Many people think they have flat feet, but how can you be sure? Do you feel like you are having a lot of foot issues but not clear as to why? There are a lot of indicators that can help us pinpoint the problem. Here is how to tell if you might have flat feet and learn about commonly related pain.

Consider a few characteristics of flat feet or a “planovalgus deformity”. There are specific characteristics to the shape of the foot that determine the foot alignment and position. One thing Dr. Hall looks for during an evaluation is if he can see the inside of the patient’s heel while determining the alignment of the foot and leg. If the inside of the heel is visible, this means that the foot is higher arched. If he is not able to see the inside of the heel, then the feet are either straight or directed out to the outside which would be considered a traditional flat foot characteristic.

Next, Dr. Hall looks at the patient’s feet standing from the back side to assess how the heel lines up. This poses the question, is the heel lining up underneath their leg properly or is it aligning to the outside? If it is towards the inside, a high arch is indicated and not a flat foot.

An additional indication Dr. Hall will investigate is what is referred to in orthopedics as “too many toes”. This means the patient’s foot rotates out externally or to the outside and a lot of the forefoot is showing when viewed from behind. In a perfectly aligned foot, few toes are visible from behind.

All these assessments are general tests you can try right at home in front of your mirror! When you try it, stand parallel to the mirror, and let the feet relax at shoulder’s width apart. This will allow you to gauge the general characteristics of your foot. If you start to realize you are trending towards flat foot characteristics, this may be the issue if you’re experiencing pain.

There are a few beginning places to look when a patient is experiencing pain and they have some flatness or “valgus” alignment issues in their foot. This will trigger that the foot is the problem in relation to the alignment. The most common area of pain is on the inside of the ankle and foot. This pain can be isolated to the inside of your arch or be felt behind the ankle going up the lower leg. This is caused by the posterior tibial tendon on the side of your ankle that holds up the arch and controls the foot arch. This is a very large tendon (tendons are like ropes that attach muscles to bones to make your body move.) that essentially controls your arch. When the foot is flatter and sags to the inside, the posterior tibial tendon must “work harder” and is more susceptible to tearing, degenerating, and pain.

The second most common place of pain is on the outside of the foot, right underneath the ankle (fibula) bone which is what we call impingement. Patients who have more severe flat feet develop this pain. Their foot starts to swing out from underneath their leg such that the heel bone starts to hit one of two ankle bones incorrectly. Instead of your heel bone being underneath your leg, it starts to impinge and hit your ankle bone (fibula). This can become very painful over time.

It is important to note that flat feet don’t always have to be painful. It is perfectly normal to have a flat foot. At Chattanooga Non-Surgical Orthopedics we try not to focus on whether or not you have high arches or flat feet but rather we focus on the individuals experiencing pain to help get them out of it.

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