In this article, I will discuss flat feet. I will explain what this condition is and what causes it. Then I will tell you how you can treat it and what steps you can take to prevent it from worsening and occurring in the first place.
What are Flat Feet?
Flat feet, or fallen arches, is a condition whereby the arch of the foot collapses, and as a result the most or the entire arch of the foot comes into contact with the ground, rather than having an original arch in between the heel and ball of the foot.
This condition can arise as a result of fallen arches, caused by years of wear and tear on the foot that weaken the foot tendons to the point that they can no longer support the arch. In children, flat feet may also be caused by failure to develop the arch of the foot during childhood.
Another symptom of this condition is over-pronation, a biomechanical condition that arises when the arches of the foot collapse while standing or walking. This can disrupt our natural walking pattern, causing imbalance, and lead to additional and increasingly painful foot problems with each step we take.
Complications of Flat Feet
While the condition of fallen arches itself normally does not cause pain, if allowed to worsen, this condition can lead to a number of painful foot conditions, including plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, tendonitis, and heel pain.
Therefore, it is not only prudent to take corrective measures to correct flat feet as early as possible following detection of the problem, but it is also a good idea to take steps to ensure that the condition does not occur at all through daily foot therapy. This is especially important for elderly persons and athletes, hikers, walkers, runners and others with active lifestyles who tend to put excessive stress on their feet.
Effective Treatment of Flat Feet
As a treatment for flat feet, there are a number of orthotics on the market that can be placed in your shoes to correct your imbalance while you walk by propping up an artificial arch under your feet. These orthotics can help correct over-pronation while walking and thereby correct imbalances that may lead to further foot complications.
As a daily therapy treatment to exercise and massage the foot tendons and encourage formation and maintanence of the arches of the feet, the Japanese bamboo foot massager is an excellent and highly effective treatment device for flat feet.
This device is actually a small half-cut of bamboo, about a foot in length. The natural hardness and curve of the bamboo is ideally shaped to provide a perfect counter-resistance to the arch of the feet, simply by stepping gently on it.
This counter-resistance from the gentle stepping motion promotes formation of an arch in the foot with each step you take by working against the flatness of the feet to promote a natural foot arch. Therefore, this device is equally effective as a therapy tool for existing flat feet conditions and as a preventive tool to help prevent the condition from deteriorating into more serious foot problems.