Most people are conscious of the importance of maintaining good body posture and how it helps prevent many health issues, especially musculoskeletal problems. Body posture is not just about the position of the back, the neck or the areas connected to the spine – the usual points of concern. Did you know that foot structure could affect body posture or vice versa in a major way?
“How well the body functions is dependent on how well one’s feet are functioning and vice versa,” says Aditya Kamal, a New Delhi-based physiotherapist and founder of Body Talks, a posture and movement studio. “There are 26 bones in one foot. The structure of feet can change the entire posture of the body and the body posture can affect foot posture as well.”
What are the different foot structures?
Each individual has a distinct foot structure. Pronated foot (flat foot) and supinated foot (high-arched foot) are two broad categories from which other minute variations can be seen. Both these types are defined based on how a person lands the foot while walking or running and how the body weight is distributed. Supination is when the weight is more likely to be on the outside of the foot. Weight distribution that favours the inside of the foot is known as pronation.
How to understand one’s foot structure
The simplest method is to snap a photograph of the feet from behind.
The foot is pronated or flat if the calcaneus bone (heel) is pushed to the outside. The foot is supinated or has a high arch if the calcaneus bone is sliding inward.
“In order to determine how high your foot’s medial arch is, try inserting a pencil or pen into it. If it fits, your medial arch is high,” says Kamal.
Gravity, foot structure and body posture
The body is continually pulled down towards the centre of the earth because of gravity. This creates a force or a constant pull within the body, in the joints. The muscles counter the force.
“Like the domino effect [a single event initiating a series of related events], several joints move automatically when one joint moves,” says Kamal. “There is a wrong assumption that when muscles act, joints react. It is the other way around; joints act and muscles react.”
Foot structure and body alignment
One’s joints respond differently when the foot is pronated or supinated. It will make it hard to keep the rest of the body stable.
“It could result in alignment issues and unavoidable pain and damage. The structure of the foot is directly related to rigid shoulders, lower back or neck pain one experiences,” says Kamal.
Naturally, a misaligned body in movement puts additional strain on the joints and muscles, leading to pain, injuries and degeneration over time. From the knees to the lower back, the neck and the spine, postural issues due to foot structure could impact any part of the body.
Remedy for foot structure issues
The first step is to understand what type of feet one has.
“Each form of the foot has a different treatment to produce a reversal. Naturally, if someone is trapped in supination, we will help them pronate, and if they are caught in pronation, we will help them supinate,” says Kamal.
The postural problems caused by different foot structures can be rectified using several methods, such as structural integration, foot wedges, in-house stretching and exercise routines.
Structural integration [SI]: SI often entails manual therapy and investigates the possibility of altering how you use and perceive your body. According to a review paper published in the Journal of Alternate and Complementary Medicine, instead of addressing specific symptoms, SI strives to enhance biomechanical performance by gradually approaching a set of optimal postures and movement patterns.
Foot wedges: Orthopedic foot wedges or insoles assist in correcting pronated and supinated feet by evenly distributing pressure over the foot and preventing the foot from rolling inward [for pronation] or outward [for supination].
Takeaways
- Each person has a different foot structure, and these differences may affect the body posture.
- Pronated foot (flat foot) and supinated foot (high-arched foot) are two broad variations (categories) in foot structure.
- Depending on whether the foot is pronated or supinated, one’s joints react differently as they work to maintain stability in the body.
- Structural integration, foot wedges, in-house stretching and exercise routines are the remedial methods for postural issues caused by foot structure.
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