We rely on them for every movement we make; for athletes,
they’re essential to run, jump, kick and land. So we’re
especially careful about our feet, right?
Not so, says Dr. Robert Mohr, chief director of podiatric
surgery at UCLA’s Department of Surgery, and a member of the
five-doctor team at University Podiatry Group.
“I think the feet are quite often neglected until and
unless there’s a problem,” he said.
Both athletes and non-athletes can experience extensive foot
injuries. Most are not complicated to remedy, says Mohr, and can be
easily prevented.
“Most sports are based on running. Runners, triathletes,
soccer players, basically everyone but the swimmers can develop
over-use syndromes,” Mohr explained. “It’s
comparable to wheels on car: if you have uneven balance, that will
result in uneven tire wear. If your feet are out of balance, a
small deformity coupled with high miles leads to these
symptoms.”
Over-use injuries can affect every part of the leg, from the
toes to the knee. Many cases of plantar fasciitis, heel spurs,
Morton’s neuroma, Achilles tendinitis, shin splints and knee
problems can be traced to poor foot mechanics, says Mohr.
These “biomechanical abnormalities,” as he calls
them, are often successfully treated with an orthodic placed in the
in sole of the patient’s shoe. Depending on the condition to
be treated and the shape of the patient’s foot, the orthodic
will serve a unique purpose to every individual ““ compared by
Mohr to a contact lens for an eye that doesn’t see 20-20.
“All problems respond to orthodics,” he said.
“If someone’s going to run a marathon, the best thing
they can do for themselves besides buy a good running shoe is to
invest in a pair of orthodics. It’s the best insurance policy
against getting hurt ““ in fact, it’s good for any
athletic endeavor to minimize the risk of injury.”
Other injuries however, are more specific to individual sports.
Mohr gives the example of football players and other athletes who
play on Astro-Turf: when they slide to a stop, the turf grabs their
shoe, but that doesn’t stop their feet. This results in a
constant jamming of the athletes’ toes into the front of
their shoes, which results in repetitive toe damage.
Athletes involved in sports that require jumping and
multi-directional movement, such as basketball and volleyball, are
also especially prone to foot injuries. Los Angeles Laker
Shaquille O’Neal sought out Mohr during the NBA playoffs due
to severe toe pain. O’Neal, Mohr explains, suffers from the
not uncommon hallux limitus, a condition that severely restricts
motion of the big toe joint.
“Our goal was to try to eliminate pain as much as possible
and get him through the playoffs,” Mohr said. “We made
him a proper orthodic and redesigned his custom-made shoes to
include a rigid graphite plate to provide more rigidity under the
big toe.
“His free throw percentage went way up and I’ll take
credit for that,” he added with a laugh.
O’Neal will undergo surgery soon to “clean up the
bone and remove restrictions” with an expected recovery
period of six weeks.
The majority of Mohr’s patients, however, are students and
people involved in sports for recreation, rather than as a
profession. Students’ choice of footwear is likewise
poor.
“Flip-flops don’t do anything for your feet other
than prevent you from making contact with the ground,” said
Mohr. “There’s no support, no cushioning.”
Mohr’s patients involved in recreational sports are
“by far and away runners,” he says.
“Their problems are almost always treated by orthodics,
which improve their foot mechanics. I believe good medicine
identifies the cause of the problem, and the symptoms will subside
by themselves. If you fix the cause, the patients will benefit much
more.”
In addition to his private practice and work at the Ashe Center,
Mohr is a clinical assistant faculty member, which means he is one
of UCLA’s voluntary teaching faculty who gives second- and
third-year medical school students a taste of his podiatry practice
along with the other doctors at University Podiatry: Alan Singer,
Gary Briskin, Babak Baravarian and Robert Lee. Together, they see
roughly 150 patients a day. Mohr attributes the bustling practice
to the crucial role feet play in our everyday lives.
“The biomechanics of foot structure affects the entire
mechanics of the lower body,” he pointed out.
And as long as UCLA students, weekend runners, and pros like
Shaq continue to neglect their feet, Mohr will continue to remedy
them.