While flat feet do not seem like they can cause major problems, they can often misalign your entire body, leading to possible pain in your knees, hips, and back. This blog will look into 8 signs that point to these misalignments.
There are symptoms that show that your flat feet may be affecting your overall balance, such as in your knees, hips, and back. When you notice these symptoms, it might be time to make some key decisions. This post will help you out by pointing out some of those symptoms.
Overpronation: How Flat Feet Can Affect Your Body
Flat feet are not always associated with problems in your body. But, in some cases, they may lead to misalignments all over your body. And these can often lead to a biochemical issue that is characterized by your ankles rolling excessively inward. And overpronation can lead to an overall misalignment of your body.
Moreover, this misalignment can cause a variety of musculoskeletal issues occurring due to repetitive strain. So, if you have flat feet and have experienced any of the following 8 symptoms, the harmful impact of overpronation might be connected to your knees, hips, and back:
1. A Chronic Yet Dull Pain in Your Knees
When your feet are overpronated, your lower legs can rotate inward, forcing your knees to twist as well. This abnormal stress when put on the knee joint can lead to pain, as well as swelling, further leading to cartilage damage over time.
This pain may be observed more particularly inside your knee, and can worsen with activities, such as walking or running.
2. Pain in Your Inner Ankle and Foot
Overpronation and a collapsing arch can strain the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that are present on the inside of your ankle and foot.
This often causes a persistent ache, and in some cases, can lead to posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (PTTD), which is an injury to the tendon that supports your arch. And it can also lead to heel pain due to strained arch tissues (Plantar fasciitis).
3. Pain in Your Hips and Lower Back
Overpronation can also lead to the inward rotation of your legs, causing your hips to tilt forward. This further misaligned the spine, leading to an increase in the curve in your lower back. This places an excessive strain on ligaments and muscles.
The resulting chronic discomfort may be more noticeable after long periods of walking or simply standing. Moreover, this takes place due to the altered biomechanics of the flat feet that impact other joints.
4. Your Shoes Wear Out Unevenly
In the case of overpronation caused by flat feet, it is likely that the inner edges of your shoes’ soles are more worn down than the outer edges. This is a clear visual clue that your feet are unable to properly distribute your body’s weight.
It, however, has more long-lasting impacts, with your body adjusting other posture elements to maintain balance. These muscles then become fatigued and tight over time, leading to radiating pain sensations, inflammation, and muscle spasms.
5. Heightened Fatigue in Your Legs and Feet
Flat feet can cause poor foot mechanics to make your legs and especially your feet work harder and maintain stability. This leads to increased fatigue as you often observe that your feet and legs feel heavy, tired, or even achy, simply from routine activities, such as walking or even just standing.
It can be considered a clear sign that the lack of arch support is being overcompensated by your flat feet, leading to increased fatigue. In orthopaedic terms, the increased fatigue occurs due to altered gait mechanics.
6. Noticeable Inward Rolling of Your Ankles
As stated earlier, overpronation can cause an increased inward rotation of your legs. Another extended symptom related to this is how noticeable the inward rolling of your ankles becomes. And overpronation can also make it look like your heels are consistently tilting outward.
This condition, as an extension of overpronation, is referred to as Hyperpronation. When left untreated, it can lead to issues that do not just pause at flat feet, and can lead to pain in the foot, back, knee, hips, or other physical challenges, such as bunions and hammertoe.
7. Significant Changes in Your Walking Pattern
The misalignment caused by flat feet can lead to significant alterations in the way you walk. You can observe this with the development of an awkward or unbalanced gait, which is a sign that your body is actively trying to compensate for your improper foot mechanics. It can also be characterized by ankle twisting.
So, while flat foot is usually a common and painless foot condition, when left unchecked, the changes in your walking pattern can lead to long-term imbalance in your back, knee, hip, which results in a chronic sensation of pain.
8. Rest and Supportive Footwear Work as Pain Relief
In the case of overpronation, you might observe that your pain can lessen after you have rested your feet for a while, or even see your condition improve when wearing more supportive shoes. This is not only a sign of flat feet affecting your hips, knees, and back, but also a sign of improper balance and support, triggering the problem.
So, as multiple pain points are created by overpronation due to a lack of balance, it affects your lower back, knees, ankles, and hips, representing an impact on your entire kinetic chain. And only when you wear supportive shoes, your posture receives aid, and provides good arch support.
Here is a quick recap of 8 symptoms to evaluate how flat feet are affecting your body:
| Symptoms | Targeted Body Part | Causes |
| A Chronic Yet Dull Pain in Your Knees | Knees | Abnormal stress on the knee joints |
| Pain in Your Inner Ankle and Foot | Inner Ankle, Feet | Strain due to a collapsing arch |
| Pain in Your Hips and Lower Back | Hips | Impact of altered biomechanics of your feet |
| Your Shoes Wear Out Unevenly | Overall Gait | Your body’s attempt to adjust to the misalignment of your feet |
| Heightened Fatigue in Your Legs and Feet | Legs, Feet | Poor balance causes your legs and feet to put in more effort |
| Noticeable Inward Rolling of Your Ankles | Ankles | Hyperpronation or excessive inward rolling of the ankles |
| Significant Changes in Your Walking Pattern | Overall Gait | The body actively compensating for improper foot mechanics |
| Rest and Supportive Footwear Work as Pain Relief | Overall Gait | Improper balance, needing additional support |
Table 1: Recap of the 8 symptoms
How To Accurately Tell Your Flat Foot’s Impact on Your Body
If you suspect that your flat feet have affected your knees, hips, and back, the ideal option would be to get an accurate diagnosis. And to get that accurate diagnosis, it is recommended that you consult a podiatrist or an orthopaedic doctor.
They are likely to prescribe you a gait analysis, reviewing your shoe wear patterns, taking imaging tests like X-rays, and confirming a diagnosis to recommend a treatment plan.
Suffering From Aggravated Flat Feet? Visit Us!
Are you concerned that your flat feet have led to major impacts, such as pain and fatigue in other sections of your body? You’d need to undergo proper diagnostics and treatments! Thus, visit us at Union Podiatre! Our expert physicians will offer you the most accurate diagnoses and treatment options!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Are flat feet permanent?
Flat feet can be cured to an extent. While the bone structure cannot be changed, the symptoms can be improved significantly or even eliminated with proper treatment. Early intervention in children can also be effective.
2. What problems may arise if flat feet are left untreated?
Ignoring the symptoms or pain can lead to complications due to the altered biomechanics further impacted by walking or just standing. These can include plantar fasciitis, achilles tendinitis or bunions.
3. Can I use medication to relieve pain due to flat feet?
Custom over-the-counter arch supports can be useful in properly aligning your feet and supporting the arch.
4. Is proper footwear a better remedy to flat feet pain relief than physical therapy?
Both are valid options to relieve the pain you feel from flat feet. However, which one is more effective can differ from one person to another, as two bodies can react to different interventions, differently.