Foot pronation is common and affects many people. However, most people are not aware that they are pronating their feet when they walk. This issue is best to get corrected to avoid added strain and stress on the bones and joints. There are five different ways to tell if an individual has foot pronation. When someone walks with their toes consistently flaring out, or pointing with their big toes more to the side rather than directly in front of them, they are pronating their feet. This can occur when one set of muscles becomes larger and more dominant over the other. In turn, this causes the individual to have an internal knee rotation. Another way to tell if someone pronates their feet is to look at the foot, knee, and hip. If all three of these are in a straight line, that is a good sign. However, in someone who pronates their feet, the foot to knee to hip ratio will not be straight, but more of have a slight curve. Another way to tell if an individual is pronating their feet is to look at them standing barefoot. If their arches have decreased height or appear to be flat, this is a sign of pronation. Lastly, if a patient always wears through the heels of their shoes first. This is a classic sign of pronation showing us that the weight distribution throughout the foot is highly uneven. One of the best ways to fix pronation is to get proper arch support in the shoes. For optimal results, a 3-D scan is needed. This scan will assess the places you are putting pressure on your feet as well as the differences you have in your arches. This will also provide a report showing the alignment of the ankles, knees, hips, and spine without proper arch support. This scan allows the scientists over at footlevelers to create foot orthotics that are custom 3-D printed to each foot. These 3-D arches will help to provide support in the medial, lateral, and anterior transverse arch. Every individual is different and so are their feet. By getting custom printed orthotics patients are being set up for optimal results and true success. Dr. Alexander Jimenez has the ability to scan patients’ feet, assess the situation, and provide these custom orthotics to his patients. – Kenna Vaughn, Senior Health Coach
[00:00:14] There are five red flags or signs of pronation.
[00:00:18] If these signs are ignored and left untreated, foot problems can adversely affect your entire body. This is a perfect example of how pronation can affect the entire body moving from the ground up. A person who shows signs of pronation can have imbalances throughout the body, including internal knee rotation, pelvis tilt and dropped shoulder. This imbalance can lead to larger issues like pain. Foot flare.
[00:00:49] All pronators walk with foot flare or toe out, the reason for this is that pronation is developed slowly over a period of years where the everters become dominant over the inverters. Internal knee rotation. When the feet are flat on the floor, the lower extremity has its greatest distortion, with the feet bilateral and asymmetrically pronated internal tibial and femoral rotation.
[00:01:17] Therefore, if the foot, knee and hip were in their optimal alignment, one could drop a plumb bob from the middle of the patella and it should hit the second toe. But in an excessively pronated foot, that plumb bob, is medial to the medial longitudinal arch. Boat Achilles tendons from a P to A view, the ankle and foot appear to roll inwards, causing a bowing of the Achilles tendons. These tendons will plastically deform over time.
[00:01:52] Flatfoot at mid stance, where the heel and toe are both in contact with the floor. The patient will demonstrate the greatest degree of pronation at midstance. All three arches of the foot have decreased their height. Creating a longer, wider and flatter foot. Uneven heel wear in the typical bilaterally, asymmetrically pronated foot, the heel strike will be uneven, creating uneven or asymmetrical heel wear. Spinal pelvic stabilizers help to provide a balanced, symmetrical foundation by preventing excessive pronation.
[00:02:32] Feet no longer flare excessively.
[00:02:34] The knees, pelvis and shoulders then return to their normal positions, helping provide proper postural alignment.
