Why Flat Feet Can Cause Body Aches And Pains

Sometimes we miss the most obvious causes of body aches and pains – flat feet. Have you ever noticed that when your feet feel horrible, you feel horrible?

Foot fatigue and soreness doesn’t just stop at the level of the foot. Because every part of your body is connected, over time, the misalignment occurring in the feet from flat feet travels up to the ankle, knee, hip, lower back, neck and head.

Bio-mechanically, any machine that has a part out of alignment will result in a decrease of productivity. It’s the same thing with your body. When the foot arch collapses, the rest of the body follows. Any joints out of alignment eventually cause pain.

Flat Feet is Often Not Your Fault

The bones in your feet make up a quarter of all the bones in your body. And according to the Illinois Podiatric Association, about six percent of the population has flat feet. Recent studies show a higher incidence:

* Researchers at the Department of Anatomy, University of Jos in Nigeria found a 10-13% prevalence rate (higher in girls)

* Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Israel (study size of 825,964) – 12.4% (mild cases) and 3.8% (severe)

* Hospital de Traumatologia y Ortopedia in Mexico (study size of 476) – 21.2% with flat feet, 48.5% had pain in feet, knees or both

Your flat feet may not be your fault. Children are born with flat feet, and as they grow and begin walking, the bones of the foot respond to the forces of the weight on the foot and mold it into an arch. In fact, by age 1, the incidence of flat feet in babies in Taiwan decreased 14% just from the developmental process. However, on the other hand, 9% of children who had normal feet developed flat feet.

Flat feet can develop in adults just as it develops in children. By wearing unsupportive footwear and standing for long periods at a time, your arches can gradually wear down. Likewise, obesity contributes to the arch breaking down, as there’s more of a weight burden on the arches.

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