It is known that our ancestors had the support of their body in the form of four limbs. With evolution, man became upright, the entire support of the body passed to the feet. The foot is not only a support for the skeleton, but also performs some useful functions. The foot is a shock absorber.
Therefore, when women walk on high heels, this function of the foot is not performed, and every step of a woman is often given and felt in the spine.
Structure of the foot. Function of the arch of the foot for the musculoskeletal system
The foot maintains balance, distributes the load of the body when a person moves. Well, it provides movement of the body.
The most important part of the foot that performs the most functions is the arch of the foot. It is the state of the arch of the foot that determines the gait, posture, and the presence of pain and discomfort after a day spent in motion.
Incorrect formation of the arch of the foot or its damage will inevitably lead to disruption of the entire musculoskeletal system. In this case, the joints, from the ankle to the hip, the spine and the muscles of the whole body will suffer.
The arch of the foot does not function properly if the person has flat feet.
Why does flat feet develop? Symptoms of flat feet
Platyfoot refers to the drooping of the arch of the foot, causing the foot to become flat. Flat feet can be longitudinal, transverse and combined.
There may be several reasons for this. But the main cause of flat feet is improper load on the legs. This includes both overload and underload. This is called static flat feet. Other types of flat feet develop against the background of foot lesions, which can be paralytic, traumatic, congenital rachitic.
More often women feel the symptoms of flat feet. Risk factors include being overweight, which puts a lot of stress on the feet, standing for a long time daily (work conditions), wearing uncomfortable shoes and high heels.
In the presence of such factors and causes, the design of the arch of the foot changes. That is, there is a process of weakening of the musculoskeletal apparatus of the foot. Such a foot begins to hurt when walking for a long time and standing in one place.
With the development of flat feet, the impulse from steps that are not extinguished by the springy arch of the foot spreads upward through all joints and the skeleton. So the musculoskeletal system has a load greater than it can withstand physiologically.
Then the function of the shock absorber is taken over by the spine, which soon after the development of flat feet begins to make itself felt with various pains and problems. This is how hernias, pinched roots and other problems appear.
Symptoms of flat feet:
- Problems in choosing shoes, as the width of the feet does not allow wearing the usual size.
- Heaviness and aching pain in the feet, muscles of the lower leg and thighs after an active day, which disappear after sleep is the main symptom of flat feet.
- Tension in the calf muscles, swollen feet.
- At the base of the thumb, areas of rough, keratinized skin appear, which cause discomfort when walking.
- Change of gait – the appearance of clubfoot, the rhythm and speed of movements when walking change.
- In shoes and socks, the inner part of the sole and heel (heel) is worn out first.
- With longitudinal flat feet, pain is felt when pressing on the middle of the foot, flattening of the heel and swelling of the back of the foot.
- With transverse flat feet, the shoes stretch in the toe, "corns" appear; in the area of the pillows, and the foot is flattened in width.
When the condition is neglected, in addition to these symptoms of flat feet, a painful bone on the big toe can form on such a foot. Legs get tired quickly when walking, posture and gait deteriorate.
How to identify flat feet? Methods of treatment of flat feet and their effectiveness
In order to determine flat feet, there is a very simple and accessible test for everyone. You need to smear vegetable oil on the sole of the foot, stand on a piece of paper and look at the silhouette of the foot.
Draw a line that will be parallel to the cutout of the sole from the toes to the heel, draw a perpendicular to it at the deepest point of the cutout to the outer edge of the foot. At the same time, if the narrow part of the foot occupies more than half of the line drawn perpendicular to the first, this indicates flat feet.
If you suspect flat feet, if you have symptoms and predisposing factors, you should not postpone going to the orthopedist and treating flat feet. After all, such a condition of the foot will not go anywhere without training and treatment, and if at first the symptoms are not very pronounced, then with age the picture will worsen.
To prevent this, you need to wear arch supports and corrective insoles, which will be individually prescribed by the orthopedist.
Instep supports train the ligamentous-muscular apparatus of the foot, making its arch more springy and increasing its ability to absorb movements. Treatment of flat feet is important and effective when treated in a timely manner.
Only in this way can a person lose pain and discomfort, as well as prevent the development of serious problems with the musculoskeletal system.
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