effective solution, but many times they are expensive and uncomfortable. The good news is our orthotics manufacturer has a 100% money-back guarantee: They will make you custom orthotics and if you don’t absolutely love them after breaking them in you can return them to us for a full refund. You have nothing to lose except your foot pain!

Targeted Rehab Exercises

A specific single muscle can be weak leading to imbalance and pain. It is rarely a large muscle group that we would think of working out at the gym (ex: quadriceps or biceps). Rather it is usually a stabilizing or balance muscle which is often overlooked. But weakness in a vital muscle can have devastating effects on posture, joint function, and balance.

At Positive Motion Chiropractic we don’t give our patients a page of generalized foot exercises. Who has the time for 30-60 minutes of home exercises per day? Instead, through our detailed and personalized assessment we determine if the patient has a specific muscle weakness and design a customized, targeted rehabilitation program for those individual weaknesses. Translation: tangible decrease in pain and physical limitations with minimal investment of time and effort.

Kinesiology Tape

Most people have seen a professional athlete sporting some colorful tape over a body part. Professional and Olympic athletes have been using Kinesio Tape or Rock Tape for years. In the last few years we have seen more recreational and non-athletes using Kinesio Tape.

Kinesio Tape has three main functions:

1. Decreases localized inflammation
2. Helps reduce pain
3. Aids in the correction of motion patterns

If you got this far reading about causes and treatment options for foot pain you deserve to take the next step and get a world-class evaluation by an expert sports chiropractor. Schedule your appointment now using our real-time online schedule.