There are many tiny muscles within the bottom part of the feet and possibly because of their small size they haven't yet received much significance. This has begun to change recently as studies have begun to indicate just how essential those muscles will be to normal functionality and biomechanics of the feet. They seem to perform a key roll in the way we balance and disorders of these little muscles is more than likely an issue in most of the digital deformities. This theme was answered at a recent show of the podiatry live show which is broadcast live on Facebook called PodChatLive. In that episode the hosts talked with Luke Kelly who has written widely in the area of plantar intrinsic foot muscle functionality and exactly how essential they are. Luke outlined the spring-like purpose of the human foot whenever walking and running and the function of these muscles in that. Luke also outlined exactly why it is fake to believe a flat foot might be a “weaker” foot. Luke also discusses exactly why he's personally NOT a fan of the ‘short foot exercise’ and just why conditioning the intrinsic musculature would not result in the medial longitudinal arch ‘higher’ that is certainly a commonly believed myth.
Dr Luke Kelly PhD has over 15 years of clinical knowledge helping people with pain because of musculoskeletal injuries along with chronic medical ailments. Luke has carried out a Doctor of Philosophy in biomechanics and is actively interested in research which tries to improve the comprehending and therapy for frequent foot disorders, for example plantar fasciitis, foot tendon problems, arthritis in the feet as well as children’s sporting disorders. He is right now a Senior Research Fellow within the Centre for Sensorimotor Performance in the School of Human Movement & Nutrition Sciences at the University of Queensland in Australia. His present research is analyzing how the mind and spine includes sensory responses to change the mechanical function of the foot during ambulating.