If you take Pilates with me, you know I frequently instruct my clients to maintain a “Barbie foot” for certain exercises. I’ve given this cue for decades and almost universally, clients know what I mean the minute I give this cue.
You can only imagine how hard I laughed during the scene in this summer’s Barbie Movie when her feet go flat. I laughed equally hard during her scene where she goes to “Weird Barbie” to figure out why these strange changes (cellulite and all!) are happening to her body.
When Weird Barbie urges her to choose the brown Birkenstock over the pink high heel, I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my cheeks.
Wait, is Weird Barbie a physical therapist?!?!?!
I’ve had this scene play out in my office thousands of times during my 21+ year career. Me giving a client advice on footwear changes based on the injury they’ve come to me with.
Sometimes it’s a teenager with a foot injury (i.e. plantar fasciitis, muscle strain, etc) that would feel a lot better in a running shoe or Birkenstock than in Vans, Converse, flip flops or Uggs.
It’s always fun watching the parents keep their “I told you so” to themselves as the teenager quietly ponders whether they can trust the advice I’m giving.
More often than not though, it’s a middle aged client who “just wore heels to dinner” and is now hobbling around.
Or they got out of bed one morning and could hardly stand on their foot because of the stabbing pain in their arch.
Or running the same 5 mile route has felt fine for decades and suddenly they’re having difficulty running the downhill sections due to knee pain.
And they don’t have a clue what happened. It’s as if their body changed overnight.
In the real world, where aches and pains sometimes seem to come out of nowhere, we’re here to help.
Call/text 206-535-7356 or email elizabeth@elizabethrogerspt.com to schedule time with our team. Full disclosure, we may or may not give you some advice on footwear.
