If your feet are flat, and the entire bottom of your foot touches the floor when you stand, your risk of developing other painful foot and ankle conditions increases. At Kaplansky Foot and Ankle Centers, with locations in Columbus and Reynoldsburg, Ohio, David Kaplansky, DPM and Anthony Cozzolino, DPM, provide treatments for flat feet ranging from custom orthotics to surgical reconstruction.
Your foot should have a mild arch between the ball of your foot and your heel. However, some patients never develop arches, or their arches drop following an injury. You may or not experience any symptoms from your flat feet.
One way to tell if you have flat feet is to look at your footprint after you get out of the shower or a pool. A standard footprint creates a shape that slightly resembles a kidney bean. If you have flat feet, your footprint looks more like an oblong pancake, without a visible curve or arch. Additionally, if you have high arches, your footprint looks like two circles or ovals connected by a thin strip along one side.
Infants and young children have flat feet because their arches haven’t formed. In some cases, your arches may never develop, leaving you with congenital flat feet. However, as you age your arches can fall. For example, years of wear and tear on your feet can weaken and stretch the tendon that supports your ankle and your arch.
Your risk of developing fallen arches increases if you’ve ever injured your foot or ankle or if you have a condition like obesity, diabetes, or rheumatoid arthritis.
