Pronation is a natural and necessary movement of the foot that happens during foot landing while running or walking.
It’s your ankle and arch rolling inwards slightly, providing some shock absorption as your foot hits the ground after each step.
Having “pronation” in your foot is important for the proper gait, but it’s crucial to have the right amount of pronation. Not enough or too much pronation can both be bad for your feet.
Complications from Overpronation
Foot and leg problems frequently happen when someone suffers from over pronation (too much pronation). People who overpronates are very commonly presented with a collapsed ankle and a flat foot appearance as: the ankle rolls inwards too much, and the arch of the foot stretches flattens too much.
The alignment of your foot and ankle also directly affects the alignment of your knee and hip and can be responsible for pain that is further up your body.
Complications and consequences of over pronation can start very young. Lots of parents will notice their kids’ feet look funny or twisted, run awkwardly, complain of foot and leg fatigue quickly during sport, bones sticking out of the foot in funny places, blisters, or shoes wearing down fast in certain areas. Other times this overpronation can be missed for many years and have no symptoms associated until adulthood.
The common risk facts for developing the overpronation in foot are:
• Poor footwear choices (especially when running) – reduced shock absorption, lack of support
• Obesity – increased load on the feet
• Weakness of the muscles of the hip and lower limb
• Pregnancy
Common overpronation problems can include:
• Painful inside or outside of ankles
• Plantar fasciitis (arch pain)
• Heel pain
• Achilles Tendon pain
• Shin splints
• Bunion formation
• Hammer toes
• Corns and callouses on the bottom of the foot
• Funny looking walk
• Arthritis/stiff joints in foot
• Iliotibial Band Syndrome
• Patello-femoral Syndrone
If you think your foot is over-pronating, or you think your foot or ankle look misaligned, don’t ignore this! It’s extremely important to catch this as early as possible to avoid permanent changes and chronic pain in your feet.
Physiotherapy Treatment Options for Overpronation
Over pronation is essentially a movement control issue. Whilst certain external factors such as hypermobility, weakness or being overweight may challenge this control to a greater degree, the mainstay of treatment should always be corrective rehab exercises aimed at improving loading patterns and control of the lower limb. Depending on the nature of symptoms and degree of additional contributing factors, changes to footwear and use of orthotics to support the arch may also be considered.
Often while you are working on improving the mechanics of the foot, activity modification also needs to be considered. While you should aim to keep as active as possible, it is important to ensure that you are exercising within a safe range, reducing undue loading on the joints and tissue of the foot and lower limb in order to prevent injury.
Physiotherapist can provide you with a thorough assessment of the contributing factors as well as guidance on safe levels of exercise, an appropriate rehab program and advice on footwear and orthotics.
