Flat Feet: The Hidden Connection to Hip Pain and Effective Strategies for Relief
Did you know that the way your feet are positioned can affect your hip and knee alignment, leading to discomfort and pain? If you have flat feet, you might be experiencing hip pain as a result. In this blog post, we’ll explain how flat feet can influence your hips and provide exercises and stretches to help alleviate hip pain!
The Connection Between Flat Feet and Hip Pain
In a normal arch, the ankle joint is in a neutral position, which keeps your lower leg, knee, thigh, and hip joints in a neutral alignment. However, when you have flat feet, several issues arise:
Inward Rotation of Hips
- Flat arches cause your ankle to collapse downward, your knees to fall inward, and your hips to turn inward as well.
- This inward hip rotation can lead to hip pain in multiple ways.
Overworked Hip Muscles:
- To counter the inward hip rotation, your hip muscles have to work extra hard. This continuous effort can cause pain and discomfort in the hips.
- The deep rotator muscles of the hip, including the piriformis, superior and inferior gemelli, obturatur externus and internus, and quadratus femoris muscles, are particularly affected.
Changes in Hip Joint Forces:
- The inward rotation of the hip changes how forces are distributed within the hip joint.
- This alteration can lead to extra wear and tear on joint structures like cartilage, potentially causing hip pain and arthritis.
Reduced Shock Absorption:
- The arch of the foot acts as a natural shock absorber when your foot lands on the ground.
- With flat arches, this shock absorption capability is compromised, leading to increased impact on the tissues around the ankles, knees, and hips, potentially causing pain in any of these areas.
Exercises and Stretches to Relieve Hip Pain
To minimize hip pain and realign your hips, you can perform the following exercises and stretches:
STRETCHES
All stretches should be held for 30 seconds and repeated 2-3 times.
Figure 4 Stretch:
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and cross one ankle over the opposite knee. Push the knee down.
- To increase the stretch, gently push the knee of the bent leg down or lift your legs up toward your chest.
Knee to Opposite Shoulder Stretch:
- Lie on your back, bend one knee, and bring it up toward your chest, crossing to the opposite shoulder.
- Use a rolled-up towel in the hip area if you feel pinching in the hip.
- You should feel a stretch on the outside of the hip.
Butterfly Stretch:
- Sit on the floor with the soles of your feet together.
- Find a comfortable position and lean your upper body forward.
Hip Internal Rotator Stretch:
- Lie on your back with your hips and knees bent at about 90 degrees.
- Lift the bottom foot and rest it on the top knee.
- Feel a stretch on the outside of the hip.
STRENGTHENING
All strengthening exercises should be done 10-15 repetitions for 2-3 sets.
Side Lying Clamshells:
- Lie on your side with knees bent and place a band around your thighs.
- Lift open the top knee, squeezing the bum muscle as you do.
- Slowly return to the start position and repeat.
Seated Hip External Rotation with Band:
- Sit in a chair and attach one end of a band to something stable
- Loop the other end around one ankle and turn the lower leg inward while keeping the thigh on the chair.
Lateral Squat with Band:
- Place a band around your thigh with decent tension.
- Bring one leg out to the side and squat down, ensuring your knees stay in line with the first two toes.
- Return to the start position and repeat on the other side.
Conclusion
By understanding how flat feet can affect your hip alignment and following these exercises and stretches, you can relieve hip pain and work towards better hip health. If you’re unsure about your form during exercises, check out our video on mastering the sit-to-stand exercise. Also, consider exploring orthotics to further improve your foot alignment. If you are not sure if orthotics will help, watch this video for a cost effective way to determine if custom orthotics are needed for you! Thanks for reading, and until next time, take care of your hips and feet!
