Hey everybody it's Doctor Jo, and today I'm going to show you my top seven
treatments for flat feet. so let's get started.
So flat feet are basically when the arches fall. this could be from weakness.
this can be from a mechanical issue in the foot, even up to the knee. so
basically you have your normal arch in your foot and flat feet is when it goes
all the way down, and so that causes a lot of pain and irritation. so a great
way to get that loosened up and going is to start off just with a simple ball
roll. this is a lacrosse ball. you can use a tennis ball, a racquet ball any kind of
thing that is pretty pretty firm. just to start loosening up that fascia
underneath. so I like to start with this just one or two minutes of rolling. you
don't have to go super crazy with it, but you're really just trying to loosen up
that fascia before you go into the stretches and exercises. go all the way
to the heel cause that fascia goes all the way down there, and then all the way
up to the ball of your feet. so just roll it through. if you have any specific
spots that are extra tender, usually that's right in the arch there, you can
focus on that spot a little bit, but you're not pushing so hard where it's
painful. while you're doing it, it might be a little bit painful, but you really
want it to just be loosening up and getting it going. so if you're really
hurting while you're doing this, you're probably pushing too hard and just
lightly roll on it. again this is just to get it loosened up and get it going. so
after you do about maybe one minute two minutes of it depending on how much
you've been doing that day, then you can go into an exercise where you're just
basically lifting the arch of your foot. so now you want to start exercising that
those muscles right in the arch there. the way to do that is you want to really
try and keep your heel and your toes down, and you're just going to curl that
arch up into a C position. so I like starting off sitting doing it you can
eventually go to standing, but while you're trying to figure it out, sometimes
it's really hard and sometimes your foot tries to cramp while you're doing it. so
just take it nice and slow. don't feel like you have to arch it up super
high the first time, and if you have that flat feet, it might be kind of hard to do
the first time. so trying to keep the toes down, trying to keep the heel down,
and just kind of curl up that part. so you can see there and then come back
down. so just a little hold at the top, little squeeze, you're you're squeezing
those muscles in there you're exercising them, and then you're coming back down. so
again, I would just start off with a little bit of these because if you
haven't been doing these, your muscles might try and tighten up or cramp up, so
I just start off with ten. you know maybe one or two sets of ten if you feel good,
you can kind of work your way up from there. another great treatment for flat
feet is to have some custom or semi-custom insoles, and I really like
insoles because I have a medium arch but I pronate my foot so having an insole
in there really really helps. and if you have flat feet, this kind of helps
bring it up and put your foot back into a neutral position because a lot of
times with those flat feet, your foot rolls in and you get that pronated
position, and then that can cause problems in your knees, problems in
your hips, problems with walking in general. and the folks at Tread Labs sent
me their semi custom orthotics, and so this is really nice here because it has
four different arch sizes that you can use, and when you go to their website it
takes you through some stuff where you can pick what you want, and what shoe
you're going to use it for and everything like that. and so this is
really nice. what's super great about this is this part is the part that
changes the height of the arch, and they guarantee it forever. so this is
something that they guaranteed forever that it will work and what's even cooler
about it is usually with insoles the top part here ends up getting worn out and
that's when you know it starts rolling up and and get gets worn because you're
using it a lot and rubbing it, and then people just then throw those insoles
away, but what you can do with Tread Labs is you can order just that top part, so
when that starts wearing out, you don't have to get rid of your insole you just
order some of those, go to their website and show you how to change.
so that's really really awesome - and you can see here where mine is the
medium arch and then so if you are not sure what you need you can go to their
website and use their customer service for helping. but a lot of times you kind
of know what your arch size is and if it doesn't work out for you you give them a
call and you can try another size and things
like that. so that's really cool as well. so like any insoles orthotics semi, or
custom, full custom you really want to build
your feet up to these. so if you have flat feet, if you have high arches, and
you haven't used insoles before, you don't want to just stick these in your
shoes and go all day because your feet are gonna get really really mad with you.
you really want to kind of build them up. this just like exercising in general, so
I usually recommend that when you first get them, just wear them for about thirty
minutes around the house and it might be a little sore in that arch especially if
it's changing that position a lot, but that's pretty normal. and then the next
day maybe go an hour then the next day two hours and you kind of work your way
up from there, but I really don't recommend just putting them in and going
all day because your feet will be really sore, and you'll you'll think that it's
the insoles but it's really just that your feet are trying to get used to it.
so make sure you work your way up with the time that you have your insoles in
your shoes. if you're interested in purchasing the semi-custom insoles from
Tread Labs, make sure and click on the link up here. so the next exercise is
going to be a towel crunch. so it's kind of just like it sounds with your foot
you can take any kind of towel this one is a little bit thinner, so it's going to
make it harder which is good, but if you are starting off you might want a towel
this a little more coarse because that's a little easier to grab with your toes.
but basically you're just crunching up the towel with your toes, so you're just
kind of squeezing in those toes to try and crunch up the towel. so you can see I
have a little bit of a hard time, but I'm not really great at it anyways, but this
is just again working those muscles of the feet working the muscles in the
arches really just to get them going and get them working because you can see as
I curl in my toes, I'm working that arch area. so going back to the same thing
that I said with the other exercise if your feet haven't been doing a whole
lot of exercises, this might try and make them cramp, so don't feel like you have
to go crazy with this. just maybe try and crunch it ten times or time yourself, do
thirty Seconds to a minute, and then take a break because if you do too much those
muscles are going to get really really mad at you so just trying to crunch it
up. and again the different sizes of towel it's like a beach towel will be a
little bit easier and then if you get like a kitchen towel like this, then it's
a little bit harder. so the next exercise is going to be a windshield wiper, and
the anterior tibialis and the posterior tibialis where we get shin splints
sometimes are the muscles that help hold up the arch there they hold up that
inner side of the arch, so you want to exercise those muscles because if those
become weak that also makes you have a flat foot or fallen arch. so you really
want to exercise those muscles as well. so a really easy exercise for that is
the windshield wipers. so if you want to prop up your foot you can if you just
want to hold it up in the air you can, but make sure that your heel is not on
anything so you have nice free movement so all you're going to do is just kind
of like it sounds, is a windshield wiper movement. but really go out and up and
then in and up. so you're gonna go out, pull it up getting that anterior
tibialis, and then in and up getting that posterior tibialis. and you see my toes
trying to curl a little bit and sometimes they'll do that, but just going
back and forth get a really big squeeze at the end, a little pause and come back.
so it's not just this and it's not the whole leg going back and forth, you're
really trying to do that at the ankle in the foot. so out and up and then in and
up. so again just starting off with you know ten or fifteen of these, one or two
sets, and then if that feels okay, you can work your way up from there. so the last
exercise and stretch is going to be standing up. so this stretch standing up
you'll need a step a curb something where you can kind of be up on it and
hang your heel off. this is a planar fascia of stretch, and I really really
like this one because really stretches it out. it helps
stretch out that arch as well, but make sure you're being safe while you do it.
so if you have a little bit of balance issues, make sure you have something to
hold on to especially if you're on a higher step if you're on a curb I
usually tell people to put one foot a little bit more forward to give you some
balance. you're going to take the ball of your foot and put it right on the edge
with the step or the curb, and then take your heel and just drop it straight down.
you'll feel it in the calf area, you'll feel it in your foot. it's just a great
stretch for that lower leg. so this since this is a full stretch, you want to hold
this for 30 seconds. so just nice and relaxed. again if you need to hold on to
something, if you're doing it with your stairs and you have rails, make sure and
hold on because it's not a balance exercise, it's a stretch. I really want
you to be able to focus on that stretch. so after you do that give it a little 10
to 15 second break, and do that a total of three times. I like stretching it best
without my shoes on because I feel like that stretches that plantar fascia area
more, but if you do it with your shoes on that's fine, too. the shoes will help give
you a little more of a grip or if you've been running you can just do it on the
curb on the side with your shoes on, but if you're at home, just stretching out, I
feel like you get a little better stretch without your shoes on. just make
sure that you're stable and your foot doesn't slip off like that with the sock.
so three times thirty Seconds. the last exercise is just going to be a heel
raise. so again if you have a little bit of balance issues, make sure you're
holding on to something because you really want to focus on the exercise.
put your feet about shoulder width apart with your toes facing forward, and all
you're going to do is just go up on your toes lifting your heels, and then nice
and slowly come back down. so this is a controlled movement here. I'm not just going
up and down and using momentum like that, but really coming up nice and slow, and
then nice and slow coming back down. so again just starting off with 10 or 15 of
these. if your feet are really sore and hurting, this is going to be a little
tough to do if you get to 20-25, and it's pretty easy, then you can start doing it
with just one foot. so just coming up nice and tall and then nice
coming back down. those were your top seven treatments for flat feet. if you're
interested in purchasing the tread labs semi-custom insoles, make sure and click
on the link up here, and don't forget to subscribe by clicking down here. and
remember be safe (keep your feet happy), have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.