How Overpronation Can Hurt More Than Your Feet

If you've ever had your feet measured, seen a podiatrist, or simply noticed that the way that you stand and walk is a bit different than other people, chances are you've heard of overpronation. If you overpronate, it can leave your feet, ankles, and knees in misery after walking, running, or even standing still for a prolonged period of time. However, that's not where the pain stops. Read on to learn more about overpronation and how you can protect yourself from the damage it can cause.

What is Overpronation

The way the feet and legs work to allow you to walk, run, and stand is a complex process. The feet naturally shift forward, backward, and from side to side when you move, in order to maintain your balance and allow you to launch yourself off of one foot and onto the other. During this process, your feet naturally tip inwards slightly. However, overpronation is when your feet go too far, or remain in this position while you're holding still.

In addition to putting stress on your ankles, overpronation creates stress for your knees and hips as well.

Compensating

Unfortunately, the pain often doesn't stop in the joints in the lower body. When your feet overpronate, your balance is affected as a result. Chances are you don't feel this, since your body has learned to adapt to the odd stance; however, over time, this can be extremely stressful for the muscles in your body.

Consider taking a moment to scan how your legs, glutes, and lower back feel. Are you tensing muscles without meaning to? Do those muscles tighten up again even when you consciously try to make them release? This is most likely because your body is attempting to maintain your balance while you're standing on tipped, overpronated feet.

Getting Treatment

Thankfully, overpronation treatment is easy to achieve. Your first step should be to visit a podiatrist, if you haven't already. Your podiatrist will examine your feet and legs to determine if there are any malformations in your bones, muscles, or feet that are causing your pain. Your doctor will most likely be able to tell from a glance, based on your standing posture and your gait, if you're overpronating, but they will also take precise measurements to determine the severity.

Treating overpronation is as simple as getting a pair of custom orthotics made for you. These shoe insoles are designed to balance the alignment of your feet, bringing you back to a normal posture. This should help to reduce your pain, as well as making it easier for you to walk and run normally.

Overpronation can cause a lot of problems for your body, but it's easy to fix with the help of a skilled podiatrist. If you've been dealing with lower body pain and you think your feet or ankles are to blame, get medical help. You can also visit sites like http://www.camdencountyfootandankle.com for more information.


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