Okay story time https://twitter.com/whatismedicine/status/1290092431052910594

So in undergrad I decided to do a thesis instead of placement to try and help me get into medicine/serve as a backup plan to help me get a masters if I didn't get into med

Because research apparently makes good doctors???

I had no clue what to do a project on. Ended up doing it in biomechanics.

I noticed I had flat feet and used that as project inspo.

So I ended up dedicating a year of my life to this damn muscle lmao. I didn't publish but heck I may as well make this a teachable moment instead.

PT holds up the foot arch, flat feet are often caused by PT tendon dysfunction.

Scoliosis is extremely common in teens. Here's a bit about it's link to flat feet.

If you have a young patient w scoliosis:
- check the arch of their foot to see if flat/same
- check their hip height to see if it's level (chances are it won't be if one foot is flatter than the other)
- this will effect them all the way up the kinetic chain leading to scoliosis

(If one foot is flatter than the other, the uneven hip height will lead to muscular imbalances in the back leading to the scoliosis - characterized by a positive forward bend test & uneven shoulder height)

I am talking specifically about acquired flat feet, not congenial

- refer them to get fitted for orthotics to fix their feet, which will fix their hip height, and hopefully help straighten the spine (in combo with physio if it is idiopathic/non-structural scoliosis)

Oh also, cause? Not totally clear but thought to be a repeated stress injury.

So there you have it. Posterior tibialis. A seemingly useless muscle that actually has the power to fuck up your whole life.

A powerful ass bitch.

I would not be surprised if I lost followers to this thread. How bored you were reading it was how bored I was doing the thesis.

(Ok but lowkey biomechanics is actually really fun)