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Writer's pictureCat Proudfoot

Hypermobility - feet

Updated: Feb 3, 2021


If you know me you'll know I like to geek out on any information about the body, but hypermobility is a subject that blows my mind every time I read about it. I experience issues with hypermobility in my own body, and the only things that have ever helped prevent this is Pilates and osteopathy.


Here are some words from a client and friend of mine who suffers with symptoms caused by hypermobility - maybe there's something that resonates with you. She's been through many different investigations to find out if she has hEDS - more to come on that soon...


"I have hypermobility which particularly affects my feet. My feet and my hands are the worst – my thumbs dislocate about 5 times a day and have to be relocated each time but they aren’t as bad as my feet.

My feet hurt all the time. Not the soles of my feet; the insides, the bones of my feet – they feel bruised and it’s like having DOMS inside my feet constantly.


If I go for a walk, I’m ok for the first 5 miles and then after that my bones REALLY ache so much it gets hard. After 6 miles, the balls start throbbing which distracts me so I can walk a bit further – the furthest I’ve ever been able to walk or run is about 18 miles, I had to stop a walk from Broadstairs to Canterbury at Stodmarsh and get a cab the rest of the way. Nothing to do with fitness, or stamina, purely painful feet. It was gutting.


I go shoeless as much as I can and am sure this helps a lot. I wear flat shoes with low profiles, I can’t wear heels of any size – a rise of about 2cm is about all my feet can cope with!


I was referred years ago to a specialist who told me that in normal people the bones in your feet are connected together with leather straps, but having hypermobility in the foot joints means that instead, they’re connected with rubber straps which don’t have as much control over your bones and can also stretch over time.


That guy’s solution was to for me to wear expensive orthotics which didn’t work and increased my constant tripping over nothing, eventually leading to me breaking my bloody shoulder.

The next consultant told me that I need to wear thin soled shoes to ensure I have adequate feedback from my feet to my brain. Since doing this, I don’t trip anymore!!!"





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