Foot Doctor Explains How Flat Feet Can Causes Problems
Flat feet can occur at a young age, after an injury, or aging. Some might experience foot pain if not treated or managed. In this video, podiatrist Dr. Melody Chong explains to us why flat feet can cause problems and how they can be treated.
Transcript
I’m Dr. Melody Chong. I’m a podiatrist. I treat ankle, foot, and leg issues. I'm located at 3838 California Street and I've been in practice for over 25 years.
Why should we care about flat feet?
Flat feet basically mean flat arches or low arches of your feet. The arches don't have stable joints. So when the joints are not stable, the arches get out of alignment. This alignment affects the other joints in the foot. With the flat feet, it can also cause the ankles to roll in, and so you can get a sprained ankle.
Often this occurs when one is young. One is born often with flat feet. Often there's no pain and no problems, but it should be treated, since later on one can get knee or back problems.
What are the treatments for flat feet?
One of the main treatments is custom orthotics for flat feet because they help support the arches and reposition the joints, which is what happens when you're walking and standing. They can also help straighten the heels.
For flat feet, I often recommend very stable supportive shoes. No brand in particular. It’s very hard to determine until I see the patient. I will often assess their condition, like the type of flat feet and the cause. We discuss this usually in person, and I usually at that point give some shoe recommendations.
I also recommend stretching for heel pain, flat foot pain, and high arch pain. If you have difficulty doing this on your own, I can refer you to physical therapy.
This diagram (left) shows heel and arch pain. We just talked about flat feet (low arches), which is right here. This is a more normal arch and this is a high arch. Both flat arches and high arches can cause heel pain.
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