Pronation and Chiropractic Treatment

What is pronation?

The most common form of bad foot biomechanics is over-pronation, which is the dropping of the arches and rolling inwards of the feet and ankles, causing flat feet.

It is estimated that 70% of people in the western world are affected by over-pronation. This condition presents itself in varying degrees of severity, with some people over-pronating more than others.

The fact that so many of us suffer from over-pronation due to fallen arches can be contributed to the hard and flat surfaces we walk on daily. Other factors that play a role include age, weak ankles and excess body weight.

As a result, over-pronation is much more prevalent in people above the age of fifty as well as those who are overweight.

Over-pronation doesn’t pose a serious problem in the short term, especially for younger people.

However, abnormal foot function over a period of time can lead to serious foot problems like heel pain, heel spurs, plantar fasciitis and metatarsalgia (pain in the ball of the foot).

Foot problems can also cause pain else ware in the body.

For example, an over-pronated foot will make the leg rotate inwards (internal rotation) which in turn may have repercussions further up your leg and lower back.

As you compensate for the pronated foot you are likely to feel symptoms of aches and pains as far away as the knees, hips and the low back.

Orthotics are an effective and inexpensive solution to the over-pronation problem. Buying a pair of orthotics can be a worthwhile investment to your health as they can prevent many problems.

How Exactly Do Orthotics Work?

First of all, orthotics do a lot more than support the arches of the feet. Orthotics realign the feet and ankles and restore deficient foot function.

In addition, orthotics enable a more even weight distribution, taking pressure off sore spots at the heels, balls of the feet, between toes, at bunions and soles of the feet.

They also provide a degree of shock absorption, but this is not their main purpose. The main purpose of an orthotic insole is to improve foot function, in many cases reducing pain and preventing problems and injuries in the future.

Orthotics can offer you pain relief! If you suffer from foot and leg problems such as flat feet, bunions, heel, shin or leg pain you can gain better quality of life and if you are doing sports, it is likely to help you improve your performance.

Whether you’re an athlete, spend your days on your feet or just want to be more active, orthotics can make you enjoy life more!

Orthotics are not just used for foot and ankle pain. They are also used to help you if you have knee, hip and back pain. By aligning the foot correctly, it helps to distribute the forces more evenly through the foot, ankle, knee, hip and back.

However, you don’t have to be in pain before considering orthotics. It can be a measure to help you prevent pain too. If you try our orthotics you will be amazed how comfortable they are and how comfortable your feet will be after a long day on your feet.

The Foot an Engineering Masterpiece

Each foot is an engineering masterpiece. The foot is made up of 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments. We tend to take this for granted until something goes wrong and we develop pain.

Biomechanical problems affecting the feet can increase stresses within the foot structures and the surrounding soft tissues, creating localised pain in the feet and ankles as well as problems in the lower limbs, knees, hips and back.

Orthotics allow joints to be aligned correctly and promote efficient transmission of the forces of standing, walking, jogging, running and jumping.

And as a result a foot orthotic therefore helps to:

• Reduce pain
• Provide support
• Prevent or halt the development of foot deformity
• Provide better positioning
• Relieve pressure on a certain area of the foot
• Improve the overall biomechanical function of the foot
• Reduce lower limb torsion and stress on the knees

At Isis Chiropractic Clinics we have a holistic approach to any biomechanical problem. We understand that the problem may not always be located around the area of the body where you have pain.

In some cases the problem may lie in a number of areas, such as pelvic dysfunction, leg length discrepancies, tight or poorly toned muscles as well as poor posture.

If we do not find that your problem is caused by your foot position or poor biomechanics, we will not prescribe foot orthotics.

At Isis Chiropractic Clinics we are able to offer a Complete Posture Assessment, gait analysis and ICB-Medical Foot Control Orthotics.