Flat Feet And Shoes - The Link

Flat feet have earned their bad name the last few years. It’s an epidemic at this point. Almost 30% of Indians are affected by flat feet.
These numbers are crazy.
This wasn’t the case before, what changed?

Shoes. The kind of shoes we wear, the amount of time we spend in shoes, the shape of the shoe, the cushion in our shoes, is all part of the problem. 

Our feet are a marvel of natural engineering. Two tiny little tripods that support weight 20 times their own. And not just upright, but while moving, running, jumping, sitting, all kinds of motion you can think of, the foot can handle it.
The foot has around 70-80 thousand nerves that relay signals to the brain to maintain balance, predict threat, and adjust next steps (literally) accordingly.

Lately however, we can’t do any of that. Not that well at least.
Big marketing has convinced us that we need shoes everywhere. We’ve started wearing shoes for walks, for runs, in the gym, even in our homes sometimes.
Activities which are natural to humans, suddenly require additional equipment, that too right at our foundation.

Shoes limit our ability to get feedback from the ground. They prevent us from splaying our toes when we need to balance, limiting our ability to maneuver uneven surfaces with the same agility and the same muscle implementation like we would naturally. 
Excess cushion has made our arch muscles practically useless. There is no space for our feet to truly use the arch to absorb shock anymore.
And as the saying goes - “if you don’t use it, you lose it” and that is exactly what is happening to us.

The fact that we don’t use our arch muscles regularly, we lose the ability to control it. A weak arch means no contraction, leading to the flattening of the muscle and loss of control. And one day when you choose to do an activity beyond its capacity, that is when the vicious cycle of foot pain begins. Plantar fasciitis, arch pain, heel pain, knee pain, lower back pain. You name it, and it all comes rushing. 

The only way to truly sustainably get rid of this cycle is to eliminate the root cause. Which is not a collapsed arch, but a weak arch. And regular exercise within the muscle’s limit is the only way to slowly and gradually gain that strength, where you can return to a pain free life. 

A lot of doctors would recommend orthotics, or gel inserts that may seem really effective. But all they are, are a pain management solution, that again in the long term will only make you weaker and leave you with a higher risk of injuring yourself more.

If you’re facing these challenges, check out our Free Mobility Guide to work on your foot strength, and it’s time to get rid of these useless shoes that leave you injured. 

Your feet don’t need support, they need freedom, they need a challenge on a regular basis to stay healthy.

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