As an osteopath, I always maintain an open perspective toward the patient. It is precisely because of this that unexpected insights and connections sometimes arise. This was also the case for the patient described below.
On August 7, I first saw a patient with complaints in her right foot. The symptoms had developed during a walking pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. A previous visit to a podiatrist had already indicated that her right foot was being loaded differently while walking.
During my examination, I did not only look at the foot itself, but at the functioning of the body as a whole. It was noted that there was tension in the connective tissue at the level of the 11th thoracic vertebra, an area that can influence the control of the foot muscles via the nervous system (specifically the spinal cord).
During the consultation with the patient, it emerged that she grew up on a farm and had fallen from a haystack at the age of seven. It is possible that her body adapted to this trauma at the time. Intensive hiking with a heavy backpack may have re-triggered this old tension, precisely at the spot where the backpack exerted prolonged pressure.
Within the treatment, I focus on reducing the tension in this area and restoring the body’s balance as effectively as possible, so that the foot can function better during walking.
