thoracic spine click and foot pain

[Dr Damien]

From your description, It sounds like a muscle imbalance issue....

My xplanation will sound very simplistic, however having a rigid thoracic spine might mean instabilities in your lumbar region. Having one side affected more than the other suggests an imbalance issue, bracing using your transversus abdominis stabilizes your lumbar spine making it it less mobile as you move your hip into flexion or abduction limited the excessive movement between the lumbar and thorax...

you might have a stiff hip as well...

You definitely have to continue with your core stability exercises, if you are training with a physio consider using an exercise ball, consider exercises to improve the range in your thoracic spine.

Also consider including some of the core stability work in a more functional exercise such as walking

if neither of these are helpful in the longterm, consider getting a lumbar support and use this when you are going on long distance walks alone...

Cheers

[BruceG]

Thanks for this sound advise.

I've started doing short walks actively focusing on abdominal contraction - this works well. Also recently I've started using a Spinalis chair at work. This forces you to do core stability all day - very expensive (around £800) but I would recommend.

I've been experimenting with a number of ideas lately - one thing stands out as having had a miraculous effect on my left hip which has got in a total mess: the Supine Groin Stretch which is part of the Egoscue method.

This has left me a bit confused: I've done a search on this forum and the word Egoscue only comes up once.