Feet are the complex parts of your lower extremities that are essential for balance, walking, running, and every other thing you do standing up. They get used constantly for everything that requires supporting your body’s weight and often become inflamed and painful. Some problems are harder to detect because symptoms don’t appear immediately, including structural problems like flat feet (also known as pes planus or fallen arches).
Up to 37% of the population deal with flat feet, but the condition may stay asymptomatic for a long time before you need to do anything about it. So how serious is this foot problem, and when does it pose a reason for concern? To find out, we’ll need to examine the condition itself, and look at its signs, causes, the health risks, and treatment options.
Residents of Tarzana and Inglewood, California, looking for help with flat feet or other foot problems can get assistance from Drs. Ashkan Soleymani, Michael Salih, Arash Jalil, Saman Tabari, and their staff at Cedars Foot & Ankle Center.
When you’re standing, there should be a visible arch, a curve in the sole of your foot, but people with flat feet don’t have it. Their soles are flat to the ground, and while that’s pretty common among children, many outgrow it. Without the arch, the distribution of your body weight is changed and you can’t absorb the impact of movement as you step. This creates more stress for your feet and makes it harder to adapt to uneven areas when walking or running.
Your flat feet can be rigid (always appearing flat in any position) or flexible (showing evidence of an arch when you're sitting or on your tiptoes), with the rigid form being more common in adults.
The cause depends on when it develops:
This condition can either happen at birth (as babies don’t have arches and some never develop them) or it can be a genetic problem common in your family. Genetic causes include Down syndrome, clubfoot, Cerebral palsy, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, joint hypermobility syndrome, and tarsal coalition.
It can also occur later in life after your arches have developed, which is a collapsing foot deformity called fallen arches. The collapse can be due to several factors, like injuries, arthritis, Charcot foot, and posterior tibial tendon dysfunction.
You may not experience symptoms, but if they occur you can expect foot and ankle pain, shin splints, gait disorders, other foot deformities (bunions, hammertoes), chronic pain even when you’re not on your feet, and pain in your hips, back, and knees. Left untreated, it can lead to other problems, like ankle instability, sprains, and ankle and foot arthritis.
Common flat feet treatment options are conservative and focus on relieving stress on the feet by offering support and reducing pain. Shoe orthotics (inserts placed in your shoes to support them) are often used and special shoes or heel cups can be used for the developing feet of children. Dietary changes and an exercise regime can help to reduce pain and stress, and some medications can help minimize pain as well.
Surgery is rare and only an option if nothing else works and the problem is still getting worse. Your provider may recommend it if you need to create an arch, fuse joints or bones, or repair tendons.
Flat feet are a common problem and are often successfully treated with orthotics and lifestyle changes. If you have bothersome symptoms of flat feet or other foot problems, make an appointment with the team at Cedars Foot & Ankle Center today.
