The name of the disease flat feet speaks for itself. It represents the deformation of the foot, which is expressed in its flattening, that is, lowering the arch. The normal foot has one transverse arch and two longitudinal, in connection with which it is customary to distinguish three types of disease: transverse, longitudinal and combined.
Before talking about how to treat flat feet, we first consider the possible reasons due to which it develops.
Causes of flat feet
As a rule, improper loading contributes to the appearance of flat feet, and it does not have to be too strong. A disease can also develop from its lack. But there are other factors.
1. Wrong shoes. Moreover, this factor on the development of flat feet can have an impact in early childhood, when the baby is just starting to take the first steps. Of course, this may also be due to the fact that the child’s fragile legs are forced to keep his body weight on him. But most often, parents (due to lack of financial resources or simply because of ignorance) get their child an unsuitable shoe, for example, too large ("to grow"), without arch support and with a non-rigid back.
And in adulthood, flat-footedness provokes the appearance or exacerbates its development, walking on stilettos, in narrow and uncomfortable, but very fashionable shoes, when the load is redistributed from the heel to the transverse arch. That is why the majority of those suffering from this disease are women.
2. Excessive load on the legs in general. It is typical for athletes who are systematically forced to face excessive loads during training and competitions, as well as for people of “standing” professions (hairdressers, sellers, waiters) and people with excess body weight.
3. Insufficient load on the legs. It is characteristic for people of "sedentary" professions and leading a sedentary lifestyle. In this case, the flat-footed provocateur is weakness, underdevelopment of the muscles of the foot and lower leg.
4. Injuries. Flat feet can be one of the consequences of a fracture of the calcaneus, ankle, tarsal bones, or the result of paralysis of the muscles of the lower leg and foot (for example, after poliomyelitis). Sprains and bruises of the foot can also lead to the development of the disease.
5. Specific diseases. Flat feet can be a consequence of diseases such as polio, diabetes mellitus, rickets.
6. Other reasons. Here you can distinguish the hereditary and anatomical (X-shaped legs) predisposition. They are not the reasons for the development of flat feet, but greatly increase the chances of getting an ailment if a person is exposed to one or more of the above factors.
How to treat flat feet? If you have found symptoms of the disease or have already been diagnosed with it, then this question should not be put off the shelf. Indeed, the consequences of your frivolous attitude to your health can be scoliosis, osteochondrosis of the spine, sciatica, halus valgus (“bumps” on the legs that grow and periodically hurt), a herniated disc, osteoarthritis of the joints. And all this will be accompanied by excruciating pains in the feet, legs, knees, hips, back.
Flatfoot: how to treat
Such a simple-looking disease as flat feet is not so easy and not so fast treated. Moreover, the patient, alas, will never wait for the moment when he will be able to say with relief: “I have been cured!” Flat feet will haunt a person all his life, and his complete cure is possible only in childhood. However, the forces of modern medicine can slow down the development of the disease and prevent it from spilling over into one of the serious pathologies. Moreover, the earlier an adult thinks about the question of how to treat flat feet, the more favorable conditions are created in order to stop the progression of the disease and for its successful correction.
Treatment of flatfoot begins with a trip to the orthopedic surgeon and represents a whole range of measures aimed both at eliminating the pain syndrome and strengthening the muscles of the foot. In order to relieve pain, doctors use various drugs and prescribe physiotherapeutic procedures.
The basis of the treatment of the disease is therapeutic gymnastics, which the patient may well carry out at home, but this must be done daily. Thanks to exercises, muscles are trained, the ligamentous apparatus is strengthened, the correct type of walking is formed. There are several gymnastics, the choice of which depends on the type and degree of flat feet, the age of the patient, his complaints.
In addition, it is very useful in the matter of how to treat flat feet, to pay attention to visiting massage sessions , manual therapy, buying home massagers, special orthopedic shoes (today it can be individually made using a cast of a person’s foot) and insoles for it.