Cold Feet, By Adam Janke

Take care of your feet in the winter too! By Adam Janke
Most of us have learned to look after our feet during the running season. We go to the local running store and get the best shoes we can. We make sure to replace our shoes every six to twelve months. We use off-the-shelf (OTS) insoles or even custom orthotics if poor biomechanics warrant. But when winter comes around we forget all about it. Why?
Well, it’s not that easy finding the right biomechanical tools for the job when it comes to winter footwear and equipment. This tends to wreck our enjoyment and performance in winter sport. Winter activities that involve weight-bearing and movement similar to running, walking, or hiking such as snowshoeing, snowshoe running, alpine touring, and classic styled cross-country skiing require the same attention to biomechanics. Lesser weight-bearing activities such as hockey, skating, downhill skiing, skate skiing, snowboarding, or anything that involves gliding or downhill gravitational inertia creates different biomechanics but can still offer major discomfort and poor performance if foot biomechanics are ignored.

So what exactly is biomechanics and how does it apply to you? The term is thrown around regularly and loosely in the professional and recreational sporting world and depending on whom you’re dealing with it can mean a wide variety of things. Biomechanics as defined by Webster’s Dictionary is “the mechanics of biological and especially muscular activity (as in locomotion and exercise) . . ..” At the most basic level biomechanics can be defined as the evaluation of sporting technique (e.g., running biomechanics, swim stroke technique, etc.). For the purposes of this article, biomechanics will refer to your skeletal, ligamentous, musculotendinous, and myofascial anatomy and movement tendencies due to this anatomy from a lower limb weight-bearing perspective. Put simply, what happens to the joint and soft-tissue structures in and around your feet, ankles, lower legs, knees, upper legs, and hips when you stand or move?

Why does it matter? Numerous overuse injuries of the lower limbs have been connected to a biomechanical tendency present in a large portion of the population, excessive pronation of the foot, Plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia, shin pain, patellofemoral pain, iliotibial band syndrome, and other overuse injuries can all be linked to abnormal foot and lower limb biomechanics, depending on the individual. Three effective methods of treating and correcting lower limb biomechanics are choosing proper footwear for your given foot type, using off-the-shelf (OTS) insoles, and, at the most specific level, using custom foot orthotics. These methods are all designed to control excessive foot pronation, commonly referred to as “collapsing arches,” “falling arches,” or, more appropriately, overpronation. It is important to understand that simply correcting the position of the feet and lower limbs is seldom the only solution to addressing a person’s biomechanical needs. There are numerous other variables that must be addressed through the treatment methods of chiropractors, physiotherapists, and registered massage therapists, depending on the individual.

If during the warmer months you require a specific shoe or shoe type that helps stabilize or control your foot, or you use some form of OTS insole in your shoes, or you wear custom foot orthotics for your day-to-day life and activities, then chances are you need similar support or control for your winter sports and activities as well. Not everyone needs some form of insole or orthotic for winter activities, but if you generally need some biomechanical help in the summer, you probably need it in the winter.

Assess the basic structural characteristics of winter sports footwear:
Q: Does the winter shoe or boot possess a strong heel cup or heel counter?
A: Knock on the back of the heel. If it makes a knocking sound, it passes.
Q: Does the winter shoe or boot have a straight last?
A: Look down the length of the shoe for a straight heel to toe alignment.
Q: Is the winter shoe or boot torsionally strong in the mid-foot?
A: If the shoe or boot does not bend, flex, or twist easily at the point immediately under the arch, it passes.
Q: Does this apply to all winter footwear?
A: No. It doesn’t apply to skates, cross-country ski boots, DH/AT/telemark ski boots, or snowboarding boots. For these, pay close attention to fit, lower-limb symptoms of biomechanical deficiency, and address with OTS insoles or see a specialist such as a certified pedorthist.

Adam Janke is a certified pedorthist and owner of Active Orthopaedic. He can be reached at adam@activeorthopaedic.com.