This is not really a “foot health” topic but the book is of interest to those in the foot health industry. Dr Seuss wrote a range of very popular kids books to help them learn. The Foot Book used a whole lot of different foot imagery’s to teach children about opposites: Big foot, little foot; left foot, right foot. Almost reviews of the book have been positive and the book is seen as helpful by parents and as fun by the kids and as a novelty by those in the foot health industry.
Fibromyalgia is a very common problem that does affect at least a few percent of the population. It is probably due to some central processing problem of pain signals which make them much more severe than what they are, leading to a chronic pain problem in those with fibromyalgia. A number of conditions are associated with Fibromyalgia such as a number of arthritis related conditions, but most cases are just the Fibromyalgia on it own. Fatigue and sleep disorders are commonly associated with it. There is also frequently pain in a number of specific trigger points in the body and the presence of these is part of the process of making the diagnosis. This is a miserable condition and people with it are always looking for the miracle cure.
Fibromyalgia does not directly affect the foot, except for the trigger points, but those with it will experience significantly more pain from a foot problem if the have one. this is a particularly the case for conditions like plantar heel pain and plantar fasciitis.
Some people love them; some people hate them! FitFlops are a slip on sandal that come in the toning shoes category in that they are supposed to make you work harder when you are wearing them, so give you a tone up. There are plenty of people making claims for the health benefits of FitFLops. There is no evidence that they do and other toning shoes companies have found themselves in legal trouble for making these claims. The use and benefits gained from these shoes seems to be pretty much down to the individual rather than a generic benefit for everyone.
A foot drop occurs when the muscles on the front of the leg are paralyzed or extremely weak. This means that they can not lift up (or dorsiflex) the foot and it wants to drag on the ground. The most common cause of this condition is a neurological problem in which the nerve supply to the muscle is damaged. To walk, those with this condition need what is called a steppage gait with a very high knee lift. There is no cure for this, but advances in nerve surgery and stem cell therapy is promising for the future. Almost all those with this a drop foot, need some sort of orthotic support to prevent the foot from plantarflexing.
