People with flat feet are often
said to have “fallen arches”.
The arch is made up of the bones
of the mid-foot. The foot
actually has 26 bones all
connected by tendons, ligaments
and muscles. To enable you to
walk and run the joints of the
foot all work together in a
coordinated sequence. The
efficient, pain-free functioning
of the foot requires that all
these joints, ligaments, muscles
and tendons work together in a
sophisticated, coordinated
sequence. The arch of the foot
and the joints that makeup the
arch, play an important role in
the proper functioning of the
foot.
The heel hits the ground first
when you take a step. As the
middle of the foot starts to
take up the load, the foot
rotates toward the floor in a
motion known as pronation.
During pronation the arch
flattens out a bit as the foot
rotates toward the floor.
Pronation is important because
it allows the foot to absorb
shock. In addition, pronation
allows all the bones of the
mid-foot to unlock and become
like a “bag of bones”. Being a
loose “bag of bones” enables the
foot to adapt to uneven surfaces
(uphill, downhill, rocky
surface, etc.). As you go
further along in the step the
foot undergoes a motion known as
supination. Supination is the
opposite of pronation. In
supination the foot rotates away
from the floor and relocks all
the bones of the foot to allow
the foot to become rigid as you
push-off from the floor and
propel yourself forward.
One of the most important
contributors to the proper
functioning of the foot is the
plantar fascia. The plantar
fascia is a fibrous band of
tissue that attaches from the
bottom of the heel to the bones
of all five toes. Tension in the
plantar fascia is responsible
for maintaining the shape of the
arch. The plantar fascia acts
like a spring. It allows the
foot to pronate and unlock the
bones of the foot and then the
spring action allows the foot to
supinate and relock the bones of
the foot.
For people with flat feet the
plantar fascia is like a
stretched-out spring. It no
longer maintains the arch and
does not allow the foot to
supinate and relock the bones of
the foot. People with flat feet
remain pronated throughout the
step. This means that the foot
cannot form a rigid lever arm to
propel you forward. This leads
to very inefficient functioning
of the foot. If the foot is not
able to efficiently perform its
job then the lower leg has to
take over the function of
propelling you forward.
Flat feet can cause several
problems. People with flat feet
often develop heel pain known as
plantar fasciitis. Plantar
fasciitis is inflammation in the
area where the plantar fascia
attaches to the heel (see
article "Why
Do My Heels Hurt"
for more information). The
inflammation is caused by
excessive stretching and pulling
at this area of attachment.
People with flat feet often
experience painful, achy, and
tired lower legs at the end of
the day because the lower legs
have to work so much harder to
overcome the inefficient foot
function. As a result people
with flat feet often develop
very bulky, large calf muscles
because the calf muscles have to
work so hard. People with flat
feet can also develop pain in
the arch are due to the
excessive stretching of the
tendons ligaments and muscles
that try to make up for the
malfunctioning plantar fascia.
Many people do not realize that
flat feet can also cause
problems with the knees, hips
and low back. The feet really
are the foundation of the body.
An over-pronated foot may cause
misalignment of the ankle joint.
If the ankle joint is not
aligned then the knee joint is
not aligned. This can lead to
knee pain. The rest of the body
must compensate to make up for
this misalignment and this
causes imbalance in the muscles
of the pelvis and low back. This
imbalance of the pelvis and low
back muscles causes hip and low
back pain.
Please click here for Part II of
Arch Supports For Flat Feet.
Flat feet and “fallen arches”
cause so many problems and so
much pain for so many people.
The tragedy is that many people
do not realize that the solution
to their problem is so simple
and affordable. May people fall
victim to advertising on TV and
spend a lot of money on
solutions such as gel pads and
over-the-counter arch supports
that do not correct the problem
and therefore do not relieve
their pain. The solution to flat
feet is a custom arch support.
The arch support must be rigid
enough to support the arch.
However is a rigid arch support
does not match the exact contour
of the foot or it will cause
pain. That is why the arch
supports you buy from TV or at
the pharmacy are relatively
soft. The soft arch supports
will not cause pain if they do
not exactly match the contour of
the foot. However, although the
soft arch supports will not
cause pain they also will not
relieve pain. The soft arch
supports will not support the
arch and thus will not correct
the problem.
With technology available today
custom arch supports do not need
to be expensive. Wasting money
on ineffective over-the-counter
arch supports and shoe inserts
is expensive. If you have flat
feet and experience foot pain,
knee or low back pain please do
yourself a favor and get
yourself the real solution, a
custom arch support.
We offer
custom arch supports that are
100% guaranteed to relieve your
pain. After the order is placed
you are sent an impression kit
with clear and simple
instructions on how to create an
impression of your feet.
Included with the kit is a
questionnaire which asks
specific questions as to the
nature of your problem. You are
given Dr Davies’ direct phone
number for any questions or to
discuss your problem in more
detail. You then send the kit
and questionnaire back to us
(the postage and shipping label
is included so you just have to
drop it off at the post office).
We then make the arch supports
from the impression and the
information from the
questionnaire. The arch supports
are then sent to you with
instructions on how to adjust to
your new arch supports. The
entire process from ordering to
delivery of the arch supports
generally does not take longer
than two weeks. If for any
reason these arch supports do
not solve your problem you will
be given the option for an
immediate refund or we will also
be happy to make any necessary
adjustments. We are in the
business of helping people with
their foot pain and we only want
happy customers. Please order
your custom
arch supports
today.
You really have nothing to lose
expect your foot pain.
