By Geoffrey Crowley

In the healing – no one likes a pronated foot, but fear not, it can’t get you kicked out. Photo by Pte Simone Heyer, Army newspaper

Many a service person has turned pale and broken into a cold sweat when I have mentioned the word pronation.

No, you can’t get thrown out of the ADF because your foot pronates.

It’s time to clear up a few myths and misconceptions.

The process of evolution has kindly given us feet that have the ability to adapt to the ground underneath.

Feet are mobile structures that can absorb forces of impact that, when we run, are several times our body weight.

As the foot comes in contact with the ground the arch of the foot lowers to some extent.

The lowering of the arch is referred to as pronation of the foot. Essentially, all feet do this.

Problems occur when feet pronate too much, not enough or at the wrong time. Excessive pronation is seen more commonly than insufficient pronation.

When feet pronate excessively, certain tissues are overstrained. An example of this is overstrain of the plantar fascia underneath the foot, resulting in foot (heel) pain.

Pronation is also accompanied by rotation of the lower limb.

When a foot pronates too much, the whole limb often rotates too much and overstrain can occur in other areas. This is a common cause of shin and knee pain.

Some clinicians believe that back and even neck pain can also result from excessive foot pronation.

Not enough pronation means that the feet are not absorbing enough impact forces and excessive forces are transferred up the leg.

This can result in stress fractures in the leg bones (tibia, fibula or femur) and possibly be a cause of lower back pain.
Why does a foot pronate disproportionately?

There are many potential reasons.

For some it is the shape of the bones – these people are just born that way.

For others, excessive pronation can occur due to stiff joints (for example after ankle sprain), certain muscles being too tight or other specific muscles being too weak.

Treatment for these problems begins with a thorough assessment by a physiotherapist or podiatrist to find exact cause of the inappropriate pronation.

Tight muscles can be stretched and weak ones strengthened.

Bone problems can not be changed but can be accommodated by the use of inserts inside footwear, known as orthotics.
So if you are worried that your feet pronate, do not despair – everyone’s do!

If you suspect that insufficient or excessive pronation may be contributing to an injury, see your physiotherapist or podiatrist.