Running Pain With Flat Feet

First and foremost, let us say that we don’t want to discourage anyone from running if they have flat feet. Research shows that individuals with flat feet are only slightly more likely to deal with certain foot issues, so don’t let your foot shape deter you from getting regular healthy exercise. You may just have to be a little more proactive in how you work to protect your feet when running.

Medical experts have found that flat feet is associated with a slight uptick in risk for issues like shin splints or patellofermoal pain syndrome. This is because people with flat feet have a tendency to have their feet roll inward, resulting in greater pressure being placed on the heels and knees. When you consider greater load bearing in these areas combined with the repetitive stress of running, and it’s easy to see why your knees, ankles and heel may be at a heightened risk for stress-related injuries.

So what can you do to prevent and treat these concerns so that running isn’t any more uncomfortable than it needs to be? Here’s what we recommend if you want to develop a running routine and you have flat feet:

Get Supportive Shoes – Don’t just throw your feet into any old running shoe. You’ll want a well-fitting shoe with soft soles to support and stabilize the heel. You can even connect with a shoe fitter or a foot and ankle specialist to find a shoe specifically designed for some of the challenges faced by people with fallen arches or flat feet.

Consider Orthotics – For additional support and to contribute to ideal stress distribution across the bottom of your foot, consider adding orthotic inserts to your running shoes. You can opt for a generic shoe designed for individuals with flat feet, or you can get better results by adding a custom insole designed with your personal foot specifications in mind.

Stretch – It’s also quite helpful to stretch prior to your run. Stretching can help to relieve tension on soft tissues whose contraction may contribute to foot pronation, which as we talked about above, can increase the stress on certain areas of your feet when you run. Loosening up those soft tissues can help you have a more ideal running form in spite of your arch issues.

Vary Your Exercise – You can avoid overstressing your arch and related areas by varying your exercise routine. Instead of always going for a run, swap in some other exercises that are less impactful on your feet. Do an upper body workout, a yoga routine or head to the community pool to swim laps once a week. Giving your body ample time to recover after exercise can help to prevent overstress injuries.

Keep these tips in mind, and be sure to connect with an orthopaedic specialist if you’re dealing with new or worsening symptoms tied to a concern in your foot. For more information about developing or building upon an existing running program no matter your foot shape, connect with Dr. Silverman. Get in contact with his office by clicking here.

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Due to genetics, trauma over the years and the natural aging process, your foot arch can collapse a bit, leading to a host of uncomfortable symptoms as your foot adjusts to new stress patterns. Common symptoms include pain, discomfort, soreness, swelling and numbness, but these stress pattern changes can also lead to related issues if they go untreated for long enough. For example, flat foot can increase your risk of knee pain, hip pain, bunions and hammertoes, so make sure you treat your symptomatic flat feet.

Treating Flat Foot

You’re not going to be able to naturally restore a healthy foot arch, but there are plenty of things you can do to provide a more ideal environment for your foot so that foot shape changes don’t overload certain areas with stress. Surgery can help to reshape a lost arch, but oftentimes symptom relief can be found through conservative means. Here are five conservative treatment tips we recommend:

1. Shoe Changes – Make sure the shoes you wear are designed with your foot shape in mind. There are shoes that are specifically designed to provide extra support to individuals with flat feet. Connect with a foot specialist or a shoe fitter to find a pair of shoes that offers a little extra protection for your flat feet.

2. Orthotic Inserts – If you want to keep wearing your normal shoes but are still looking for ways to protect and cushion your flat feet, consider an orthotic insert. Generic and custom orthotic inserts can help to redistribute how stress is displaced along your foot, getting it back to a more ideal distribution pattern. There are plenty of generic inserts that are designed to help treat flat feet, but you can really make sure your inserts are right for you by connecting with a specialist to have a custom pair of inserts tailored to your specific foot shape.

3. Weight Loss – Another helpful way to limit overloading your feet with stress when they don’t have the perfect shape is to lose a little weight. Your feet are tasked with managing the stress of your body weight, so the less you weigh, the less stress they’ll be under. Losing just a couple of pounds can take a great burden off your feet, so exercise regularly and work to consume a healthy diet to aid in weight loss.

4. Physical Therapy – You can also help to protect your feet from stress by working to make them a bit stronger. Physical therapy exercises can strengthen key muscle groups in the foot so that your entire foot complex is better prepared to handle shifting stress patterns as you move. PT will not restore your arch to a perfect shape, but it can help to strengthen muscles in the area that help it function properly.

5. Bracing – Finally, a brace or similar ankle support can be a helpful addition when you’re moving or exercising. As we’ve mentioned above, arch changes can ramp up the stress on soft tissues and ligaments in the area. Over time, this prolonged stress can weaken these structures, leaving them prone to injury or tears. A brace can provide some additional support to these weakened areas so that they are not at an elevated risk for injury.

Many patients with flat feet will pursue a combination of the treatments listed above in order to achieve the best results. To learn which techniques may be best for you and your foot arch, reach out to Dr. Silverman by filling out this contact form.

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So if you begin to notice a flattening of your foot arch, or you want to prevent a fallen arch, is there anything you can do to reshape or protect your foot’s natural arch? We explain if you can reshape your flat feet in today’s blog.

Reshaping Your Flat Feet

The arches in your feet are comprised of bones, ligaments, tendons and the thick band of tissue known as the plantar fascia. As these structures eventually begin to show the signs of degenerative wear and tear over the years, our foot arch can start to flatten. Addressing flat feet is less about finding a way to regain a healthy arch and more about helping your feet adjust to the change and preventing additional flattening. The best way to ensure your foot arch is protected and able to handle the stress that you put on it in a healthy way include:

Physical Therapy – Physical therapy can actually help to restore a healthy foot shape if your issue was tied to overuse or poor form, otherwise it can simply help to strengthen structures in the arch and the surrounding areas so that function is preserved. PT helps to strengthen the tissues that support your arch and maintain flexibility in the foot area, which also supports healthy stress distribution.

Exercise – Exercise is another great way to strengthen your feet and support a healthy arch. Some people find that as they get older, low-impact exercises target their feet without overloading them with stress. Swapping swimming or cycling in for a running program can have both protective and proactive benefits for your foot arch.

Weight Management – The more you weigh, the more stress your arches will be under with every step you take, and over time this will take a toll on your feet. If you work towards a healthy weight or maintain an ideal weight as you age, you can limit excess stress on your foot arches.

Orthotics – Custom orthotics can provide some additional support to your arch, reducing the likelihood that certain activities will prove too stressful for your feet. These custom orthotics can be designed for your specific foot shape, giving you an incredible amount of support.

Surgery – Finally, a minimally invasive surgical procedure can be performed to address the issue that’s contributing to your arch issue. Unless the flat foot issue has become extremely debilitating, most patients find enough relief through conservative treatments to avoid the need for an operation. Your foot specialist can also explain if a procedure would or would not be advised based on the underlying cause of your discomfort.

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It’s not uncommon for patients to experience a mild flattening of their foot arch as they get older due to stress and strain over the years, and it’s not really a cause for concern unless it’s accompanied by symptoms like pain, Achilles tendon soreness or other foot issues. But is there anything that can be done to prevent this natural arch flattening, or is flat foot something you just need to accept? We explain how flat foot can be prevented in today’s blog.

Preventing Flat Foot

Like almost all health conditions, there are a number of things you can do to greatly reduce your risk of developing flat foot, but it’s not completely preventable. Genetics and natural aging can increase your risk of developing flat feet, but you can combat these risk factors by taking a few steps of your own. Here’s how you can try to prevent flat feet.

Maintain An Ideal Weight – The more you weigh, the more stress you put on your feet with every step you take. Over time, all this added stress can serve to wear down the tight tissues that help to form your arch. Maintain an ideal weight, and your likelihood of symptomatic flat foot drops significantly.

Exercise – Exercising not only helps you maintain an ideal weight, but it can help to strengthen the supportive tissues in your foot arch. For best results, avoid only pursuing high-impact exercises like running. Work in some low or no impact exercises, like walking, cycling or swimming.

Wear The Right Shoes – Shoes can help to take stress and pressure off our foot arch, so make sure that you are wearing the right shoe for the occasion. Comfortable and supportive shoes that are designed for the activities you’ll be performing can help to keep your risk of flat foot low.

Manage Your Diabetes Risk – Diabetes can cause a number of different issues for your body and your feet, including increasing your risk of foot arch changes. Exercise regularly and maintain an ideal weight to reduce your risk of diabetes. If you are a diabetic, be vigilant about managing your blood sugar levels.

Give Your Feet A Break – Finally, make sure that you give your feet time off between activity. Regularly stressing your feet without giving them time to heal from this trauma can weaken the supportive soft tissues that make up your foot arch. Mix in some upper body exercises instead of always running, and avoid overdoing it when it comes to sports without giving your body enough time to recover.

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But what causes your foot arch to flatten, and is there anything you can do to prevent this? We take a closer look at common causes of a flattening foot arch in today’s blog.

Why Is My Arch Flattening?

A number of different issues can lead to foot arch flattening, so it’s important to connect with a foot specialist to understand the root cause so that you can follow the best prevention and treatment protocols. Here’s a closer look at some of the most common causes or foot arch flattening:

1. Tendon Problems – Your Achilles tendon is connected to your posterior tibial tendon, which connects your ankle to the inside bottom of your foot along with the plantar fascia ligaments. Damage to either of these tendons can make it harder for these tendons to help support your natural foot arch, leading to gradual flattening. Treating tendon inflammation or tears can ensure that tendon problems don’t linger and affect your foot arch.

2. Foot Fractures – A fracture to one of the many bones in your foot can also lead to arch issues. Your bones play a pivotal role in a network of structures that help to form and support your arch. If fractures don’t heal correctly or the injury changes how weight is distributed on your foot (potentially affecting your posterior tibial tendon), your foot arch’s integrity may be at risk.

3. Genetics  – Everyone has a different foot shape, and some people never develop a healthy natural foot arch. Conversely, some people develop an unnaturally high foot arch, which can cause problems of its own. You can’t change the genetics you’ve been dealt, but that also doesn’t mean that you are doomed to suffer from problems caused by flat feet. Getting regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight and fully treating any foot problems can help to protect your feet.

4. Arthritis – Finally, rheumatoid arthritis is another condition that can affect your foot’s natural arch. RA is an autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack healthy tissues like the cartilage, ligaments and synovial lining in your joints. You have 30 joints in each of your feet, and if they are chronically affected by rheumatoid arthritis, the condition can end up changing the shape of your feet.

While not all of these problems can be prevented, we touched on some of the ways you can work to protect your foot arch. Get regular exercise to help develop and strengthen supportive tissues in your feet, maintain a healthy weight, as being overweight can put chronic pressure on your foot arch and speed up natural tissue degeneration, and be sure to treat any foot injuries fully so that your arch isn’t taking on more stress as it attempts to protect your feet from pressure when walking or running.

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High Arches And Flat Feet

It’s important to remember that every person is different, and one person may be more troubled by a certain foot shape than another simply because of genetics, their gait or how stress has been dispersed on their foot over the years. In other words, we’re not going to be able to say that high arches are always preferred to flat feet, or vice versa.

However, in general, a high arch tends to mean that the foot is more rigid, meaning it might benefit from mobilization exercises for optimal function. In contract, a flat foot typically means that the foot is more prone to being unstable, meaning that stabilization exercises are beneficial. Both foot shapes would benefit from intrinsic foot strengthening with a specialty focus on either mobilization or stabilization, depending on the foot’s shape. One isn’t preferred to the other so much as they may present with different manageable issues.

A more mild foot arch can provide you with a good middle ground of stability and mobilization, but that doesn’t mean you’re immune from injury. All foot shapes benefit from intrinsic exercise and strength training to prepare them for the stress you’ll throw at them.

If you are dealing with a high arch or flat feet, especially if you’re dealing with any pain or discomfort that may be linked to your foot shape, consider syncing up with a specialist like Dr. Silverman. He’ll sit down with you, take a look at your feet and help develop some treatment options for caring for your feet. Odds are you’ll recommend a combination of:

• Orthotic Inserts
• Physical Therapy
• Strengthening Exercises
• Stretches
• Footwear Changes

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The study based out of India examined nearly 400 children under the age of 12. 386 children were divided into two groups based on their body-mass index. Researchers uncovered that flat feet weren’t isolated to children with elevated body mass indexes, but the condition was much more common in overweight children.

“In kids with normal BMI, about 30 percent had flat foot,” said Professor Ajai Singh, head of the pediatric orthopaedic department at King George’s Medical University, who helped lead the study. “But in the abnormal BMI category, 90 percent of kids had flat foot.”

Grades of Flat Feet

For the study, researchers broke down cases of flat feet into three different grades. The first grade involved an arch of the sole that was smaller than the normal height, while a second grade involved cases of flat feet where no arch was present. A grade three flat foot involved situations where the arch of the foot was reversed and the bottom of the foot was actually convex, bending outward slightly.

“We found that 45 percent of kids had Grade 2 flat feet, while 43 percent had Grade 1 flat feet,” said Professor Singh. “The remaining 12 percent belonged to Grade 3.”

Previous studies have uncovered a connection between obesity and flat-footedness, but they’ve also noted that the problem can be reversed if it is identified at an early stage in life.

“In most of the cases, flat foot is reversible, while in the remaining, it is manageable,” the authors wrote. “If kids come to us by the time they are five or six, we can help them with exercises and interventions like silica pads to be worn inside their shoes.”

So if you notice that your child has flat feet, or if the pediatrician has suggested that your child has an elevated BMI, consider some lifestyle interventions to help alleviate the condition. Help them get regular exercise and make an effort to provide them with healthy meals. A flat arch can put abnormal pressure on a person’s foot, which can predispose them to other foot conditions. Like the authors said, take steps at an early stage to prevent it from becoming a bigger problem down the road.

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Although the study doesn’t prove causation, researchers uncovered that boys who practiced judo had significantly higher foot arches and better balance than a group of boys who didn’t practice the art.

Flat feet is a relativity common condition, especially in children who are overweight and generally less active. Researchers say judo could be the perfect outlet for these children, as it’s more of an individualized activity compared to other team activities. They added that the benefits are two-fold: not only can it help kids get active, but the sport has numerous health benefits, from weight control to stimulating sensory receptors and muscles on the bottom of the foot.

Judo Study

To better understand the benefits of judo, researchers recruited 58 boys into the study. Half of the group had enrolled in a 90-minute judo class that met three times a week, while the other group reported that they didn’t participate in sports outside of school. The average participant was 11.5 years old.

Researchers analyzed the boys’ foot arch height in a seated and standing position, and the boys’ balance was measured using the one-legged “flamingo” test. At the conclusion of the study, researchers uncovered:

• Boys who practiced judo had “significantly” higher arches compared to the non-judo group.

• The best flamingo test score from the judo group was 125.1 seconds, compared to 27.3 seconds for the control group. The worst flamingo score for the judo group was 4.7 seconds, while it was only 1.2 seconds for the control group.

Although the study was small and it didn’t include girls, early research seems to show that practicing judo can help children naturally develop foot muscles and arches, and it can help improve their balance.

Dr. Silverman Comments

This study is pretty interesting, but not all that shocking. Active kids, especially at that age, will build muscle and strengthen areas of their bodies much quicker than sedentary kids. This is a pivotal time for growth, and staying active is very important.

Instead of buying your child insoles for his or her flat feet, just sign them up for an activity!

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Causes of Flatfeet

• Flatfeet can occur during the growth of a child through natural body developments.
• About 20% of the population suffers from flatfeet, although most individuals will have no symptoms.
• Tight calf muscles and tarsal coalition (abnormal bone growth) can also cause rigid or flexible flat feet.
• Flatfeet is usually a genetic condition.

Symptoms of Flatfeet

• A flattened foot arch that is accompanied by an outward splaying of the feet.
• General achiness in the foot, especially if the child is very active.
• A slight limp is present in some cases.
• Tightness in the calf.
• Pain in the inside region of the ankle and in the Achilles tendon.

Non-surgical treatment

As stated above, a large portion of people who suffer from flatfeet don’t exhibit any symptoms or experience foot pain.  Of the people that do experience pain, most can be treated with non-surgical options.  Your doctor will conduct what is known as a “jack test” to determine if you have flexible or rigid deformities in your feet.  Flexible flatfeet is much more common than rigid flatfeet.  Because flexible flatfeet is much more common, and because it is associated with a muscle issue as opposed to a bone issue, we’ll discuss treatment options for flexible flatfeet below.

• Calf stretching – Calf stretching is key to relieving tightness, which can cause pain in children who suffer from flatfeet.  Parents should make sure their children stretch their calf and feet each day so the muscles can stretch out before physical activity.  A good practice is to have your child stretch their legs, ankles and feet with some simple movements when they wake up each day.
• Activity Modification – Sometimes children can experience chronic foot discomfort because the muscles aren’t given ample time to heal.  A short, 1-2 week period of limited physical or sporting activities can lead to decreased irritation in the foot and calf.
• Comfort shoes and shoe inserts – Your doctor may recommend new shoes or an orthopedic shoe insert to help alleviate some of the stress your child puts on their foot.  Shoes with a slight heel can help stretch out the calf muscle as they move, and inserts can help lessen the pressure placed on the foot.  Parents should consult a specialist about each option as prolonged arch support inserts can actually weaken muscles in the foot which can contribute to the symptoms of flatfeet.

Surgical treatment

Surgical treatment of flexible flatfeet is rare, but it is an option if non-surgical options fail.

• Gastrocnemius recession – A gastrocnemius recession involves lengthening the tight portion of the Achilles tendon.  This addresses the most common cause of flatfeet.  This procedure will alleviate the pain, but it will not necessarily lead to the development of an arch in the foot, although it is possible that one may develop once the tendon is lengthened.
• Lateral lengthening – This procedure involves cutting into the calcaneus to lengthen the arch of the foot.  It is usually preformed in conjunction with a gastrocnemius recession.
• Subtalar Arthroresis – This procedure is a little controversial as it involves placing a device in the foot to shift the heel bone and create an arch.  Removal of the device is often required, but many patients develop an arch once the soft tissue heals.

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