Foot

Your feet are a unique structure that must carry you throughout your life. The foot is built to withstand large loads, and during normal walking your ankle joints can be loaded with the equivalent of three to four times your body weight.

Your feet consist of a structure of bones, tendons, muscles and a network of nerves and blood vessels. A weak link in this unique structure can cause pain in your feet and affect the rest of your body.

How to prevent certain foot problems

The ankle functions simultaneously as a foundation, shock absorber and launch pad, and therefore the foot is often affected by enormous pressures through flexibility and elasticity.

You must take good care of your feet because they must carry you throughout your life. You can prevent certain foot problems by, among other things, caring for your feet and keeping them strong with exercise.

The structure of the foot and ankle

The foot and ankle consist of:

26 bones (1/4 of the body’s bones)
33 joints
More than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments
A network of blood vessels and nerves

All these components work together and provide the body with support, balance and mobility. If something is not functioning in one of these structures, it can cause problems in the foot itself and/or problems elsewhere in the body, typically the back, hips and knees.

Problems from the foot can cause problems in the knees, hips and back.

The foot can affect how you move your knee joint, and the knee joint’s movement can propagate up into your spine. If, for example, you walk with your knees hyperextended (locked), it will prevent the natural movement in your lumbar spine, which in the long term can damage your intervertebral discs (discus) in the spine and give you back problems.

If the inner arch of the foot (longitudinal arch) is weak or absent, as with flat feet, it will affect your ankle, knee and hip joints to rotate slightly inward. Your cartilage tissue in the knee joints and the muscles around your knee joints will in that case become overloaded. Certain muscles around the knee joint will become weak, and other muscles will be very tense and tight.

Overloading of the knee can cause joint pain

When the muscles that control the knee cannot work as they should, it can in the long term give you joint pain – this happens because you overload parts of your knees. When your articular cartilage is loaded inappropriately, it can lead to you developing osteoarthritis in your knee joint.

Exercise a weak arch

If you have a weak arch that is flexible, the muscles can in many cases be trained so that the arch is strengthened. When your arch becomes stronger, it will have a positive effect on your knees and hips, which instead of pointing inward will straighten to a more upright position (the joint’s neutral position). This will place less stress on the articular cartilage in the knee joints and reduce your risk of injuries in the knees as well as reduce the risk of developing osteoarthritis.

10 good tips for healthy feet

1. Pay attention to your feet, care for them and keep them strong with exercise.

2. Buy good shoes that do not pinch or press anywhere. Avoid shoes that are too short, narrow or high-heeled, and remember to lace/fasten your footwear so that it sits firmly on the foot.

3. Look for hard skin on your feet. Hard skin is caused by incorrect loading. You can have insoles made that help your foot relieve misalignments and pressure-exposed areas. In this way, the feet can function most optimally in your good shoes.

4. Feet that suddenly change shape and hurt should be examined by an orthopaedic surgeon. See your general practitioner for a referral.

5. Make sure to get a real diagnosis of your feet from a consultant and do not settle for guesses.

6. You can get help with your foot problems from a physiotherapist or state-authorised podiatrist, who can help strengthen and care for your feet. However, first get an assessment of your feet from your general practitioner.

7. If you have pain in your feet, shoes with stiff soles can often help. Try running shoes with special soles before you buy orthopaedic shoes.

8. Shoes and insoles can relieve symptoms and ease pain in your feet. A podiatrist, physiotherapist, orthotist or orthopaedic shoemaker can help you, but talk to your general practitioner first. The podiatrist can make insoles for you on a referral from your doctor. Talk to your doctor about a referral.

9. If you have tried running shoes, insoles and orthopaedic shoes, and you still have pain, you should have the possibilities for surgery examined. See your general practitioner to be referred for an examination.

10. Stay informed about the Social Services Act so you know whether you can receive subsidies for insoles and/or orthopaedic shoes.