Pronation refers to the natural balanced side-to-side movement of your foot when you walk or run. If your foot’s arch collapses excessively inward or downward, the condition is known as overpronation.

You may move countless times a day, and therefore you’ll not notice how your feet touch the ground when you run or walk. It feels automatic.

As you go through your running or walking stride, the weight is transferred from the heel to the ball of the feet.

With overpronation, you overly flatten your feet. Therefore the condition is also known as flat foot.

How you take every step matters for your overall health. A certain degree of pronation is normal. However, overpronation can put you at risk of developing injuries.

It is recommended to wear special shoes with insoles for overpronation to treat this condition.

Why Should You Correct Overpronation?

Overpronation disrupts the natural alignment of the body. It results in increased impact when the foot touches the ground while you’re running or walking, straining your muscles, tendon, and ligaments.

You may suffer from the following injuries and conditions –

shin splints
heel pain
bunions
plantar fasciitis
chronic lower back pain
Ankle sprains
iliotibial band syndrome
stress fractures in the lower leg or foot
Achilles tendonitis
patellofemoral pain syndrome

Overpronation insoles are the best for correcting your overpronation.

What Are The Causes Of Overpronation?

Overpronation is mainly caused due to excessively flexible, flat feet. Sometimes people are born with overpronation. However, specific situations or conditions may increase the individual’s chances of developing weakened arches or flat feet.

These situations and conditions include:

Pregnancy
Obesity or overweight
Taking part in any physical activity, such as running, that requires repeatedly striking your foot on a hard surface for an extended period

How Do You Diagnose Overpronation?

If you overpronate, you may already know it without seeing a doctor. However, it is always recommended to visit a doctor for an accurate diagnosis.

You can self-assess using one of the three following methods:

First, take a look at your feet while standing. If there is no definite gap between the floor and foot where the arch should be, you most likely overpronate.
If you’re an athlete or a regular runner, you can check the state of your running shoes. If the majority of the wear is on the inner part of your running shoes, it is most likely you overpronate.
You can also check your footprint after taking a few steps with wet, bare feet. With normal pronation will see your heelprint connected to the toeprints with about half of your foot width. If you overpronate, you’ll see your heelprint connected with the entire width of your foot.

An orthopedic surgeon, podiatrist, or physical therapist can make a definite diagnosis with gait video analysis or 3D foot mapping. You should visit a specialist if you’re experiencing pain or chronic injury, especially if you’ve tried to self-correct the problem in the past.

A specialist will recommend treatment options for you that may help solve the problem.

What Are The Treatment Options Available For Overpronation?

There are 3 major treatment options available –

Choosing supporting shoes with insoles for overpronation
Wearing orthotics with overpronation insoles
Strengthening exercises for arches and muscles around your leg and feet

Choosing Supporting Shoes

You are required to take special care while choosing your shoes. If you’re an athlete or a regular runner, choose the shoes with the best running insoles for overpronation.

Shoes with extra support and stability minimize the impact of each step.

Wearing orthotics with overpronation insoles

Orthotics are special inserts that you can slip into your shoes and offer extra arch support for minimizing the impact when you walk. You may even go for customized overpronation insoles.

Overpronation Exercises For Strengthening Muscles

Some stretches alleviate your pain and discomfort. Arch and muscle strengthening exercises correct the alignment of knees and ankles. With regular exercise, you can correct your gait.

A physiotherapist analyses your overpronation and suggests you an exercise routine accordingly.

What Should You Do Next?

If you’re suffering from pain or repeated injury due to overpronation, you should see a doctor. A doctor will recommend various options to treat the pain and reduce the chances of injury.

Without proper treatment, you may inflict further injuries on yourself and worsen the condition.

In most cases, this condition can easily be treated with specialized footwear and customized soles.

Don’t keep the condition untreated. Visit the nearest clinic today. Based on your doctor’s or physiotherapist’s recommendation, you can even order insoles online.