Q: What is the difference between flat feet and fallen arches? A: Though some people use flat feet and fallen arches interchangeably, they can and should be distinguished. Medically speaking, a person with flat feet has no arches at all. The soles of their feet rest solidly on the ground. Only 5 percent of the population fit into this category. Many people who think they have flat feet actually have fallen arches. This condition is much more common (roughly seventy percent of the population) and rarely has a negative impact on a person’s mobility, athletic ability or susceptibility to common foot and leg injuries. If you have fallen arches, your foot will appear normal especially when sitting or laying down. You should be able to make out the curve of the arch just by looking at your foot. Your arch collapses, however, when you stand and your foot is made to bear the weight of your body. People with low arches experience a phenomenon known as overpronation. Each time you take a step, your foot naturally pronates. That is, it rolls slightly inward as you move through your gait from your heel to your toes. People with fallen arches tend to overpronate. Their ankles roll inward to an abnormal extent. This can lead to increased incidences of knee and soft medial injuries (shin splints) especially among runners. Athletic shoes that promote stability and motion control can help prevent these injuries among athletes with fallen arches. People with flat feet are also susceptible to the above injuries. In fact, having flat feet was one of the easiest ways to be dismissed from military service during World War II (although future studies have proven that the link between flat feet and foot and leg injuries was highly exaggerated). A large percentage of children are born with flat feet (some studies suggest upwards of twenty percent) but most outgrow the condition in early childhood. Simple exercises such as walking barefoot outside can help encourage the muscles in the foot to develop and a healthy arch to form. Sometimes adults contract flat feet. This is usually the result of injury, long periods of stress to the feet or illness. Unlike children, adults who contract flat feet are rarely able to regain their arches. Once the muscles and tissues in the feet have stopped growing, no amount of exercise or physical therapy will trigger the arch to reform. If you are still not sure whether you have flat feet or fallen arches, perform a simple wet-footprint test. Dunk your foot in water and then leave a footprint behind on a surface where it will be visible, such as cement. A flat-footed person will have a solid footprint. A person with fallen arches will have a slight curve on the inside of the foot – smaller than a foot with normal arches, but present nonetheless.
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