Dealing with Over Pronation
Continuing our Enertor Health series, today we’re looking at the causes and prevention of over pronated feet.
Pronation is the natural movement of your foot that helps your lower limbs deal with shock from walking or running. During pronation your foot rolls inwards, flattening the arch to allow the foot to come into complete contact with the ground, which helps to distribute the impact. This movement then helps you to push off evenly from your forefoot.
If you over pronate when you walk or run, this isn’t technically an injury, but it can have an effect on your form and over pronation is one of the main underlying causes that leads to the majority of injuries such as shin splints and plantar faciitis. Over pronation is when your foot is rolling inwards more than it should, which means that shock isn’t being absorbed properly and your foot and ankle will not be stabilizing the body as they would with normal pronation.
What causes Over Pronation?
Over pronation is typically linked to the size of the foot arch as this affects the foot’s ability to roll. If you have a low arch, or are “flat-footed”, you are likely to over-pronate.
There are many reasons why you may have flat feet, pregnancy, diabetes, stretched tendons, pounding those pavements on your daily morning run can cause the arch to weaken, or you may have even been born with it. Often people with flat feet or low arches do not even know until they start experiencing discomfort when walking or running later in life.
How to handle Over Pronation
If you over pronate due to low arches, arch support in your footwear will be essential to help avoid any injuries.
Add some extra stretching to your routine as over pronation adds extra stress, and therefore tightness to your muscles.
If you start to experience any pain which could be linked to flat feet, be sure to see a specialist as soon as possible. Ignoring the pain will not make it go away, and may actually make things worse.
How can Enertor insoles help with over pronation and low arches?
Our 18 years of Orthotics experience, combined with D30 technology has enabled us to create a unique insole that can assist someone with a low arch and help to avoid over pronation therefore reducing the risk of injury.
Enertor Performance insoles support the medial arch – that’s the main arch that runs from heel to forefoot – which turns the rearfoot to it’s optimal position and reduces excessive over pronation midfoot.
Our insoles also have the added benefit of 44% shock absorption – more than any other insole – which reduces stress at heel and forefoot impact.
You should always seek medical advice before recommencing any training if low arches or flat feet have led to an injury, but when you are ready to get out there again, our insole’s arch support and shock absorption will reduce the risk of injury reoccurring.
Enertor insoles are currently stocked in stores at Superdrug, and you can purchase online HERE
Whilst Enertor has over 18 years Orthotics experience, our blog content is provided for informational purposes only and it is not a substitute for your own doctor’s medical advice. Enertor advises anyone with an injury to seek their own medical advice – and do not make any health or medical related decisions based solely on information found on this site.
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