Foot Pain, Heel Pain And Flat Feet

I love to see patients with flat feet. In fact sometimes I feel that I should dedicate my medical career to educating people about flat-feet. Many people that have foot pain caused by flat feet don't realize that in most cases the pain can be relieved with a good foot orthotic. As a family doctor I see a lot of patients with diseases they will have for the rest of their lives (heart disease,lung disease,diabetes,etc). Therefore I enjoy it when patients come in with pain associated with flat-feet. This is one of the few conditions I can actually fix and best of all it doesn't require a medication to fix it.

The condidtion of flat feet is known in medical terms as over-pronation or hyperpronation. Pronation is the action of flattening out of the arch as the foot externally rotates (rotates toward the floor). Pronation is important because it allows the foot to act as a shock aborber. In addition, pronation enables all the bones in the middle of the foot to unlock and become like a bag of bones. This allows the foot to adapt to uneven surfaces (uphill, downhill, rocky surface, etc.). In moderation, pronation is a good thing. Over-pronation (hyperpronation) is not a good thing.

Flat feet or hyperpronation causes foot pain because the foot remains pronated throughout the step. As the foot moves into the later stages of the step, the foot does not supinate (soup-in-ate). Pronation is the opposite of supination. In supination the foot internally rotates (rotates up from the floor). Supination re-locks the bones of the mid-foot and transforms the foot into a rigid lever arm to provide an efficient force to move the body forward. If the foot remains pronated and cannot supinate it remains like a loose bag of bones and you are unable to use the foot as firm, efficient lever arm for push off.

If the foot does not supinate it cannot form an firm lever arm. This causes the calf muscles to work harder in order to propel your body forward. This causes fatigue and ache in the muscles of the lower legs at the end of the day. In addition if the calf muscles are working harder they become very strong and bulky. This can lead to a condition known as shin splints. Shin-splints is pain along the inside-front part of the lower leg. Shin splints is often caused by an imbalance between the calf muscles on the anterior muscles or muscles on the front part of the lower leg and the back of the lower leg (posterior muscles). The more powerful posterior muscles cause strain in the anterior muscles as the anterior muscles try to decelerate the body at heel strike. This excess strain causes inflammation, and pain where the anterior muscles attach to the shin bone.

Flat feet can cause the heel pain known as plantar fasciitis. The typical symptom of plantar fasciitis is severe heel pain when taking the first few steps in the morning or during the first few steps after resting for awhile. Over-pronation causes excessiveflattening of the arch. This causes the ligament called the plantar fascia on the bottom of the foot to stretch out too much. This causes inflammation where the plantar fascia inserts into the heel.

In conclusion, someone with flat feet has very inefficient foot function and this can lead to heel pain, shin splints and muscle fatigue. By wearing an arch support, the foot is prevented from over-pronating and this improves foot function. Occasionally you can buy an arch support off-the-shelf that provides support. Unfortunately, in most cases, the off-the-shelf insoles do not correct the problem, they only cushion the foot. Life is too short to suffer in pain, especially when the problem can be easily corrected. If you are having pain as the result of flat-feet it makes sense to spend the extra money to purchase a custom arch support that will correct the problem once and for all.

For Move Information Flat Feet Please View Video On "The Trouble With Flat Feet"

http://www.footpainresearch.com/11/why-flat-feet-cause-foot-pain-video-part-2-flat-foot-motion/