The Importance of Functional Hallux Limitus

Aug. 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Functional hallux limitus is something that foot specialists are still not in total agreement that if it actually exists or not. Craig Payne from the forum, Podiatry Arena, tells us “functional hallux limitus is something that gets debated a lot. It is defined as a condition in which the big toe or first metatarsophalangeal joint of the foot does not move when it is functioning in a weightbearing situation but does move freely when the foot is up in the air. There is no diagnostic test for it, leading some to consider that it does not exist. There is also debate about if functional hallux limitus is really a cause of problems or is the result of another problem. There is no consensus, very little research and a lot of opinions!”

The reason the problem is claimed to be so important is that the big toe joint of the foot is an important joint for normal function. It is the joint that the body pivots forward over so needs to move freely for this to happen (http://www.podiatry-arena.com/podiatry-forum/tags/index.php?tag=/functional-hallux-limitus/). It is not hard to imagine how much harder walking is going to be if that joint does not move. Osteoarthritis of that joint will impact on its movement and so can functional hallux limitus (http://www.podiatry-arena.com/podiatry-forum/showthread.p...). Payne has called for more research to be done to really determine just how important this condition is and if it is a primary cause of problems or the secondary result of problems. He continues that “there are a number of treatments used or this to improve the motion at the joint and there is no doubt that the clinicians that do a lot of this are claiming to get good results. We just need more work to be done to compare the different treatments and to determine the efficacy of them”.