Tulsa, OK - I've spent the last few weeks performing numerous sports physicals for Tulsa Jr. High and High School athletes, and I'm surprised at how many of these teens have flat feet or fallen arches. When I question these students about sprains & strains and fractures, they predominately had a much higher prevalence of ankle, knee and low back injuries as opposed to students that had healthy foot structure with normal arches.
Much like a misalignment on the front end of your car that causes abnormal wear on the tires, fallen arches cause weakness and place stress on the ankles, knees, low back and hips. Have you ever noticed how an automobile with bad alignment can cause the tires to wear excessively on the inside? This type of situation is exactly what occurs when a young person suffers from fallen arches.
Fallen arches cause ankles to roll inward, placing a considerable amount of stress on the inside of the student's ankles and knees. This is called pronation. When running, exercising or just walking and standing, the stress is distributed to the inside of the ankle and knee, instead of being distributed equally over the ankle, knees, hips and low back. This also throws off the relationship of the hips and can also cause abnormal pressure on the low back, creating a situation where the person is much more likely to suffer injuries to these areas than someone with normal structure.
Specially-designed custom orthotics, made from a casting of the student's foot, help to correct the arches and restore the normal alignment of the foot and ankle. These can be placed in everyday shoes and in athletic shoes to be worn during practices and games.
We wish all our Tulsa area students a terrific and healthy school year. Go Team!