What Can You Do About Flat Feet?

If you have flat feet, you may believe that this is a situation you just have to live with. In some cases, having flat feet can be a very major medical issue and can cause a wide variety of complications. In others, they may just be an annoyance. Either way, there are a lot of things that can be done to help you resolve any pain and discomfort you may be experiencing because of your flat feet. In this article, we discuss the different types of flat feet and provide sound suggestions for solutions. Read on to learn more

Is There One Solution for Flat Footedness?

The solution to your particular case of flat footedness is dependent upon the type of condition you have and the cause of it. There are couple of different types of flat feet.

Flexible flat feet are only flat in weight-bearing conditions. If you lift your flat foot off the floor and find that you have a bit of an arch, this means you have a flexible flat foot.

Rigid flat feet are flat in any position, whether weight-bearing or not. This condition may be the result of tarsal coalition, which is the fusing of some of the bones of the feet. Rigid flatfoot may be a congenital condition, or it may be caused by arthritis.

Even though, the resolution of your flatfoot problem depends greatly upon the type of flatfoot you have and the cause, there are some things you can do no matter what that will help you with your symptoms. They are:

Establish a daily stretching routine. Your flat feet may be caused or exacerbated by a condition called Equinus. This is tight calf muscles. Having tight calf muscles can cause your feet to be flat by transmitting a pronating force on your foot. This causes your arches to collapse.

Performing daily stretches when you get up in the morning and before going to bed at night, as well as off and on throughout the day, can help keep your calf muscles flexible.

Two good stretches to do are the runners’ stretch and the yoga pose known as downward dog.

Best Calf Stretch to Relieve Tightness - See Video
Strengthen your arches. The sole of your foot is made up of intrinsic muscles. These are muscles that are confined to the bottom of the foot and both originate and terminate there. It is very common to neglect stretching, strengthening and exercising these muscles.

Lack of strength in the intrinsic muscles on the sole of the foot can cause flat footedness. It's very easy to exercise these muscles by teaching your toes to behave like fingers. To do this, you would spread, stretch and exercise your toes.

Develop the habit of picking up and moving things using your toes. Marbles and pebbles are good for this exercise, but you can experiment with a variety of objects. Vary the size and shape of the objects you pick up to gain more strength and flexibility in your toes and arches.

Picking up Objects with Toes - See Video
Give your feet good support. Wearing well-made, comfortable shoes equipped with the right kinds of shoe insoles, arch supports or custom-made orthotics can help align the bony structures of your feet.

Mechanically raising your arches and inverting your heel bones with good support can help relieve the pain caused by flat feet. Good arch supports help line up your joints from ankles to knees to hips, and this can help alleviate pain in your legs and lower back.
Give your feet some barefoot time. Wearing supportive shoes helps correct flat feet, but your feet also need some free time to move and stretch and exercise in an unrestrained manner.

You may not wish to walk barefoot around your house because of cold floors or lurking Legos, but unstructured house slippers can perform much the same function. You may also want to practice barefoot walking on established, safe, hazard free surfaces.

Does Walking Barefoot Help Flat Feet? See Video
Incorrigible flat feet may need surgery. If your flat feet are quite painful and do not improve through exercise, stretching and proper footwear, you may be a candidate for surgery.

Talk with your doctor to find out what type of surgery may work for you. Your choices are:

* Implant surgery: With this type of surgery an implant will be placed toward the back of your foot to help support your bones.

* Structural surgery: This type of surgery is performed by transferring tendons, shaping bones and or fusing joints to align the feet.

* Fusion surgery: In this type of surgery major joints fusions are performed.
This option is usually reserved for very serious and painful cases of flat footedness.

Can Flat Feet Be Cured?

Although you may not be able to cure your flat footedness entirely, take heart in the fact that there are many ways to strengthen your feet, support your arches and ease the aches and pains caused by pes planus.