Positive Health Online

“Eventually medicine and humanity must come to terms with the fact that healing comes from within, and the true role of a practitioner is to facilitate that healing within.”

Dr. Gaston Cornu-Labat MD

Countless times, the human body has shown me that healing indeed does come from within. And, that true healthcare is simply a means of helping the body to heal itself when the need arises. Sometimes the body already has everything that it needs in order to correct a specific problem.  For example, if one cuts their finger, the body goes through a complex process of cellular events  (hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation and maturation) that restores the tensile strength of the injured skin) to plug up the hole.

But sometimes, for specific reasons, the body does not have what it needs and so can not repair itself. It is at these times, that something must be done to help the body along.

Let’s look at how this applies in the area of chronic musculoskeletal pain:

Millions of people worldwide are spending billions of dollars trying to find out why they have chronic knee, hip, back and neck pain; and why - no matter what therapy they try - nothing permanently cures their problem. This is a timely example of a health problem in which the body doesn’t have the means to repair itself on its’ own. Yet, I have seen time and time again - without exception - that when a chronic pain patient is given the right tools, their body heals itself.

Reproduced from Twisting Foot and Musculoskeletal Pain: Root's Biomechanical Model vs Rothbart's Neurophysiological Model Issue 186 Sept 2011 

Knowing The Cause Leads To The Solution

You must first identify the true cause. Only then can you give the body what it needs to restore itself to wellness. The key is to do as little as possible (only what’s necessary) because when given what it needs, the body does a very good job of fixing itself. 

For many people suffering with chronic muscle and joint pain, the source of their problem is a Mendelian dominant deformity that occurs in the foot’s skeletal framework.

Specifically, the talar and calcaneus do not complete their ontogenetic (in the womb) torsional development. This results in an inverted structural twist (supinatus) observed when the foot is placed in its’ anatomical neutral position. * Anatomic neutral position is when the articular margins of the subtalar joint are congruous.

It is this inverted structural twist that forces the foot to abnormally pronate (the inner arch of the foot drops) while standing or walking. And it is this abnormal pronation that creates havoc in the entire body. 

Looking closer:

All feet have mechanical (Pacininan, Ruffini and Merkel) receptors on their plantar surfaces. These mechanical receptors send proprioceptive information to the brain (cerebellum). The cerebellum responds to this information by immediately adjusting the alignment of the musculoskeletal framework (the posture).

If a person has ‘normal’ feet (feet that have completed their ontogenetic torsional development) correct (non-distorted) signals are sent to their cerebellum and the brain responds by creating a non-distorted, upright posture.

But if one has a foot that has not completed its’ normal ontogenetic development - such as a Rothbarts Foot or PreClinical Clubfoot Deformity - distorted information will be sent from their feet to their cerebellum. The brain responds by automatically adjusting the posture into a distorted position.

In this distorted position, asymmetrical compressive forces are generated through the weight bearing joints. The postural muscles are abnormally stretched or contracted.  Over time, chronic musculoskeletal pain develops.

So what we have here is the body’s homeostasis that’s out of sync and can not fix itself.  The source of this problem is a genetic foot abnormality, which results in an unhealthy and pain wracked body.  

Because the body is so intelligent and automatically fixes things that are out of sync, why can’t it fix its own feet?   Here’s the answer:

We are talking about a genetic bone malformation.  When the structure of the foot first starts developing in the womb, it’s a malleable cartilaginous tissue, but gradually this flexible cartilage becomes bone. And at that point it’s unchangeable - like soft, malleable clay that eventually dries and becomes hard as rock.

Due to the way ones’ foot was formed (malformed) in the womb; when they stand or walk, their feet will abnormally pronate.  And there’s nothing that their body or mind can do to stop this from happening. The human body simply can not untwist, or reshape, its’ bones. 

In other words - They form the way they form, and you’re stuck with the results when yours don’t form correctly!

Reproduced from Twisting Foot and Musculoskeletal Pain: Root's Biomechanical Model vs Rothbart's Neurophysiological Model Issue 186 Sept 2011

Applying The Body’s Wisdom To Restore Itself To Health

So how do we correct this genetically malformed foot structure that’s keeping the body out of sync and in chronic pain?

It can’t be done through PT, chiropractic or orthopedics.  Though these therapies can adjust joints and muscles, they can’t correct the genetic malformation in the feet. So because this foot structure is still present, within a short time, the joints and muscles return to their previous (misaligned) positions.

It can’t be done through drugs, as drugs can’t correct this genetic malformation of the foot. It can’t be done through surgery, as surgery (to this date) also can not correct this genetic malformation of the foot.

Rothbart Proprioceptive Insole

So what does the body need in order to correct this situation and restore itself to health?

The answer is that the cerebellum needs to receive correct signals from the feet, so that it can automatically adjust the posture into its’ optimal position. Since ‘abnormal’ (pronating) feet can not send correct signals, we need to help them along. This is where Rothbart Proprioceptive Therapy comes in.

Rothbart Proprioceptive Therapy does not correct or reform the genetically malformed foot structure (as this is not yet possible). But it does the next best thing - it attenuates the distorted signals coming from the feet, so that when the cerebellum receives these corrected signals, it automatically and instantly adjusts the posture into a more upright position.

When this occurs, the joints are now properly aligned and the muscles are now in their most optimal position - a position that does not need adjustments, continual management or anything else. It is in this position that the body can finally heal itself.

Available from Amazon  and Dr Rothbart’s site

And that, my friends, is true healthcare.