As the very foundations of your body, your feet, quite literally, carry an enormous amount of responsibility. Not only do they support your weight, they’re in charge of moving you through the world. To accomplish all of this, your feet rely on balance, wherein each component functions together smoothly. So when a condition like flat fleet throws this balance off, the effect doesn’t
necessarily stay local and often causes problems up through your major joints, including your ankles, knees, and hips, even reaching your back.
Here at All Care Foot & Ankle, our aim is to help our patients in Arlington, Texas, regain the proper balance in their feet. allowing them to navigate their worlds without pain. If you’re experiencing back, hip, or knee pain, and you can’t figure out why the answer may lie at your feet.
Here’s a look at why flat feet may be behind your musculoskeletal discomfort and, more importantly, what we can do about it.
The term flat feet refers to a lack of arch support in your feet. There are many reasons this occurs, including, failure of your arches to ever develop. When you’re born, your feet are flat and your arches develop as you grow. For some, these arches never form, resulting in flat feet.
On the other end of the age spectrum, flat feet can develop as you get older. After years of wear-and-tear, the tendons that support your feet can begin to weaken, causing your arches to fall.
Flat feet don’t pose any serious problems for many, as their bodies compensate for the deficiency. For others, however, flat feet can lead to painful problems in their feet and ankles, which can have an effect on distant joints and their backs.
Your musculoskeletal system is a fully integrated structure, and each section is connected by joints. Some are quite small, and others, such as your hips and knees, are large.
Since joints are where bones come together, any bone that comes in at an angle can offset the entire balance of the joint. And this is exactly what flat feet can do. That’s because without arch support, your feet tend to roll inward, causing overpronation. This, in turn, affects your gait and places excessive stress on your ankles and knees.
Your ankles can generally handle the change in balance since they can roll in many directions. Knees, however, are designed to bend forward and back, not side-to-side. When you overpronate, your knees are forced in a direction they’re not designed for.
With your knees functioning poorly, the impact may make its way on up to your hips, which need to compensate for the poor positioning of your knees.
And on it goes until it reaches your low back. Poor positioning of the major joints in your lower body ultimately reach your back and may cause dull, nagging pain — all because of flat feet.
If you’re experiencing pain in your knees, hips, and back, and have flat feet, chances are these issues are related. If that’s determined to be the case, we can take action with custom orthotics, which make up for the loss of support in your arches.
Orthotics can provide relief. With them, we can raise up your arches, causing everything in your lower body to line up more accurately, which should eliminate the discomfort in your joints.
For flat feet and all of your podiatric concerns, call or use the online booking tool on this website to set up an appointment with All Care Foot & Ankle.
