What Is The Foot Arch?
The foot arch is located in the middle of the heel bone and the ball of the foot. It is formed by the bones, ligaments, muscles, fascia, and tendons of the foot. Its purpose is to reserve the weight of the body and to help move the body send while walking. To do this, the foot requires both a high degree of stability and a great deal of flexibility, which is provided by the arch.
There are three arches that help form the allembracing foot arch.
1. The medial longitudinal foot arch runs along the inside of the foot from the front to the back and is the one most population think of when they think of their arches. Part of its job is to dispell most of the shock that occurs upon impact and reserve the buildings of the foot.
2. The lateral longitudinal foot arch runs in the same way as the medial longitudinal arch, but it is located on the outer edge of the foot. For most of us it is fairly horizontal and contacts the floor along its entire distance when standing. It can be seen best in population with high arches.
3. The transverse foot arch, also called the metatarsal arch, unlike the first two, runs from the face to inside (lateral to medial) across the mid/front part of the foot and also helps furnish reserve and flexibility.
General Foot Arch Classifications
There are three general classes of foot arch, primarily based on notice of the medial longitudinal arch (the main arch at the inside of your foot).
1. general arch
2. High arch (associated with supination)
3. Low arch (flat feet, associated with overpronation)
Low arches, or flat feet, known as pes planus, usually occurs when the arch disappears upon standing or taking a step. In a smaller division of population it remains low whether they are standing on it or not. population with low arches or flat feet are often overpronators. With too much pronation, the ankle turns inward and the arch collapses upon standing. It can give a knock-kneed appearance.
In individuals with a high arch, known as pes cavus, you can see a big gap in the middle of their foot and the ground at the inside (medial longitudional) arch, and sometimes even on the face (little toe side) as well. This condition often leads to the ankles rolling slightly outward and giving them the appearance of being bow-legged. Both of these conditions convert the mechanical coming to walking and can cause painful arch symptom.
How Can I Tell What Type of Foot Arch I Have?
To assessment what type of arch you may have, look at your feet in a standing position. If you have a clear space in the middle of the ground and your foot arch, even on the face (little toe side) you may have a high arch. If you have in fact no defined medial (inside) foot arch, you are most like flat-footed.
You can test this by stepping on a dry face with a wet foot. If your footprint shows only a thin strip along the face of your foot connecting your heel and ball-of-the-foot area, you have a high arch. If the connecting strip is almost half the width of the foot you most likely have a general or medium arch. If most or all of the sole of the foot touches the floor in the middle of the heel and the ball-of-the-foot area, you have a low foot arch or flat foot.
What Problems are associated With Foot Arch Position?
The foot is the primary part of our body that absorbs the force when we hit the ground. So the arch has a lot of work to do and can come to be injured fairly easily. Direct force can cause injury, or when the ligaments or the muscles of the foot are overstretched. Overuse can also corollary in a requisite whole of irritation and pain. Poor biomechanical alignment can cause pain not only to the arch of the foot, but to other parts of the foot, ankles, knees, hips, and lower back. Arthritis of the joints in the area may also occur if your arch is improperly aligned.
Injury prominent to inflammation of the plantar fascia is a common source of pain as well. The plantar fascia is a thick band of fibrous tissue that extends from the heel to the toes and acts as a reserve platform, production up one of the main components of the foot arch. Immoderate pronation or supination commonly caused by having flat feet or a high arch, can cause micro-tears and tension where the plantar fascia attaches to the heel. When this happens, the point of insertion into the heel becomes inflamed and plantar fasciitis pain occurs.
Foot Arch Pain: How Is It Treated?
If you are having pain, a visit to your doctor may conclude the best procedure of action. Often for foot arch problems, foot orthotics or arch supports will be prescribed. Foot orthotics work to distribute your weight more evenly when you are walking and to adjust poor biomechanical alignment that is contributing to your pain. For a flat foot, your arch supports will have longitudinal arch support, and may have angles built in to tilt your foot in a best position. For a high foot arch, your orthotic insoles will cushion the heel and help dispell some of the shock.
Other treatments consist of stretching exercises, heel cups or heel cradles, plantar fasciitis night splints, and proper fitting footwear.
If you know you have a high or low foot arch but have no pain, you may never produce a problem…or you may produce problems over time. Make sure you don’t ignore even microscopic foot arch symptoms. Over the counter arch supports (off the shelf arch supports) may bring the symptoms under control before they come to be a bigger problem, or they may be able to help preclude foot arch problems before they occur in the first place.
If you are getting over the counter arch supports for foot arch pain, make sure they are designed with adequate stability to in fact reserve the arch. Many products on the shop today add a bit of cushion, but very microscopic support.
