When Arch Support Isn’t The Answer!
So if you follow my blog or Instagram, you may think that I believe arch support is ALWAYS the answer to foot pain! While I believe it is super important in general, sometimes arch support, especially if excessive, is not always the solution!
Read below to learn more!
According to the Department of Professional Employees, over 50% of employees work office jobs where they sit for upwards of five hours a day. The remaining workforce is on their feet for over five hours a day. This stark difference in lifestyle makes it difficult to give blanket advice on arch support. One thing that is for certain, we only have two feet, and they carry us through our days and our lives. It is imperative for your overall health to support your feet properly and it will lead to a more comfortable foot as well.
If you follow my blog or Instagram, you may think that I believe arch support is ALWAYS the answer to foot pain! While I believe it is super important in general, sometimes arch support, especially if excessive, can do more harm than good!
Here is a list of potential situations where high arch supports are not the answer:
- Outside Ankle and Foot Pain
- High Arched Feet
- Ankle Instability
- Intrinsic Foot Weakness
Outside Ankle and Foot Pain
Do you have pain along the outside of the ankle? This could be because of a problem with the tendons that run along the outside of the ankle (behind the ankle bone) called the peroneal tendons. These can become painful and injured from overuse, repeated ankle sprains, or a sudden injury. Arch supports that are too high can stress these tendons, causing them more pain.
Along the same lines, arch support can exacerbate the pain along the outside of the foot from arthritis of nearby joints or stress injuries to the outer metatarsal bone. When you lift the inner part of the foot along the arch, you distribute more pressure to the outside of the foot. As you experiment with different shoes and supports, you may notice that your pain worsens with higher arches.
If arch support leads you to outside ankle and foot pain, try a shoe with great shock absorption that either has a zero drop sole (i.e., the heel is not inclined) or that flares out along the outer part of the heel and foot. This will provide the outside of the foot with more support.
High Arched Feet
Cavus foot (Picture taken from acfas.org)
Like every aspect of the human body, arch size can vary, running from flat feet to very high arched. There are many people that have VERY high arches. The medical term for a very high arch is a cavus foot.
People with cavus feet often feel as though they must find arch support or shoes with an arch that matches their own. This thought process can lead to a painful situation when there weren’t any. In this scenario, mild-to-moderate arch support can be useful. However, aggressive support could lead to more overload (or pressure) along the outside of the foot and ankle.
Ankle Instability
According to the Journal of Athletic Training, ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries to our musculoskeletal system. They estimated that up to 70% of individuals will have some residual instability and between 20% and 46% of individuals will re-injure their ankle. The ankle ligaments that are most sprained are those along the outside of the ankle. In this situation, shoes or insoles with a very high arch can open the outer part of the ankle joint, leading to further instability because these damaged ligaments cannot hold the ankle joint stable. In this situation, you have many options to improve stability:
- Low-profile ankle brace
- Shoes with ankle straps
- Shoes with zero drop
- Deep and supportive heel cup
- High tops
Intrinsic Foot Weakness
Say what?! One potential setback of constant arch support is that the small muscles of the foot (called your intrinsic muscles) may become weaker over time, as the foot is always being supported. These muscles are being cradled and are not being challenged enough. You may notice that your foot can hardly tolerate NOT being supported–meaning you need to always be in supportive shoes due to generalized foot discomfort or fatigue! The answer to this is actively working on strengthening the small muscles of the foot (this video is coming soon) and occasionally the ditching the insoles if your foot allows.
I hope this info helps!
XOXOXOX
Dr. Eva
See you on the Gram at @drevamd