Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/70551
MYOFASCIAL TECHNIQUES knee and hip dynamics, impairing balance, increasing leg rotation and head-bob, shortening the stride, etc. CAN JOINTS CHANGE? The curl of hammertoes can be more or less mobile, ranging from fairly flexible and springy, to quite fixed and rigid. Although hammertoes usually start as soft-tissue contractures, over time the stress of the bent position, lack of movement, and pressure from shoe contact can degrade the articular surfaces of the toe joints, causing articular rigidity and additional pain. The more rigid the toe joints are, the more likely it is that there are boney or articular changes. This isn't reason to give up on working with them. In the previous article, I mentioned working with my granddad. By his 90s, when I started working with his hammertoes, his elderly joints were quite rigid and probably had a high degree of joint degeneration, but our work yielded very worthwhile results nonetheless. Bones and joints can change for the better; when normal tissue tone and movement is restored, joints can and do heal. Because hammertoes are sometimes the result of disease, neuropathology, and/or other issues, we obviously won't be able to reverse every case of hammertoes; and there are clearly times when surgical interventions are probably the best remedy. But even in these cases, your skillful and thorough soft-tissue work will relieve pain, and help prevent further loss of movement and the resulting degeneration. Whatever the cause, if there are articular rigidities, it simply means you and your client need to be more modest in your expectations for a quick fix. Be patient and persistent, use your client's active movements, and be sure to notice the small, incremental improvements as they occur. Note 1. Robert Schleip, "Fascial Plasticity—A New Neurobiological Explanation, Part I," Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies 7, no. 1 (2003): 14. Til Luchau is a member of the Advanced-Trainings.com faculty, which offers distance learning and in-person seminars throughout the United States and abroad. He is also a Certified Advanced Rolfer and has taught for the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration for 22 years. Contact him via info@advanced-trainings. com and Advanced-Trainings.com's Facebook page. Hammertoes or bunions often accompany other conditions involving connective tissue contracture, such as talipes (also known as pes cavus or clubfoot), pictured here. Image courtesy Primal Pictures. Used by permission. 11 10 Hallux valgus (i.e., a bunion) can accompany hammertoes. Ease bunion rigidity by working the flexor and extensor hallucis, both longus and brevis, in ways similar to those described for the toe flexors and extensors. Image courtesy Michael Nebel. Used under CC BY-SA license. Watch Til Luchau's technique videos and read his past Myofascial Techniques articles in Massage & Bodywork's digital edition. The link is available at Massageandbodywork.com, at ABMP. com, and on Advanced-Trainings.com's Facebook page. ABMPtv.com "Extensor and Flexor Digitorum Longus Technique" Celebrate ABMP's 25th anniversary and you may win a refund on your membership. ABMP.com. 117