As people get older, their feet get bigger and bigger, mainly due to the collapse of the arch of the foot!

Reviewer: Zhang Jianzhong, Chief Physician, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University

As people age, their feet get bigger, mainly due to collapsed arches caused by flat feet.

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What are flat feet?

Flat feet refers to the phenomenon that the arch of the inner side of the foot collapses when the patient bears weight. The doctor can make a rough judgment based on the height of the patient's arch when standing. Clinical diagnosis is generally made by measuring the lateral X-ray of the weight-bearing foot.

Flat feet can be divided into congenital and acquired types. The arch of the foot usually forms when children are 4 to 6 years old. Most children and adolescents have congenital flat feet. Of course, there are also acquired flat feet caused by the collapse of the arch of the foot due to other reasons.

What impact will flat feet have on the patient's body and life?

The most obvious impact of flat feet on the body is fatigue when standing or walking, pain on the inside of the ankle joint, and the pain will worsen after standing or walking for a long time, and the symptoms will be relieved after rest. In addition, foot pain and arch collapse will also cause the patient's running, jumping and even walking ability to decrease.

Therefore, flat feet are a very important indicator in the conscription physical examination. People with flat feet cannot serve in the army.

Flat-foot patients usually walk in an "eight" shape. This incorrect walking posture can easily cause heel injuries, and the shoes of flat-foot patients are more easily worn than those of normal people.

Long-term incorrect walking posture can cause ankle valgus or inward rotation, and can also cause knee and hip valgus or inward rotation. Over time, pain and inflammation will occur in the lower back, knee and hip joints.

Flat feet not only affect bones and joints, but also cause damage to ligaments and tendons, which further aggravates the symptoms of flat feet.

Even for normal people, after the age of 40, as time goes by, the feet, like other parts of the body, will also undergo some degeneration. The ligaments and muscles are not as strong as when they were young, the structure of the foot has also changed, the muscles and tendons are loose, the elasticity of the arch of the foot is gradually lost, and the arch of the foot will gradually become lower.

What are the daily care measures for flat feet?

Most patients with early flat feet believe that the disease will not affect their lives, so they usually do not seek correction or treatment. However, as they age, the impact of flat feet on the body will become more and more serious, so in daily life, patients still need to pay attention to self-care.

Keep using towels, ping-pong balls or glass balls to exercise the foot muscles and relieve the pressure on the arch of the foot. The patient can sit on a chair and grab the towel with his toes, hold it for 5 seconds and then relax, repeat 10 times, 3 sets each time. As the exercise progresses, the muscle strength of the foot will be strengthened, and then you can use your toes to grab the ping-pong ball or glass ball instead.

Exercise the calf muscles. Lift your hips and slide your toes from front to back; hold your ankles with both hands and try to abduct your feet as much as possible, then adduct them, similar to ballet-style movements. Do the front leg arch and the back leg kick to stretch the Achilles tendon.

It is best to soak your feet in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes before going to bed every day. Massage your feet immediately after soaking to promote blood circulation and speed up the recovery of arch fatigue.

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Weight loss is also something that flatfoot patients need to pay attention to, which can help reduce the weight on the foot. When pain occurs acutely, activities should be temporarily stopped and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be taken appropriately to relieve symptoms.

For children with soft flat feet, if there are no symptoms, no correction is required for the time being. For more severe deformities, arch support braces can be used, and no special treatment is required. However, if discomfort occurs, you can choose to wear insoles or corrective shoes. For patients with severe reducible flat feet, if obvious heel valgus, forefoot abduction, and medial deviation of the talus head have already occurred, surgical treatment is required.

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Flat feet in most children are physiological. As they grow up, the arch of the foot gradually forms, which has no adverse effects on physical development. Only a few children with flat feet have no arch of the foot, which will affect the foot joints, even the knee and hip joints. In the long run, it will also affect the ligaments and muscles, and finally seriously affect physical health and quality of life. Therefore, it is recommended that patients with flat feet should pay attention to the development of their symptoms, pay attention to daily care and foot muscle training.

Once the symptoms of flat feet are very obvious and show signs of serious development, patients are advised to go to the hospital for correction.

Normal people should not ignore the health of their feet. After the age of 40, they should also pay attention to the changes in their feet. As we age, the arch of the foot becomes lower, which will cause the foot size to become larger. Therefore, we should replace the shoes of the right size in time to reduce the risk of foot problems caused by shoe problems.

Problems such as foot pain, foot rubbing, and unstable walking caused by inappropriate size.

Although flat feet are not a big problem, they can gradually become a big problem if you don’t pay attention to them.