I’m a 40-year-old male, overweight but active. I hike and walk a lot as part of my job. Tonight, my wife convinced me to do a 20-minute core yoga video. As part of the video we were laying on our stomachs and doing some planks. Try as I might I could not get my left toes to turn to the floor. Mentally, my mind was directing the muscles, but the hip/leg would not rotate inward. I realize now, that when I stand my right foot faces forward and left faces out. As a high schooler this wasn’t the case, it’s something with age or injury. When I’m tired after a long day of work I have the old man club foot thing going. When I’m standing up I can get it to point forward, but it feels unnatural and walking like that feels like I have knock-knee.
The real questions are, is this normal aging? Are there exercises or physical therapy to correct it? Have I destroyed my hip or is it muscular and I atrophied some muscles that I need to focus on? Any ideas?
I have done something similar. My trainer at the time said it could be corrected with time and exercises. It did feel really weird at once. I would swear that I was walking pigeon toed, but I’d look down and see that my toes were actually still pointed outwards. Can you do a video chat with your doctor just to try and rule out anything more serious than a bad habit that stuck around too long?
Curious if maybe what you do for a living might be a cause. Does it tend to affect the position or particular use of one foot or the other? Aside from the walking/hiking.Weight carried on one side?
I always start off on my dominant leg but I’m not just dragging my left along for the ride. I step forward with it and bare weight with it. I had some sciatica issues a while back. Maybe I pivoted my toes outward to alleviate some of that?
I’d get checked out by an orthopedic surgeon and/or a physical therapist. IANA doctor or physical therapist, but that sure sounds a lot like something that a PT could potentially fix.
To me (not a doctor, an anatomy expert, or a college graduate), it sounds like the kind of thing that crops up when the components of a jointed system have worn down to the point where the only effective corrective action is going to be parts replacement.
OP, if it’s not painful, you may want to consult an orthopedist to assist you in keeping it that way.
Did you wear shoes or boots that were too tight or I’ll-fitting for years? My Dad did and he has the deformed looking hammer toes. They’re actually really messed up looking.