At the last Highland Games in Dunsmuir, I twisted my ankle pretty badly coming out of a throw. I remember doing it, but nothing felt wrong or out of place, it kind of just bounced right back, no swelling, nothing wrong.
Then, about a week ago, my left ankle started to hurt REALLY BADLY when I was practicing some Bagua at a local park. It was actually the pain of the joint being out of place. I could do ankle circles and get the bones to actually “thunk” back into proper alignment.
It’s been like that for about a week now, off and on. So yesterday, I decided to wear “real” shoes, to give myself some added stability, and help my ankle to heal. I’m wearing my old Adidas Samba Milleniums, that I haven’t worn in forever! Actually, I got them right before my FiveFingers, so they’re pretty much new!
The funny thing is, it works!
As soon as I put those shoes on yesterday morning, my ankle felt more stable, and relaxed a little bit. I went and led the play camp, with no ill effect. I was able to play tag with the group (though I was being very conscious of that ankle)!
This experience reminds me of homeopathic medicine – where you take a small amount of something that is “poisonous” or harmful to help your body fight that thing. Similar, too, to the idea behind vaccinations.
Sometimes, the poison is the cure.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a return to the use of “normal” shoes for good. I’m pretty sure it was the high-soled North Face All-Terrain Running Shoes that were the culprit for my sprain to begin with. Next ‘Games, I’m going to try out the Vivo’s!
It does point out the usefulness of shoes, though. Orthotics, similarly, are useful for people who have serious foot maladies – for a time! Any assistive devices are good for people who need them – as long as they’re only used while the person is working on fixing the underlying problem!
The problem with a lot of these corrective or assistive devices is that they become accepted as “normal” after a while. The person doesn’t work on correcting underlying issues causing the problem. Then, the device becomes a crutch. Progress, development and healing stop. Regression, devolution, and the continuing degradation into disease begins.
No, for me, this is a temporary fix, till my ankle heals up, and I can return to wearing things that let my feet live!
