If your entire foot, including your arches, touches the ground when you stand barefoot, you have flat feet. While not necessarily a cause for medical concern, flat feet can sometimes lead to pain in the legs and ankles. This is because a lack of foot arch can cause your knees to turn inward. You can perform regular feet exercises to stretch the muscles of the lower leg, reducing pain.
Towel Grab
Place a towel on the ground -- almost any size will do -- and step on the towel, with a portion of the towel extending beyond the toes. Move your toes toward your foot to grasp the towel. Release the toes and repeat 20 times on each foot. Activating the toe muscles requires use of the muscles in the foot's arch, building muscle in the arch area.
One-Leg Stretch
This exercise involves placing your weight on one leg to build muscle in the arch. Stand on one leg, placing a hand on a wall or furniture to steady yourself, if needed. Pull the toes in and lift the middle of the foot up slightly to create a half-moon shape with your foot. Concentrate on your foot's arch and increasing and decreasing it with each repetition performed. Do 15 to 20 repetitions on one foot, then repeat on the opposite side.
Wall Stretch
Flat feet can cause you to experience shortened calf muscles and Achilles tendons, the muscles that run up the backs of your feet and calves. Stretching these muscles can reduce pain associated with having flat feet. Stand an arm's length away from a wall, facing the wall. Place your arms on the wall and lean forward, keeping your heels on the ground for as long as possible. You should feel the stretch in the backs of the legs.
Considerations
In addition to exercises for the feet, footwear inserts known as orthotics can work like exercises to lift the arches. Most discount super stores sell these inserts, or you can have them custom-made at your physician's office. The insert should position your foot more properly in your shoe. Supplemented with regular exercises, you may experience improvements in your flat feet and/or knee and ankle pain. Frequently rotating the height of the shoes you wear also can help your foot from becoming acclimated to one foot position, which contributes to flat feet.
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