Do you have calluses on the soles of your feet? I have often seen the elders at home like to take out small scissors to cut the cocoon on the sole. But in fact, the calluses on the soles of the feet are related to poor posture. Chiropractic Doctor Huang Ruyu once shared on Facebook: “If your feet walk under normal conditions, you won’t have calluses.” Many times, they have problems with their walking posture. It may develop into plantar fasciitis, lower back pain, knee arthritis and so on.

“Smoke-out gait” may cause fasciitis, lower back pain, and knee arthritis

The cocoon seems to be the skin to protect the feet, but it also reveals that the soles of the feet may be excessively rubbed. The therapist Xiao Weixuan, the physical therapist, pointed out: “The big finger is prone to cocoons on the side, and it may also be caused by the “Smoke-out gait”.”

Xiao Weixuan further explained: “This gait is a relatively inefficient way of walking. Over time, it is likely to make muscles do more work, or increase the burden on muscles that do not need to be exerted, which may cause injuries, such as the soles of the feet. Fasciitis, lower back pain, knee arthritis, etc.”

The position of the thumb is the key! Poor posture

How to judge whether you have a “Smoke-out gait” problem can be seen from the position of the cocoon, because the walking posture causes excessive friction between the thumb side and the ground, resulting in broken skin or keratinous hyperplasia. The position of the cocoon on the sole is indeed similar to the position of the picture below. It is very likely that your walking method is the “smoke-out gait.”

Judging whether there is a problem with the walking posture from the position of the cocoon

After walking for more than ten years, it may be the first time to find that there is a problem with walking. You can first understand the gait cycle of the human body, which is divided into a stance phase and a swing phase. “According to the exploded view, the red feet are in the stance phase. During the stance phase, the heel touches the soles of the feet → mid-stance → heels off the ground → toes propulsion → toes off the ground and a series of processes.” explains.

The gait cycle is divided into a standing period and a swinging period / Image source: Mengfeixiang Physiotherapy

But the problem is that when the heel is off the ground in the middle of standing when the heel leaves the ground, the foot suddenly twists (twist), the action is like the action of the foot when you want to step on the cigarette butt, so it is called extinguishing style. The gait will cause broken skin or keratinous hyperplasia under the thumb for a long time.

Two key factors cause the “smoke out gait”
Just why the “smoke-out gait” is produced, the therapist further analyzed that there are actually two key reasons:

1. Excessive pronation of the foot (Pronation):
When walking, during the period from mid-stance to late-stage gait, the pelvis, tibia, and femur will make an outward rotation. Normally, the ankle should also be moved from the midline position to the supination (Supination). If the foot is still maintained in the pronation position, the foot cannot move synchronously with the tibia. When the maximum static friction between the sole or the sole of the shoe and the floor is less than the outward twisting force, sudden twisting of the ankle will occur.

2. Insufficient Dorsiflexion:
Generally, an ankle dorsiflexion angle of at least 5 degrees is required when walking. When a person walks less than this angle, a smoke-extinguishing gait may occur.

It is necessary to turn the feet outwards to avoid the support period that requires the maximum dorsal angle. There are many reasons for this. The more common ones are the forward movement of the talus, or the tightness of the posterior calf muscles, etc. It may even be caused by poor walking posture.

It’s just that a lot of physical pain may be caused by one’s own habitual movements, and the calluses on the feet may be the best sign. The physical therapist reminded: “When you find this kind of problem, you can ask the therapist to evaluate which part of you. There are problems, sometimes there are many reasons for more than one, and it takes one by one to break the problem to improve the gait.”