Foot Overpronation and 10 problems it may cause
Your feet form the foundation of the body. It is from these 52 bones, 66 joints, 214 ligaments and 38 muscles that we are able to propel ourselves through our daily lives.
Further, the average person takes 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day. It is no wonder that when the foot begins to hurt, we take notice and want it resolved quickly.
In the work and sports world, the foot takes the brunt of the everyday stresses on the body. Think about the role the foot plays in sports like basketball, soccer, and squash or in jobs such as construction, teaching and letter delivery, and it is easy to understand how acute injuries occur. But, if we take golf as another example, one might be surprised that foot pain is as debilitating to a golf game as golfer’s elbow or a rotator cuff injury. If you can’t walk to the 1st hole, it’s tough to get the ball, let alone oneself, down the fairway.
People often think that it is normal to have sore feet. By the end of this post we hope that you have a better understanding of some common foot ailments that are the result of faulty foot mechanics.
The Purpose of the Foot – Foot Mechanics 101
The foot offers the body two very important functions. The first is stability. It provides a solid base of support (keeps us up against gravity) and a rigid lever for moving the body forward. The second function is mobility. This allows for shock absorption, maximum contact with the ground with uneven terrain and allows unusual forces in the hips and knees to be absorbed.
The anatomy of a normal foot allows for both to occur at the same time. Approximately 30% of the population have a normal foot.
The remainder of people either overpronate (95% of abnormal feet) or oversupinate (5% of abnormal feet). The important thing to know is that all feet pronate and supinate, but abnormal feet do one of these things too much or at the wrong time.
When the foot overpronates or oversupinates, several foot ailments can develop.
A foot that overpronates stretches and shortens structures in the foot and contributes to:
- 1. plantar fasciitis (heel spurs)
- 2. hallux valgus (bunions)
- 3. achilles tendonitis
- 4. corns, calluses and hammer toes
- 5. navicular apophysitis
- 6. shin splints
- 7. fractures in the 1st and 2nd toes
- 8. medial knee pain and patellofemoral dysfunction (improper tracking of the knee cap)
- 9. hip pain
- 10. low back pain.
Todays Lesson: Overpronation
It is the most common abnormality found in the foot, and for this reason, is the most studied.
The term that most people attribute to overpronation is “flat feet.” Pronation is the rolling in of the foot and the collapse of the arch. Every person pronates to some extent and this is a necessary moment in the normal walking cycle as it allows the forefoot to make complete contact with the ground. Overpronation is when a person pronates too much and for too long. This places excess stress on the tendons and ligaments in the foot and ankle.
A foot that overpronates acts like a loose bag of bones during the walking cycle. This makes this type of foot very flexible but inefficient. The foot has to work much harder to propel the body, fatiguing easily and placing mechanical stresses on the lower body. We like to use the analogy of digging a hole in the dirt. Overpronating feet are like using a broom to dig the hole. It won’t break down quickly, but you will be digging for a very long time, or until eventually wear and tear will take effect. Wouldn’t you rather have a shovel to work with. This is in essence what an orthotic can do for your feet. This is why orthotics have become an evidence based treatment for so many foot ailments, as they can effectively manage overpronation.
In this authors opinion, not all “flat feet” need to be treated, but they should all be evaluated.
Posted by Grant Fedoruk
This information is not meant to replace the advice or treatment of a qualified physician or physiotherapist. It is meant for information only. Please seek an assessment and discuss your treatment options with your caregiver prior to making a decision about your treatment path.
My son age 4, has suffered with mobility problems for a while now. He has low muscle tone and joint hypermobility. He didnt walk until 2 yrs 3 mnths. By this time he was wearing orthotic footwear. Over the last cpl years hehas tried different types of insoles to try and comfort him walking but all of these cause him blisters and pain him. Orthotics have now said they are unable to treat my son. They have said he over pronates significantly in weight bearing with navicular drop present. Medial arch does not form during heel elevations. And non weight bearing has a structurally low medial arch profile. I have passed this info onto gp but feel nobody has answers to my questions or remedies to his pain and problems. Any advice would be great. Im in preston lancashire. Thankyou
I badly sprained my ankle eight weeks ago and would have passed out if I hadn’t lay down. I raised the foot for the next week giving it support with a crepe bandage and every two hours I submerged the foot into cold water for ten minutes. After a week the bruising came out. It was blue by the heel and on the other side of the ankle along the side of the foot. There was yellow bruising along the top of the foot towards the toes. I went to hospital and had three x rays, I was told me that it was not broken but badly sprained.and to keep off it for a further two weeks. They bandaged it by forcing my foot back towards my let and was told to keep this on for three days. After three weeks it was far too tender and sensitive to touch let alone walk on it. I kept off and at the beginning of the fifth week I started light exercises by rotating the foot and pushing it backwards and forwards and flexing the toes. I also massaged the foot with arnica oil and plunged the foot into warm foot baths and I also had the water and air jets on in the bath. At the sixth week anniversary I went to the doctors for him to check it out and he examined the foot and put it through its paces and told me that it was now time to start putting some weight onto it. At first I had terrible pins and needles and I only manged five minutes before I felt sick as a dog. Over the next week and a half I built up the muscles and I started to just bear weight onto the foot for ten minutes and then twenty and so on until I could stand o nit for over an hour and rock backwards and forwards to get the foot moving in different directions. After 52 days I stood on it for the first time. i may have overdone it because I manged to walk up the stairs with no pain so I was quite pleased as I was dreading it just in case there was pain. I found however, that the foot swelled after four hours of being on and off it and it swelled right to the knee. It was like a sausage. I stayed off it for two days and it is back to as normal as it has been since the accident. I am however, getting cramp in my hip in the morning when i wake up. I don’t know whether to carry on trying to put weight onto the foot or go and see another doctor. I am just wondering whether I have done more damaged than the hospital initially thought. It feels like my foot is dislocated and needs forcing back into a socket. It is a strange feeling. It is a little sore by the ankle but I haven’t endured any real pain only soreness and it being really sensitive to touch which has now passed. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I did this while on holiday and I am still here because I cannot drive. I am now entering into the ninth week today.
This piece was a lijefacket that saved me from drowning.
Hi, I am a 66 year old hockey player and at 57 I had my first bout of severe right sided sciatica. Looking back this is the time I started to have problems with skating, but I was always an excellent skater. In the next 2 years or I was told that my right foot was over supinating and eventually started using orthotics. This helped immediately, but it seemed that my problem would get worse and the cycle of new orthotics started. In late 2012 I had another attack of right sided sciatica, but now I need orthotics in both skates. So I have been fighting this constant change for the last 9 years. I have seen a specialist and he feels my arches are not flat, but he did remove my insoles and worked them into an orthotic to prevent over pronation! If hockey skates had the ability to place your center of gravity directly over the blade orthotics would not be needed, but unlike figure skates and skies this cannot be done. My pronation seems to magnify once I bend my knees, but that’s what a hockey player needs to do in order to skate properly. Am I doomed to constant changes in orthotics and is it all a result of sciatica?