Flat Feet

Just found out the other day that I'm suffering from "flat feet". Yes, I have flat feet. I know it sounds funny but it's not funny when you have it! LOL. Anyway, those who have no idea what is this flat feet problem, you'd probably be thinking of penguin feet.. well, it is kinda like that in a way. haha.. sighs. Just to give an idea of what's it all about, this picture might just explains it all:

See that? That's my foot right there, the one with flat arch. Flat feet (or fallen arches) is caused by over-pronation. But there's also the reverse case of under-pronation where the foot has high arch - higher than the normal arch. But, you can google that yourself. Now it's about my flat feet. LOL. Here's the better English explanation of flat feet:

Over-pronation is a common biomechanical problem that occurs when the arches collapse while walking or standing. This condition hampers our natural walking pattern, causing an imbalance, and leading to wear and tear in other parts of the body with every step we take.

Whether you suffer from over-pronation like most of the population, or you have a true flat foot, in both cases your poor walking pattern may contribute to a range of different complaints. As we age, poor aligment of the feet causes very common conditions such as heel pain or knee pain.

Over-pronation has different causes. Obesity, pregnancy, age or repetitive pounding on a hard surface can weaken the arch, leading to over-pronation. Over-pronation is also very common with athletes, especially runners, who most of them nowadays use orthotics inside their shoes. Here's the link for this text

So, notice the words in bold? Those are the problems I'm having. They didn't mention back pain there though, but I read somewhere that it does cause back pain. And playing a lot of netball worsens my feet condition as well as my ankles. My ankles now are slightly inwards and they hurt whenever I do a lot of running or walking. Now I know why I'm having these back, foot and ankle pains. If I had known of this problem, I would have taken care of my feet properly. OH okay2 I was browsing through the internet about this while blogging and I found something that would explain about my ankle with illustrations too (nice):

When a foot is walking or running, it goes through a sequence of motions. In an ideal situation, when your foot lands on the ground, it rolls inwards – pronates – on the big toe side with the arch flattening a little to absorb the shock of the foot-fall. As you begin your next step, your foot rolls back towards the center (in a neutral position) to allow you to push off from your toes, more or less evenly across all the toes. The series of illustrations below show how this might look.

When someone has flat feet, they tend to roll inwards too much when their foot lands on the ground. This is known as over-pronation. Because the foot over-pronates, it doesn’t roll back to the neutral position quickly enough as you begin to push off for your next step. This misaligned foot-fall affects the position of the lower leg, the knee, thigh and hip so that the force of your foot-fall is not absorbed in the best possible way. Some parts of your body like your lower back may bear more strain than it should, leading to back pain. Original Source here

Spot on. It even mentions the back pain. Anyway, I googled some more the other day whether I could regain the arches. Well apparently I can - what a relief. Some massaging or practice can help regaining the arches. Practice such as picking up things using my feet or walking properly. I also found out that walking barefooted could actually help too. I love walking barefoot, no problem there ;).

AND lose weight. I bet this would help A LOT as well. Why can't fats just go away as I please. Haha... sheesh. Hopefully I could get my hands on those orthotic insoles or orthotic sandals (tried them on and it really made much difference, it felt really really good and comfy) but they're quite costly. Still, it's a good investment for the long run.

Alritey, guess that's it about my flat feet. These pair of flat feet are hitting the bed. Goodnight!