News & Advice

Me and the Three Degrees

I’ve always been a runner.
I’ve run with horses and I’ve run with dogs. I’ve run up and down hills and in some serious “Muddy Runs”
Mostly though, I just run; and when I can’t run, I attend spinning classes.

It worked so well I “bought” a podiatrist with biomechanics expertise (spoken in the style of Victor Kiam!)
I used to get sore knees and feet from the exercise though; it wasn’t desperate, it was just niggles but I was concerned that I could be building up problems for the future – and as I work in healthcare, that would be daft! I decided to practice what I preach and had a biomechanical assessment, which discovered that I needed an adjustment of only three degrees – two on the left and one on the right.

This meant that the podiatrist took out the insoles of my new, and rather expensive, running shoes replacing them with off the shelf orthoses adjusted for my needs. She also taught me how to adjust my spin bike to make sure that my knees moved up and down in a perfectly straight line, not in the figure of eight I had been seeing. (I always try to get in front of a mirror so I can watch them).

The difference was instant – no more niggly knees; so with this in mind I went on the look out to enhance Physiofusion with a full time podiatrist with expertise in biomechanics – and she started in February.

From Science, the Art is Born
A podiatrist with experience and expertise to provide a great result in biomechanics, can also administer standard podiatry – addressing hard skin, nail care and ingrowing toenails – but not always the other way around.

The understanding required for biomechanics is developed over many years.
It is very subtle.
It an art developed from scientific clinical practice and deals in nuances as small as one or two degrees, as I have found out, allowing me to get out running in the hills again.

Sorrel Holland is Managing Director of Physiofusion.