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| A participant of my class has asked me about heel injury. He once could get his heels quite close to the floor in Downward Dog, but he explained as he was walking one day, out of the blue something felt like it 'went' in his heel. He feels the strain in his ankle area, right across his heel. He can't encourage his stretch in DDog anymore.
What bothers me, is that poeple in general seem to think that getting their heels to the floor in DDog, is of upmost importance; no matter how many times I tell them to concentrate on the spine, keeping knees slightly bent if necessary to really stretch it out. Or even when we have covered why some people will never get their heels down due to bone structure. It's not that important, but people push push push! I do not have any experience in heel injury as of yet, but I do know there can be many different causes.
Do you think it is possible to cause this type of damage in an over enthusiastic Downward Dog? Any experience in heel injury? |
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| It sounds a bit like what happens when my plantar fascitis (sp?) starts playing me up. This hasn't happened for a while (touch wood!) and I suspect switching to Iyengar and gradually lengthening out my calf muscles via correct alignment is the cause of this improvement. Anyway, getting back to the question in hand, whenever this condition 'went' on me, I'd experience a sensation like a blister popping followed by a burning sensation. For some time afterward, I'd feel like I was walking flat footed and this could go on for weeks.
I guess over-doing any exercise could cause this but medical statistics show that if it it plantar f. then the most likely cause is being overweight as this over stretches the supporting connective tissues underneath the foot which, in turn, strains the achilles tendon.
Hopefully Nick will see your post as he's very knowledgeable about anatomy and should be able to give some good advice. In the mean time, I hope your student has good themselves checked out with the Doctor?
...ooOoo...
What sort of yoga do you teach? In Iyengar, we're sometimes asked to practise D-F dog (and other standing forward bends) with our heels just on the leading edge of a block. This helps ensure we stretch into the pose properly before trying to ground the heels. This may help newbies to understand the dynamics better?
Fee
Edited by Orbilia 2006-09-22 5:14 AM
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Hi veg - I think this person needs to go to a doctor and get it checked out. |
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| Of course injury is possible from forcing the heels down.
It's possible to strain the tendon behind and above the heel.
It should be examined as Tourist outlines though I've had a similar thing and simply worked through it (in a varieties of ways including asana, diet, and meditation techniques).
The student can do the pose with the heels up the wall. This way there is little or no energetic loss (the heels still press and make contact, but the student has a range of motion limit built in.
Some students have to get injured to back off and learn their proper address to the practice. |
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| Hello everyone - many thanks for your repies. It is fantastic to find a yoga forum that is used regularly.
Anser to Orbilia - I teach a Hatha Yoga class, andI do use blocks to help with many postures, but not all the time for DDog.
Bye for now
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| One other thought. Change the teaching cues.
Instead of telling them it's not important to get the heels to the floor, use command language (not the kind in the millitary but the kinda in yoga instruction, except for California apparently.
Bend the knees.
Tip the pelvis forward moving the lower belly toward the top of the thighs.
Find neutral curve in the lumbar spine.
Now begin to move the heels to the floor (straightening the legs) WITHOUT losing the curve in the lumbar spine.
Once the curve goes, you've gone too far.
Do not move on until the class does as you instruct. As my teacher tells me, look and make sure students are doing THAT instruction before giving others. I have to really focus on that. It's not "easy" for me. Some samskara from earlier teaching days.
vegplot - 2006-09-21 1:37 AM
... people in general seem to think that getting their heels to the floor in , is of utmost importance; no matter how many times I tell them to concentrate on the spine, keeping knees slightly bent if necessary to really stretch it out...
Edited by purnayoga 2006-09-28 2:37 AM
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Location: London, England | Hey all,
Purna gives excellent advice-people always shove their heels down, over-stretching the hamstrings, calves, hyper-extending the knees, losing neutral spine (which is absolutely a no-no).
Try doing some research on the Feldenkrais method, because those guys really love the foot-they have taken it to an almost reverential status 
I think part of the problem is that because the foot is designed to be able to adapt to a changing terrain, we use it's flexibility to make up for lack of awareness or flexibility in other body parts, including those that Gordon mentioned. We would perhaps be better off if we learnt to protect the architecture of the foot.
It is quite common, for instance to spot a student with the medial malleolus (bony lump on the medial ankle) pushing down to the floor-the foot is everted, relatively abducted, and the posture demands ankle dorsiflexion-these are the three components of what is called pronation-over-pronation is probably one of the biggest causes of back injury in the world-it alters spine position. When the foot is on the ground, such as in downward dog, pronation casues internal rotation of the tibia, knee, and hip, encouraging loss of the neutral spine.
When students do this, you will also often spot the feet being a little too far apart-often the problem disappears if you halve the distance between the feet-and dont let them turn their feet out (the 'too many toes' sign). When you stand behind them, you should only be able to see the little toe.
Take care
Nick |
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Heel injury
