Flat Foot Pain, Complications, and Treatment Options

Jan 04, 2023

Flat feet may not be life-threatening, but that doesn’t mean the condition can’t impact your everyday life. In fact, this seemingly harmless issue can cause pain all over your body, not just your feet. If you have flat feet, there are solutions.

Flat feet may not seem like a big deal. After all, it just means you don’t have a normal arch in your foot when you stand. Instead, your entire foot comes in contact with the floor. 

However, your arches play a big role in your body, because they support your weight and impact how you walk. Without this foundation, the structure and alignment of your entire body can get thrown off.

The good news is, if you have flat feet, there are treatment options. At Advanced Care Foot and Ankle our skilled podiatrists can evaluate your condition, see if it’s causing other issues, and develop a treatment plan to help ease your symptoms and eliminate your discomfort.

Causes of flat feet

Having flat feet is very common. In fact, up to 30% of Americans have the condition. Furthermore, it can develop for a variety of reasons.

First of all, we’re all born with flat feet, so it’s possible for arches to never form. Other reasons flat feet can develop include the following:

  • Aging
  • Being overweight or obese
  • Sustaining an injury to the ankle or foot
  • Living with certain medical conditions, such as diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis

While the condition usually affects both feet, it can affect just one.

Complications from flat feet

As we mentioned above, your arches create the foundation for your entire body by distributing your weight evenly across your legs and feet. These small areas hidden under your feet get formed from tendons, ligaments, and bones. 

A healthy arch has strength and flexibility, which allows it to adapt to stress from multiple surfaces. Without this support and flexibility, the balance and alignment in your body can get derailed, which can lead to strained muscles and ligaments as well as pain.

In many cases, the first signs of flat feet involve pain and swelling in the arches of the feet and ankles. However, your symptoms can ripple all the way up your calf muscles and lower legs into your knees, hips, and lower back.

But pain, swelling, and discomfort are only part of the problem when you have flat feet. The condition can also increase your chances of sustaining other injuries, because it can lead to faster or uneven wear in your shoes, which can put you at risk of falling.

Diagnosing and treating flat feet

Fortunately, diagnosing flat feet typically involves a routine and pain-free office visit. 

During this consultation, we simply examine your feet, observe you as you stand and walk, and have you stand on your toes, so we can look at your feet from multiple sides. We also look at the bottoms of your shoes to assess the wear pattern. If we suspect other potential conditions, such as arthritis, we might order additional diagnostic testing, such as X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs.

Once we reach a diagnosis, we work with you to outline a treatment strategy. We create our recommendations on a case-by-case basis, considering the severity of your symptoms, any associated medical issues, and your age and overall desired outcomes.

The most common treatments for flat feet include:

  • Shoes that provide structural support
  • Custom-made orthotics
  • Stretching and strengthening exercises
  • Physical therapy

We usually don’t recommend surgery for flat feet. However, if your condition is due to an injury, or if you have issues that limit your activity, we may suggest surgical approaches to repair the bone and tendon issues triggering your pain.

Do you have pain from flat feet? We can give you a thorough evaluation and discuss your next steps. To learn more, book an appointment online or over the phone with Advanced Care Foot and Ankle today. We have offices in Corona and Ontario, California.