Firstly, what IS flat feet?
Take your shoes and socks off, and stand with your feet facing forward. Look at the inside borders of your feet. What you should see is a mild curve on the insides of your feet like this L( )R. However, if you have flat feet, rather than having that curve, your lines will be either very straight or even bowing in the wrong direction L) (R. The problem with this is that flat feet will impact the alignment of the knee joints as they are pulled in towards each other, causing a squashing type pressure on the outer knee and an opening force on the inside of the knee.
Over the years, you will be more likely to suffer arthritis in this area. Particularly females suffer because of the greater hip width which adds to the lateral force pushing onto the knee joint.
In addition to knee pain, you can experience outer “hip” pain which is actually on the upper thigh on the outsides of your legs just below your bum. (Greater trochanteric bursitis). This is due to the extra forces and friction running through the many muscles that join onto that chunky piece of bone there.
What can you do to stop it?
There are a few options which may help:
- Orthotics
- Tape
- New shoes with great arch support
- Corrective exercises
The damage is often gradual with this problem so it’s best to get it sorted out as soon as possible to prevent problems later in life.
I believe that our feet were designed to do the job of supporting our bodies adequately and that it’s usually a matter of strengthening the muscles inside the feet to fix this problem. But the other methods can also be great interim measures to get your alignment sorted out.
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