Your feet carry you through life. They absorb thousands of impacts daily, support your entire body weight, and adapt to countless surfaces. When foot pain strikes, whether from bunions, plantar fasciitis, flat feet, or fallen arches, it changes everything.
Dr. Carmelo Caratozzolo (“Dr. C”) has spent three decades helping families in Palmyra understand something crucial: foot pain rarely begins and ends with your feet. The foundation of your body affects everything above it, and problems in your ankles, knees, hips, or spine can manifest as foot discomfort.
The Foundation Affects Everything
When the foundation shifts, cracks appear throughout the structure. Flat feet or fallen arches change how weight distributes with every step. This altered biomechanics creates compensations that travel upward through your kinetic chain, affecting your entire posture and movement patterns.
Bunions develop gradually, combining genetic predisposition with years of improper footwear and biomechanical stress. Plantar fasciitis (that stabbing heel pain that makes mornings miserable) results from accumulated strain on the tissue connecting your heel to your toes. These conditions signal that your body’s foundation needs support.
A Complete Approach to Foot Health
At Fluvanna Family Chiropractic, treatment begins with gait analysis. Watching how someone walks reveals where imbalances exist and which structures bear excessive load. This assessment guides every aspect of care.
Dr. C uses sports chiropractic adjusting techniques to address the entire lower extremity. Referred to as extremity adjusting, this technique helps to restore proper motion to ankles, knees, and hips. When these joints function correctly, stress on the feet decreases naturally. Soft tissue techniques release tension in muscles and fascia, while kinesio taping provides therapeutic support during healing.
Custom orthotics play a vital role. Unlike generic drugstore inserts, these precision devices are crafted for each practice member’s foot structure and biomechanical needs. They redistribute pressure away from problem areas and provide support exactly where needed. The vibration plate offers targeted strengthening for the small stabilizing muscles in feet and ankles, essential for balance and proper movement patterns.
Building Healthy Foundations
Stretching instruction ensures practice members maintain flexibility in their calves, ankles, and feet between visits. Proper footwear guidance helps people make choices that support their feet rather than undermining progress. Sometimes the simplest changes, like choosing different shoes for work, create significant improvements.
“Your feet were built to carry you through life without pain,” emphasizes Dr. C. “When we correct what’s interfering with normal function, your body knows exactly what to do.”
This philosophy extends to every family member. Active grandparents, athletes, children developing healthy movement patterns—everyone benefits from feet that function properly.
Moving Forward Without Pain
Living with foot pain means constant compromises. It doesn’t have to be this way. Natural chiropractic care at Fluvanna Family Chiropractic addresses root causes, helping you move freely again. Are you regenerating or degenerating? With the right support, your body can shift toward healing.
Contact our Palmyra practice today to book an appointment and take the first step toward pain-free movement!
Schedule a Gait Analysis Appointment