Why People Walked Differently in Medieval Times | Mental Floss

By Stilfehler (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Why People Walked Differently in Medieval Times | Mental Floss

We are heel walkers. In fact we are very hard on our heels. According to this article our ancestors were more toe walkers.

Barefoot runners are very different than shod runners in the area of the foot that receives the initial impact. The stride impact is directly on the toes with a barefoot runner. YouTube has a video which shows this dramatic shift.

As we age we tend to lose the fatty pad and the heel gets harder and harder. Also the heel is prone to spurs, jagged calcified outcropping from the bone.

In recent years I have focus more and more on the heel. I think the heel as much more sophisticated than I once thought. Because of the heel's role in locomotion I now think of it as a multitude of sensors whose job is to feedback information about the terrain under foot.

It is hard work and can be hard on your thumbs but by working the heel more I find it helps loosen the whole foot. Breaking down the deposits in the heel helps me to reset the this stress level not only in the foot but the rest of the body as well.

Kevin Kunz

A Tactic to Cut I.C.U. Trauma - Get Patients Up - NYTimes.com

© starfotograf. Image from BigStockPhoto.com

Thought this article from the  NY Times was interesting. It is on the effects of being in ICU. 

"So now some I.C.U.’s are trying what seems like a radical solution: reducing sedation levels and getting patients up and walking even though they are gravely ill, complete with feeding tubes, intravenous lines and tethers to ventilators."

"Even a few days in an I.C.U. can be physically devastating immediately afterward, said Dr. Naeem Ali of Ohio State University. In a recent study, he and colleagues at three other universities reported that 25 percent of patients who had spent at least five days on ventilators could not use their arms to raise themselves to sitting positions. Many could not push back against a researcher’s hand."

A Tactic to Cut I.C.U. Trauma - Get Patients Up - NYTimes.com

One of their complaints about getting the patients up and walking is the amount of staff involved. Why not start with simple pressure to the bottom of the feet?

I remember reading years and ago that the Scottish had a pre-walking program for patients. They would apply pressure to the bottom of the feet of their patients prior to get them up and going. This is what the doctors are missing. It is pressure to the bottom of the feet that is important for helping to keep the body organized and on the road to recovery.

The services of a reflexologist would be beneficial on a number of different levels. I been in ICU a lot with very good results. People were out of ICU quicker than projected.

Also why not a mechanical contraption that would simply put alternating pressure to the bottom of the feet? They have devices for shifting the pitch of the bed to prevent bedsores. Why not something to apply pressure to the bottom of the feet? Simple.

The Russian years ago did a study where they kept people in bed for a year. Horrible things happened to the subjects. Teeth fell out. Bone density was lost. Widespread depression was rampant. Digestion went to hell and so forth.

We need some stress from weight-bearing to stay well. Pressure to the bottom of the feet could help do keep us well. In fact, why just use it just in ICU. All patients face a decline from being confined to a bed even if it is less than ICU patients. Then there are those confined to a wheelchair.

What other uses can you find for such a contraption? Would you have reflexologist come to see you if you were in ICU?

Kevin Kunz

http://www.reflexology-research.com
http://www.dk.com/reflexology