05/06/2025
FOOT TENSEGRITY
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[FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY & BIOMECHANICS]
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The bones of the body are not totally solid objects like stone columns. They are, however, similar to reinforced concrete in their internal design. Like all tissues in the body, the bones are made of specialized fascia with the outer layering being periosteum and the interior being effectively hollow.
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What gives the bones their strong compression resistant qualities is the architecture of the interior. Specifically, the varying lines of forces in gravity create interlocking lines of micro bone formation called trabeculae.
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The trabecular system is similar to the idea of iron rebar rods that are threaded through concrete to give it greater stability. These lines of the trabecular system match common lines of force in the body and link other bones together to make joints.
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The picture of the foot shows the force of the body’s weight (100%) going down from the tibia and into the talus. You can see the forces follow the trabecular lines the whole way through the metatarsals and into the toes, allowing force to flow joint to joint, bone to bone. This force is then returned via ground reaction force through the same “train tracks”. But much like train tracks, they only allow the train (force is the train in this case) to move along them if they link together in line.
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This validates the ideas of “proper joint alignment” or centration in treatment or training. If a person has an anterior position of the talus from a previous ankle sprain, their trabecular system is no longer as stable and the soft tissues need to undertake more of the force to keep the joints stable (tensegrity).
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Force transmission is compromised making movement less efficient when trabecular lines aren’t connected. Tensegrity is about the balance between compression elements and tension elements. The trabecular system supplies the compression support, deloading soft tissues such as cartilage and ligaments.
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The foot is the boss of the kinetic chain!🦶
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