Numerous men and women with flat feet believe having flat feet is a problem without a resolution. In most situations, this is plain wrong.
Flat feet can be a significant medical issue for many. Depending on the severeness of the indentation and flatness, having flat feet can cause constant pain. At times it can be difficult finding proper fitting shoes, and it can also limit ones chance to lead an active lifestyle.
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Examples of Flat Feet
There are three principal varieties of flat feet: flexible flatfoot, flexible flatfoot with a shortened Achilles tendon and rigid flatfoot. Within these three categories, there are numerous levels of severity.
Type #1: Flexible flatfoot
The first, flexible flatfoot, is frequently seen in most children. It happens in both feet, it is regularly painless and does not produce any impediment.
Type #2: Flexible flatfoot with a shortened Achilles tendon
The second type is flexible flatfoot with a shortened Achilles tendon. This type is exceptionally unusual in young children. It strikes both feet and can cause limitations as well as pain.
Flexible flatfoot is named “flexible” because it only happens when weight is placed on the foot, and the arch reappears when the load is reduced, as when one is sitting.
Flexible flat foot commonly occurs in childhood or adolescence while lasting into adulthood. It regularly happens in both feet at the same time and advances in severity during the adult years. With age, the damage to the foot can worsen. Tendons and ligaments of the foot’s arch may grow irritated when they are incorrectly stretched or torn.
Type #3: Rigid Flat Feet
The third type of flatfoot is rigid flatfoot. This type of flat foot is the least common of the three. This ailment is usually observed in cases where there have been problems with the tarsal bones, or there is a tarsal coalition, which is when the bones joined together.
Symptoms of flat feet
Symptoms that can happen to people with flat feet include:
- Pain in the heel, arch, ankle or along the outside of the foot
- Rolled-in ankle also called overpronation
- Shin splint – Ache in the shin bone
- Overall discomfort in the heel, leg or foot
- Knee, lower back or hip pain
Here are eight options that can help your flat feet.
Let us discuss seven natural treatments plus flat foot surgery.
1. Know what causes you pain
Change the way your perform some movements. Decrease actions that produce pain and avoid extended walking and standing to give your feet some rest.
2. Diet & Weight loss.
Being overweight can increase the pain in your feet. Less weight means less pressure on your arches and can considerably reduce the strain on your feet.
3. Stretching
A stiff calf muscle is typically regarded to be the most common cause of flat feet. A tight calf muscle can result in arch collapse.
Committing yourself to a regular stretching schedule can relieve the flattening effect of a tight calf. A productive and straightforward stretch for the Achilles is the runners stretch. Another easy exercise to add to your routine is the yoga position called the “downward dog.”
4. Foot Arch Strengthening – More Exercises
The foot’s anatomy is a complex system that contains 13% of the bones in the human body including 26 bones, 33 joints; and over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
People with flat feet tend to have poorly functioning or poorly formed intrinsic foot muscles so having an exercise plan intended for strengthening these muscles in the foot can help better comfort the arch. Some exercises are as simple as using grabbing motions with the toes; examples are picking up a tissue paper or small towel.
5. Insoles and Orthotics
Shoe Inserts devices for your shoes to provide added support to the arches.
Orthotics, (a.k.a. arch supports), can significantly add support and physically elevate the foot’s arch. Both are designed to perform a similar function. By physically aligning the bone in the foot into a better position they increase the arch and invert the heel bone. Flat feet sufferers customarily respond well to inserts because the additional skeletal support relieves the muscle strain.
6. Shoes designed uniquely for flat feet
We are fortuitous to be living at an age when technology and engineering are being applied to almost every aspect of our lives. Shoes are one of the oldest inventions in history, and now people with flat feet can have shoes specifically designed for them. An example, if you love to exercise and run you are in luck because now runners with flat feet have a wide selection of options. Some have exceptional orthotic insoles designed to produce anatomical support along with unprecedented cushioning. These advances in footcare science are working wonders to reduce foot pain for flat feet and fallen arches sufferer as they offer a quick solution.
7. Back the basics, going barefoot
Some people might believe that going barefoot and not having any support is contradictory to reason; there is logic to this argument.
The use it or lose it debate.
The idea is that when we walk barefoot, the tissues & muscles of the foot become more engaged and developed. More powerful foot muscles may increase the foot’s stability.
8. The opposite of back the basics – Surgery
Flat foot surgery can be a benefit at times for severe flat feet that have not improved when other options have been attempted.
As with most surgeries, flat feet surgery for can be comparatively simple or exceedingly complex, numerous points demand to be taken into account before deciding with your physician if the operation is the best route for you; such as the person’s age, the severity foot, and its causes. No two flat feet are the same, so it’s essential that the is treatment unique to the conditions.
Some types of surgeries are more invasive than others. Usually, to achieve proper flat foot realignment, flat foot surgeries involve some variety of tendon transfers, some small bone cuts and/or joint fusions. Other operations might require an implant in the posterior of the foot to better aid the bones. In even more difficult cases, significant mergers of joints may be unavoidable.
In Conclusion
Although there is no remedy for a flat foot, there are many options for people with flat feet which is something that can’t be said about every ailment we can have. By having all of these options, there is no reason for you to continue to live with pain caused by flat feet. You can start relieving your suffering today in the comfort of your home and remember that these are not an immediate solution. They take time and dedication. When all other options are exhausted, surgery can be an option.