Did you know that all of us are born with flat feet? However, if your arches don’t develop as they should during childhood, a flat foot deformity can cause pain and mobility issues, keeping you from doing the things you love.
Our team, led by expert podiatrist Michael Tran, DPM, at All Care Foot and Ankle Center located in Arlington and Dallas, Texas, understands that flat feet can prevent you from being as active as you’d like.
So, in this month’s blog, we discuss how our team can help you get much-needed relief from the symptoms of a flat foot deformity and start fully enjoying workouts, sports, and your other favorite active hobbies.
When you have flat feet, you have little to no arch in the bottoms of your feet, causing your soles to lie flat on the ground when you’re standing still. Your arches should fully develop during childhood, but if they don’t, your feet stay flat through adulthood.
In other cases, a flat foot deformity can occur later in life if your foot arch collapses due to:
You typically have a higher risk for flat feet if a close family member also has the condition.
Though some adults with flat feet don’t have a lot of pain or mobility problems, in other cases, their feet may become inflexible, or their arches may collapse outward. If you develop these issues, you can damage your tendons and experience one or more of the following:
These symptoms may become severe enough to make it difficult to walk even short distances, which can change your overall activity level. In turn, lowered activity levels can lead to other health issues like hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease, and obesity.
If persistent pain interferes with your daily routine, you can find customized treatment plans at All Care Foot and Ankle Center. Dr. Tran and our team take a patient-centered, whole-body approach to flat foot care so you can minimize your risk for additional complications.
For mild flat feet symptoms, our team may first suggest some lifestyle changes and diet modifications to support weight loss. If you have damaged tendons in your foot, you might need to avoid certain activities while your soft tissues heal.
To reduce pain and boost mobility, we can provide you with some daily stretching exercises and also recommend shoe styles that provide adequate support for your feet or prescribe custom orthotics that offer optimal arch support.
If your flat foot pain is moderate, you may benefit from physical therapy and prescription medications to keep pain under control.
When flat feet symptoms are severe and don’t respond to nonsurgical therapies, you may be a candidate for surgery. Surgical treatments may involve fusing two or more joints to prevent movements that trigger pain or correcting bone misalignments.
To learn more about your options for flat foot symptom relief, schedule a consultation with our team by calling your nearest office location or using our online booking feature today.
