Is the short foot exercise useful for foot problems?

There are many exercises which might be used to help in the recovery of painful foot disorders. The objective of these exercises are generally to strengthen and stretch muscles as well as mobilize the joints. These are one of several tools which foot specialists can use to manage a wide range of foot disorders. One exercise which has been receiving a lot of recent interest is one known as the short foot exercise. This exercise is carried out standing up with weight on the foot and the muscles in the arch of the foot are consciously contracted for you to shorten the foot by raising the arch of the foot, shortening the foot. This is believed to strengthen the arch of the foot. If you look at some of the over stated claims on the internet about this exercise, it might fix just about everything which can go wrong with the foot, which is clearly not the case. There is no way that any one particular treatment can fix all foot problems, which all have different causes.

The major problem with this exercise is the fanaticism and firm belief that so many believe that it can fix so many of the conditions that will go wrong with the foot, when there is actually virtually no research data that it’s useful for any foot problems. Simply stating that something is effective and hoping that is it does not ensure it is so. That is the logical fallacy of wishful thinking. For the short foot exercise to be effective it will take time to improve the strength. Lots of conditions get better with time, so there is no way of knowing if people improved purely because of this natural history or because the short foot exercise did in fact help. That doesn’t indicate that there is anything wrong with the exercise and that it shouldn’t be used. It could be that the exercise is a very effective and a good exercise. It simply means that the research studies have not been carried out and excessive trust shouldn’t be put in any treatment which is lacking in scientific research to support its use. Of course continue to use the short foot exercise, however apply it in the context of these problems which are widely known about it.