How to Strengthen Your (Bare, Flat) Feet
About 20% of adults have flat feet. A small subset of the population suffers from hereditary flat foot, but most of it is developed. Very few of us are actually born with flat foot. In this post I’ll explore what you can do to avoid flat feet in the first place, and if you already have them whether it is possible to reverse the damage.
Since publishing blog posts on ditching shoes, alternatives to going barefoot, and others I now receive regular reader emails like this one:
Dear Mark,
I’ve had flat foot all my life (18 years so far) and always wondered about the cause from an evolutionary stand point, and any negatives that might come from it. I vaguely remember the doctors subscribing foot supports and a lot of unnecessary products which I haven’t used in a decade. I don’t have any problems that I know of, but just wondering if there’s any alterations I should make to my workout routine to benefit me more? Thanks in advanced.
Ahmed
Great question, Ahmed.
First, how do we develop flat feet? Almost every online resource gives a few stock answers for the cause of flat foot. Most places say something like this:
Causes of Weak Arches:
Flat feet can be hereditary and present themselves at birth. For others the condition can occur as a result of mis-treating the feet – for example wearing high heels for prolonged periods of time, or wearing shoes with no support.
Flat feet or fallen arches can also result from:
- Weakened muscles in the foot due to aging
- Weakened muscles in the foot due to injury
Or this:
Causes:
- Weakened muscles due to aging or heavy strain placed on the feet.
- Standing or walking for long periods in high heels.
- Wearing shoes that don’t provide proper arch support.
Okay, weakened muscles in the foot I can buy as a cause. In fact, it’s almost certainly one of the primary causes of flat foot. High heels aren’t doing us any favors, either, although I’d amend that one to include anything with even slightly-raised heels as a causative agent. I cannot, however, agree with the contention that lack of shoes without “proper arch support” is the problem; I’d even say that it’s the exact opposite. Try “Wearing shoes that do provide proper arch support” instead. Shoes do little else but provide an environment that our feet simply haven’t truly adapted to.
Our genes want us to be barefoot. In fact, it’s the only environment they know, having been born into a shoeless existence. On an individual scale, you could say we adapt to our shoes, but not on a genetic level. Evolutionarily, we’re still walking on the same bare feet Grok used to get around his environment. In fact, hominids have been obligate bipeds for over two million years. Our feet were arguably the first things to develop. Before the big brains, the complex tool making, and the language, our ancestors were walking upright on feet that looked remarkably similar to our own. But don’t tell that to the guys at Nike. They’re convinced those millions of years of natural selection still weren’t enough to produce a working, functional foot that doesn’t require manmade supportive footwear (unless, of course, you buy the Nike Free, in which case the lack of support is suddenly beneficial – awesome logic, huh?).
The Evidence
Before I get carried away on a tangential rant against athletic shoes, I’ll try to stick to the topic at hand. We know that shoes alter the structure and function of the foot. I mean, it sounds like plain common sense, but there’s also some concrete evidence. Back in 1905, an orthopedist named Dr. Philip Hoffman conducted a “Comparative Study of Barefooted and Shoe-Wearing Peoples” (don’t you just love old research?) and published his results in the American Journal of Orthopedic Surgery. He also took a ton of photos.
Here’s one of a foot that rarely – if ever – saw the inside of a shoe.
Note the wide toes, and how a straight line can be drawn through the axis. Looks pretty healthy and stable, right?
Now look at this photo of a pair of feet and the shoes they’re shoved into.
Notice the narrow structure and the cramped toes, especially the angle of the big toe. It’s pointing inward!
Shoe wearing acts quickly, too. Here, Hoffman snapped photos of two sets of feet.
Foot A is that of a child who has worn shoes for a mere three months, while Foot B is that of an adult who’s gone barefoot his whole life. Three months was all it took to drastically shape the child’s feet. Already his big toe is turning inward.
In the end, Hoffman concluded that of the “one hundred and eighty-six pairs of primitive feet examined, [he] did not find a single foot associated with the symptoms of weakness so common in adult shoe-wearing feet, which are weakened by the restraint the shoe exerts over function.” He also noticed that foot development was remarkably similar, in all populations, up until the introduction of foot wear. Shoes, it seems, have an undeniable ability to alter one’s natural foot structure.
But wait: there’s even more. Researchers in India found (PDF) that flat foot was far more prevalent among people who wore footwear before the age of six. Kids who ran around barefoot for most of their first six years – the formative years, it turns out – had better developed longitudinal arches and less flat foot. Among children who wore footwear on a regular basis, 8.2% suffered from flat foot (compared to 2.8% of barefoot kids). No other factors had comparable impacts. Adults didn’t have higher rates of flat foot than the kids, unless they reported wearing shoes as children. Why do we wear these things, anyway?
If you’ve got kids or are planning on it, you may want to take a good long look at their shoes – or lack thereof.
What Can You Do About It?
Okay, that’s all very compelling, but what does a guy like Ahmed do about his condition? Whether it was inherited (not likely) or developed through footwear usage, he’s still got to deal with a pair of flat feet. He can’t go back in time to age four and throw out his baby sneakers. He can’t erase the years and years of shoe-wearing, years that may have exacerbated his problem (kudos for ditching the orthotics, though!). Is Ahmed beholden to his situation? Are his feet forever altered?
No! Assuming his flat foot was developed, he’s still got the genetic potential to improve his feet and – at least partially – restore some of his natural structure and strength. You’ll still technically be flat footed, but you should be able to restore total functionality to your feet.
The first, perhaps most important step is to stay away from orthotics and shoes with “plenty of arch support.” Rather than help you solve your problem, shoes with arch supports prop you up and lead to weak, atrophied foot musculature. Your feet aren’t grasping, pulling, pushing, and flexing inside a pair of athletic trainers; they’re growing soft and growing weak. Fixing, or at least mitigating, your flat feet is going to require some serious foot strength.
Next, spend as much time as humanly possible with your bare feet. If you’re at home, remove your shoes as soon as you enter. If you’re heading out to take the dog on a walk, try circling the block in your bare feet. Mail’s come? Shoeless. Early morning paper? Barefoot. Living room workout? Do it without shoes on. You’ve got to learn to use your feet again, and the best way to do so is to simply live, eat, breath, and sleep barefoot.
Try toe running. When I haven’t done any serious barefoot work (which is very rare, actually; I’m almost always barefoot or in minimalist footwear) in awhile, I’ll hop on the treadmill in my socks (to reduce slippage) and do five or six minutes of light jogging. The catch is that I make sure to stay on my toes the entire time. This strengthens the ligaments and muscles (there are over a hundred of ‘em in the human foot) and prepares them for future activity.
A Few Simple Exercises to Strengthen Your Feet
Do toe spreads. Sit, stand, or lie down and fan your toes out as widely as possible. Create space between each toe. Hold this position for ten seconds, and repeat the exercise ten times daily per foot.
Point at things with your toes. Pick something, anything, in the room and point your toes at it. Now flex your foot. Hold it for five seconds, then release. Again, do this ten times per foot each day. For extra work, try tracing the alphabet with your feet in midair each day.
Get on your toes. Stand on your tippy-toes and just walk around for five minutes each day. Never let your heels touch the ground for the duration. Barefoot toe treadmill work is a worthy alternative.
Try side walking. Stand up (barefoot, of course) and get in a shoulder wide stance. Bend your knees slightly and roll onto the outer edges of your feet. Keep the weight on your outer feet and slowly raise up on your toes. You should feel your longitudinal arch stretching; once you do, hold that position for five seconds. Repeat five times each day.
Walk in sand. Sand is never the same. If you kick off your shoes and hit the grains (yeah, I just coined that phrase: “hit the grains”), you will be catapulting your virgin bare feet into a chaotic, ever-changing environment that will force them to adapt. Hyperbole aside, walking barefoot in the sand is a highly effective way to strengthen your feet.
I can’t stress this enough: go slowly. From the previous pictures, it’s obvious how much of an impact shoes can have on our bodies. For many of us, a lifetime of shoe wearing means the risk of overtraining our bare feet is possible, or even likely, if we don’t exercise caution. You don’t want to leap blindly into barefoot sprints with severely flat feet and risk injuring yourself even further, do you? Do the strengthening exercises before anything else.
Again, the damage may be done, and the flat feet may be permanent. I’m obligated to say it. There is, however, a lot of anecdotal evidence, especially on some of the barefoot running sites, that suggests people with flat feet can prosper without shoes (and even cure their condition), but there’s little in the way of actual, concrete evidence. We do know that shoes affect the structure and function of our feet; what we don’t know is whether the damage can be reversed. You can certainly strengthen your feet simply by removing your shoes and going barefoot as often as possible – and I highly doubt we’re forever beholden to an artificial adaptation. We often hear about people adopting the Primal Blueprint and turning their lives around in a month after eating the Standard American Diet for years, because our genes are hardwired to prefer certain things and our bodies can recover from an awful lot of abuse. Maybe our feet are the same way. Maybe actual structural changes can’t be completely overcome, but I’d be willing to wager that through careful, targeted foot exercises and a focus on barefoot living, we can make them almost irrelevant.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on flat feet and a barefoot existence. Hit me up with a comment. Thanks for reading, everyone!
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
Harriet: As an avid reader/participant to this forum, I don’t know if Mr. Sisson takes much time with THIS one as he apparently is very busy with other health issues, but I can offer this bit of information: According to STEINDLER’S Kinesiolgy, my “physio bible,” rotation of the legs OUTWARD raises the arches; conversely, INWARD rotation lowers them. Try working with your legs instead of focusing on mechanical support for the arches with orthotics. Also, the muscles of the feet only work the TOES. Arches are maintained with ligaments and once stretched out or even torn, there is little short of surgical repair to them to try to restore the arch structures. This is from that book and if you can ever obtain a copy of it, you’ll have a body of knowledge that any ORTHOPEDIST would desire to have in his/her reference library.
For those interested, Arthur Steindler’s “KINESIOLOGY of the HUMAN BODY UNDER NORMAL and PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS” is available through Amazon.com with prices starting at $193.35. I practically “worship” this extremely enlightening book and wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone desiring to enhance their knowledge of the body in motion in all situations. It also dispels the B.S. that a lot of you hear/read from a good many sources.
Hi Mark –
I’m a big fan of going barefoot and had worn shoes as little as possible for most of my life. However, I began to have hip and back pain in my late 40s. My chiropractor/kinesiologist told me one of my arches has fallen causing misalignment of my body. His advice unless I’m on sand I need to wear arch support … either an insert or shoes like those made by Orthaheel.
I am wondering what your thoughts are regarding his advice. If you disagree is there any scientific data you can point me to that supports going barefoot? I respect my doctor and want to have an intelligent conversation with him about the two different options.
Many thanks,
Teresa
The best way to treat flat feet is to walk
on sand and rub your feet’s fingers together. This will work as your missing bone in you feet.
This is total nonsense. What medical reference can you cite from that states there’s a “missing bone?” I guess some people’s ignorance of foot anatomy, even a basic understanding, is MOST profound. I’m not trying to be insulting, but THIS answer has got to be the most egregiously ignorant one I have ever come upon. Really, a MISSING bone?
There’s one question on my mind: If I was born ‘flat-footed’ or whatever you call it, is there a cure to come back to normal feet?
I really hope there is
thanx a lot, I hope someone would help me, will be waiting *
…
Apparently, you have not done ANY reading of the posts on this site. Why don’t you have a look at them and arrive at your own conclusions. As for being born with flat feet and wonder if they can be cured, what’s the reason for a “cure” unless they cause painful symptoms? I was born with a condition that has my feet completely flat and I enjoy them greatly. I wouldn’t trade my flat feet for arched ones ever. I love them just the way they are! THINK!!!
Thanks a bunch for sharing this with all folks you really recognise what you’re talking approximately! Bookmarked. Kindly also consult with my web site =). We will have a link trade contract between us
My feet are soooo useless. They are straight out flat and the worst thing is that i’ve has them since birth. Skinny Long Flat Feet! I think I agree with Brian in saying that shoes is the cause of this.
any special shoes can b used
plz reply
Shoes ARE the problem, not the solution. That’s the purpose of this forum is to expose the myth that shoes, special or otherwise, CORRECT foot problems. Shoes deform and disable feet and barefoot is best.
Wow, Mark, amazing, eye-opening post! So much useful information. I wish I could just dish my shoes forever. I am determined though to get rid of my flat arches and your post gave me the right confidence! I gave birth 5 months ago and I carry my 19-pound baby a lot! Lately, when I get up in the morning, my feet really hurt and it’s hard to walk for the forst 20 minutes. Flat arches also affect my knees and lower back I think, so it’s hard for me to run without hurting my knees. So, it’s definitely time to do a lot of restorative work!!! Thanks again!
Hi there! A thought ocurred to me reading your post and I thought I’d comment. (Disclaimer: if this doesn’t apply to you take me with the proverbial grain!)
In the months after I had my daughter after I gave birth my feet began to really hurt upon arising every morning as well. I went to see about it and was asked if I’d given birth in the last year.
Apparently bone spurs during pregnancy happen more often because of increased calcium absorption combined with hormonal changes that cause all the bones and tendons to loosen and get softer in preparation for birth. The planar fascia can stretch, leaving a small depression in the heel that miniscule bits of bone ‘pour’ in to fill.
At least this is what happened to me!
Anyway, if your heels and arches are hurting it might be this. One more thing to thank your darling little one for, along with hemorroids. (*grin*)
My daughter just turned 5 and she’s had flat feet since birth, she doesnt complain about her feet hurting now, but i have a sister thats 35 also born with flat feet and she complains about them hurting. Neither one wore shoes very often when they were younger. so wondering what i should do for my daughter now, so she doesnt have to have the pain like my sister.
As a Foot & Ankle Specialist who deals with this issue all day, I am more than happy to contribute my two cents. There are 2 types of flatfoot: Congenital or Acquired. The former is usually more severe and more difficult to treat. I routinely treat kids and teens who want to play sports and cannot due to the pain and fatigue of their foot and leg tissues. In these cases, the most appropriate (both empirical and anecdotal) treatment is orthotics and proper shoes. Physical therapy and strengthening is adjunctive for this patient population. The acquired flatfoot, however, is different. Usually this is from obesity, muscle imbalance or bone assymetry, injury, or disease states such as diabetes. I feel that being overweight is the major cause. I get these folks to change their diet and start low impact exercise either through walking, cycling or aquatic means. I also promote regular weight training to help build lean muscle mass. The beauty of Mark’s work is that it is exactly what I try to implement with these folks and it has changed lives. Saved lives to be exact. I refer them to Mark’s site and it always gets them motivated.
Finally, I do make orthotics and I educate them on proper shoes, but I also emphasize the need for strengthening the intrinsic muscles in our feet through therapeutic exercise and barefoot exercise. Diabetics are special in this regard, since the risks are high for infections with barefoot activities. I normally recommend physical therapy (aquatic work too) to help these patients. In conclusion, I see the best results by combining orthotics/ shoes with strengthening of the foot and leg muscles (either through therapy or barefoot activity, or both).
Bottom line is, every person is different and one size does not fit all. Flatfeet affect young, old, thin, or obese people and finding the right combination tailored to the individual is the key.
According the the great Harry F. Hlavac, DPM, orthotics DO NOT correct feet. They only correct GAIT. If you are trying to pass off the disinformation that you can “treat” flat feet with them, then you are no professional I would ever trust. You are WRONG! I don’t care what degree(s) you might hold, you are taking your client’s money with LIES! Shame be upon you!
I walk around barefoot all the time! My best friend and I even go on walks barefoot and I have completely flat feet. But I was born with it and got it from my dad.
Are you saying I shouldn’t wear my doctor prescribed orthotics? Are you an orthopedic? I was born with very flat feet and I’ve been to at least 6 orthopedics and not one of them said anything you just said except for the fact that Nike’s will mess up your feet. Walking bare foot doesn’t work either it’s the complete bone structure that’s been changed. If you can change or “fix” your flat feet like you say, then there would be a surgical way to do so. Everything you wrote was basically wrong and you have spelling mistakes in your writing.
This is probably my last comment as I have found this site to be infested with woefully ignorant individuals who are seemingly more interested in the aesthetic issues with having flat feet, or that they are phobic that their children who might have such feet, have a “problem” that most likely needs NO intervention (according to the vast majority of orthopedists)but they feel compelled to “do SOMETHING” because they somehow have the rationale that flat feet are “bad” and MUST be “Corrected” at all costs. With this I am resorting to becoming an observer of this “fountain of ignorance” and will say no more. I am done here. Good luck to all those who are of the mindset that all flat feet are bad and shame on those parents of children so gifted for making their kids feel “deformed.”
Well to be fair to those parents, my feet hurt all the time. Like now… I’m barefoot in my bed and my left foot is KILLING me where the arch would be in a non-flat footed person. It would be nice if it was, but the world wasn’t built for flat footed people. So it is something that for comfort reasons would need to be corrected. god knows I’ve tried so many times… just so I’m not in so much pain.
Well, I have had flat feet ALL of my life and have never experienced ANY discomfort with them. Most people with flat feet don’t have any problems with them, as the majority of orthopedists would attest to. It’s the “whiner minority” that keeps podiatrists busy with their otherwise worthless orthotics that gets the attention. You know, “the squeaky wheel…” In my observation, painful conditions with flat feet indicate the feet need conditioning, not “correction,” which orthotics and most surgical procedures DO NOT WORK, EVER!!! Most pediatric flat foot cases usually resolve themselves by age eight to ten years, but I seen advertisement sites for things like HyProCure for children as young as three. Children’s feet are still in the development stage especially at that age and to install stents like the HyProCure or orthotics in these individuals borders on “quackery.” So you have pain in your feet because they’re flat? Like this site recommends, go barefoot more often to condition your feet. You claimed that you tried many times to “correct” your feet without success. Doesn’t that tell you something? Good luck!
wow the “whiner” majority, nice wording there! As someone who has seen a physio, two podiatrists, a chiropractor and is awaiting an appointment with an osteopath, and after three pairs of orthotics I can safely say that due to constant pain in my knees, hips and backs through overpronation of my feet apparently because of flat feet (and yes I have ditched the orthotics and done half a year of work trying to strengthen my feet/hips/glutes,) I would say a lot of people should be allowed to whine over what is an incredibly painful condition!
I have flat feet for 18 years and every time I do sports or run a lot my ankles start to hurt it even caused me to quit wrestling. And I’ve tried everything but it it doesn’t work. What do you think I should do
My flat feet are hereditary. I was born with them, and they go back five generations in my family. But walking barefoot is the only thing I’ve found to help. I’ve tried inserts and orthopedic shoes, but my feet always hurt like hell. they basically scream at me. I also have naturally very wide feet, and I think that’s a factor. I usually wear flip flops so I can take them off whenever necessary and do most of my walking barefoot. thank you for this article.
Three cheers for you. You’re smart to just go barefoot with your flat feet. That’s the way to go.
Here’s what I do to condition my flat feet so they stay in shape is to stand barefoot on a pair of flip-flops, the forepart of the each foot on the back part and the heels on the hard floor and stand on my feet for half-hour intervals, helping to stretch the inter-osseous ligaments so they’re not tight anymore and when I’m done, my feet are firmly flat on the floor; the talo-navicular “zone” pressing hard to the floor and my flat feet feel totally relaxed and I don’t have pain issues, ever. I don’t know if that method will work for all, but it sure works for me.
I was born with one flat foot on the left and one arched foot on the right. I’ve even had a piece of my left hip surgically removed and inserted like a wedge into my left foot on the outer edge to help alter where the weight of my body wears on my foot. I have bad bone spurs which were removed and have returned that grow on the top of my foot by the ankle. I have to stretch my hamstrings and pelvis everyday several times a day just to function. The muscles in my left calf have all but atrophied into nothing because I can’t move my left foot in ways where I could even work out, exept to ride a bike. I live in the desert southwest and going barefoot is out of the question. When I go barefoot in the house it kills my left foot, my knees, and my hips and pelvis. I don’t even exercise at all and I am in pain on a daily basis. I have had pain in my foot since I can remember and I just wanted to write on here that I am so glad that people like you are trying to help people with feet pain. If your feet hurt it can really affect your life in so many ways. It is my own personal prison.
I’ve had flat feet since I was about 9 after walking around in completely non-supportive rubber shoes for 3 months straight.
Now I use arch supports in my shoes but they hurt my feet so dang bad when I’m running!
Does anyone know if running in shoes with no support or with support is better for a flat-footed person?
Also, I only got flat-foot after I quit my dance lessons. Before I quit I walked around barefoot constantly and danced a lot.
Anyways, thanks for the exercises! I will try them and see if they improve the ache in my arch which is getting worse.
Megan, who posted on Feb 5th, only mentioned practitioners who ostensibly are NOT going to help her much. A chiropractor for foot issues? REALLY!? If she is seeking relief for foot pain that seems intractable, then perhaps she should seek advice/treatment from true professionals like ORTHOPEDISTS who specialize in foot structure and abnormalities. As for the “whiner” comment is concerned, an old saying goes like this: “Toss a rock over a fence and it’s the hit dog that howls.” Go figure!
Hi,
I’m 24 and like many of you I have flat feet as well, this started about a year ago that the pain came out of nowhere, the doctor said that I had weak feet, I explain to the doctor that it hurts all the time but it hurts more when I’m standing for long periods and when I play soccer, it don’t hurt when I ice skate and he said that’s because the hockey skates have inserts with good arch support and prescribe me some inserts for my shoes that I’m yet to buy, he also said to keep my feet dry and try not to walk barefoot, will barefoot exercises be good for me?
Mark, I am a chef in a very busy restaurant. I’m on my feet on a not level tile floor. I’m working 10-12 hours a day like this. With flat feet and my left foor being 1.5 sizes smaller than my right I have to buy two seperate shoes. I didn’t start doing this until last year. My left foot/ankle is aching terribly every day. And I believe my feet issues have assisted in now having 2 herniated discs in my back. My question: is there any type of shoes that I could use in the kitchen, I have to wear black shoes, with a nonslip safety sole. Or should I just think about changing professions??
I’m not Mark Sisson, but I am in the know of what you need. It’s “Chefs’ clogs” and you can order them from the CHEF WEAR catalog or online from them. They are what sounds like “made-to-order” as you can get for what you are describing. Check them out. I’ve have done quite a bit of business with CHEFWEAR and I can attest to their quality and reliability.
I am in my mid 30′s I have always been very active in most outdoor sports, especially snowboarding. However, about 3 or 4 years ago I started to develop really bad muscle aches in my feet. At first it was just at the end of the day but now I can maybe get 3 or 4 runs in and then I am literally tearing my boots off in pain because my feet hurt so bad. My research has brought me to barefoot training. So I am just curious, does this sound like weak feet to you? Do I need to be strengthening my feet and rebuilding my arches? I am willing to try anything as I am seriously looking at losing one of my most favorite pass-times due to these muscle aches.
Foot muscles are so small that exercises to strengthen them will not rebuild your arches, as it’s not musculature that make up the arches, anyway. It’s ligaments that hold the arches and going barefoot will help condition your feet so they might not hurt as much or anymore. It’s just that simple and orthotics are of no value, anyhow.
How do you feel about crocs or those new vibram foot shoes? If you could email me an answer that would be great. Thanks!
what do you do if you cant go around barefoot and you cant afford the shoes that give you good support. and i was born with flat feet. and is it normal to get really sore ankles and knees or is that something else?
i was born with flat feet im 11 and i cant go around barefoot so what do you do if you cant afford the proper support shoes or orthodics or whatever they are called. and is it normal to get severe pain in your ankles and knees or is this something else?
Hi out there to all the flat footers who think they have tried it all. I can tell you what worked for me.
I was born with flat feet that seem to be hereditary. Through childhood I always wore special orthotics I was prescribed by a podiatrist. They never seemed to help much and I had back and knee pain all the time, as well as a progressively curving spine.
I started dance at 3 in traditional Ukrainian style that uses rigid shoes. When I was 15 I switched to dancing ballet and lyrical, which (for practice, unless you are doing pointe which is another thing again) uses thin canvas foot coverings so you can feel the floor, or bare feet. By the time I was 17 or 18 I stopped needing the orthotics and I would go days without my feet or legs bothering me. My spine not only stopped curving but REVERSED some of it’s previous curvature (today I am 21 and it’s only 13%)
My podiatrist of course has the record of my footprints over the years. You can see the difference as soon as I started dancing barefoot, I developed a little bit of an arch. I didn’t connect the two things at the time, I just thought I was lucky to have grown out of it. Today I have a little arch, so my feet are still technically flat, but they are not as flat as they were.
They look funny, but they are very strong! And they carry me around the world without hurting me.
So I can only speak for myself, but maybe try ballet/lyrical exercises in your bare feet. If nothing else, they are great for developing all the little stabilizer muscles in the leg and improving speed and co-ordination.
Dear Jenica:
Your problems were most likely caused if not exasperated by the rigid shoes and orthotics you were using in childhood. I am an “anti-orthotic activist” and appear on other sites with my “mission” to stamp out orthotic use, especially when children are prescribed these evil devices and having those orthotics ruin little feet to satisfy the vain and frivolous desires of some wicked parents who just can’t get the idea that flat feet in children are completely normal.
Your stating that minimalist footwear and going barefoot is reversing your problems confirms what Mr. Sisson is claiming—barefoot is best!
I (34 yrs.) inherited the problem of flat feet from my father (68 yrs.). Now my little boy (1.5 yrs.) is seemingly developing similar symptoms.
How should I save my beloved baby from this ailment???
So glad you brought this subject up. Many orthopedic studies on pediatric flat foot have been done and the consensus is that flat feet in children, especially at the age of your little one, are COMPLETELY NORMAL and arches do not start to form until about age three and most don’t develop until ages 8 to 10. However, flat feet cannot be “corrected” at any rate short of surgical modification of the osseous (bone) structures to “create” arches, albeit they will most likely cause the feet to become rigid, which is a more serious problem for anyone, especially an otherwise active child. Orthotics, as PROVEN by the studies and research, are of absolutely NO VALUE and most likely will cause more problems than they are to ostensibly solve. The BEST thing to do is keep your precious child barefoot so the feet develop normally and flat feet in children generally cause no disadvantage even in sports activities. You can verify this finding by looking up pediatric flatfoot articles by orthopedists on the internet. I would caution against the PODIATRIC approach, as my exhaustive research into pediatric flatfoot has indicated that the podiatric “industry” is more geared to opportunism rather than true professionalism and they would essentially burden you with expensive but useless “treatments” such as frequent fittings for orthotics for the growing foot and even then, your child will, most likely, still have flat feet. Flat feet in children rarely cause pain as the feet and lower extremities can absorb any potential misalignments that can occur with tibial (lower leg) rotation.
I can speak not only from my research but also from experience. I’ve had flat feet throughout my life of 54 years and I have never had ANY problems with them. And according to a New York Times article, flat feet are ACTUALLY protective against stress fractures and many athletically inclined find flat feet to be a genuine benefit as they are more structurally stable than their arched counterparts. This is proven fact as the U.S. military no longer disqualifies flat-footed applicants for enlistment.
I hope you can find this information useful as to not worry about your child having flat feet and having to undergo needless (and useless) “treatments.”
I have flat feet, planter fasciitis, stress fractures two dozen, arthritis, inflamed and deteriorated ligaments & tendons, bone Shri Kate, tight calves on both feet. Plus on left foot I have Morton’s Neuroma, 3 places of capsulitis at metatarsals 2, 3, & 4. I wear orththotics with metatarsal support. The podiatrist wants me in a wheel chair for 2months, after that I am worried about the rest of my life. HELP HELP HELP. THANK YOU, Evelyn
Dear Evelyn:
If it were me with those serious problems, I would definitely get advice/treatment from an orthopedic surgeon, not some podiatrist. Podiatry, in my opinion, has its place for routine foot care, but really egregious ailments like the ones you describe deserve genuine medical attention. The ball is in your court.
I run track so I have to where shoes is there a way around the damage that doesn’t mean I have to quit??